Pre-season Claude Andrey was appointed as new first team trainer. He came from
Sion where he had been trainer for the previous six months and he came as replacement for
Friedel Rausch who had only been trainer with the club for the previous season. A number of players left the club during the off-season. Last season's top scorer
André Sitek moved on to score his goals for
Locarno, another goal scorer
Frédéric Chassot returned to
Neuchâtel Xamax after his loan period had expired and defender
Dirk Lellek transferred to
VfB Oldenburg.
Christian Marcolli and
Manfred Wagner both moved on to local rivals to
Old Boys and
Patrick Rahmen moved on to play for
SR Delémont. In the other direction Swiss international goalkeeper
Stefan Huber transferred in from
Lausanne-Sport. Two new defender were also transferred in,
Andre Meier from
Chiasso and
Samir Tabakovic from
NK Belišće. The midfield was stregthend with the signings of
Mario Cantaluppi from
Grasshopper Club,
Sergei Derkach from
Dynamo Moscow and
Didier Gigon from
Lausanne-Sport. More notable transfers were those of Swiss international strikers
Dario Zuffi and
Philippe Hertig who both came from
Lugano. A number of youngsters were brought up from the youth team including the hopeful local lads
Markus Lichtsteiner and
Roger Schreiber. As second placed team in their qualifying group, Basel qualified for the promotion stage. To help with their promotion attempt
Axel Kruse was signed in on loan from
VfB Stuttgart until the end of the season, but because of injuries he only played three league games. The other teams in this stage from the Nationalliga B were
Etoile Carouge,
St. Gallen and
Schaffhausen. The bottom four teams from the
Nationalliga A were
Xamax,
Zürich,
Kriens and
Yverdon-Sports. Basel's start in the phase of a somewhat slow stance and three draws in the first four matches and despite an away defeat against
Xamax in round six they played well at the top of the group table. Not being defeated in the last eight matches, winning five, drawing three, they ended the group in first place. They were level on points with
St. Gallen and
Xamax and won promotion. Relegated this season from the top flight were
Kriens and
Yverdon-Sports. The team's top goal scorer was
Dario Zuffi with 11 goals, five other players each scored two goals.
Stefan Huber held a clean sheet in seven of his 13 matches during the second stage of the season.
Swiss Cup Basel entered the
Swiss Cup in the second round. Here they were drawn away from home in the
Herti Allmend Stadion against lower-tier team
Zug.
Thomas Karrer and
Ralph Steingruber put the guests 2–0 in front by half time and then in the second half they added even more pressure. In the second half they added another eight goals to final result 10–0. In the third round Basel were drawn at home in the
St. Jakob Stadium against higher tier
Aarau and despite being a goal down through an own goal at half time, Basel again turned up the pressure again in the second half and turned the result to win 4–1. In round four another higher tier team were to visit Basel in their home stadium.
Dario Zuffi and
Admir Smajić scored the goals as they won 2–0 against
Lausanne-Sport. Round five gave higher tier
Xamax the journey to
St. Jakob Stadium and another Zuffi goal gave the host team a 1–0 victory. The fourth higher top flight team to make the visit to the stadium was
Yverdon-Sports. The match was goalless after 90 minutes, thus went into over-time. Zuffi gave the hosts a 1–0 victory after extra time with a goal in 118th minute. The semi-final also gave Basel a home game against
Schaffhausen, who had suffered a 3–0 defeat here exactly two weeks earlier. But this time the hosts played under capabilities, Schaffhausen played compact and kept the game goalless, even after extra time. The penalty shoot out was decisive. Schaffhausen goalkeeper
Erich Hürzeler held striker Zuffi's attempt, Basel keeper
Huber held Engesser's attempt and after 12 penalties things were level at five all. Keeper Hürzeler then held
Tabakovic's attempt and so
Steffen Ziffert's final penalty gave Schaffhausen the upset. Penalty sinner Tabakovic, the central defender from Bosnia, shed bitter tears.
Schaffhausen advanced to the
Swiss Cup final for only the second time in the club's history. Here they played
Grasshopper Club, but the higher tier team proved their strength winning 4–0. It was GC's 18th Cup victory in their history. == Players ==