Club Despite a two-year period with
Lausanne-Sport in the late 1950s,
FC Basel was Michaud's regular club. Between 1955 and 1970, he belonged to the FCB first team and, as their defensive chief, he was one of the decisive co-founders of the "era Benthaus". He won the
Swiss Cup twice and the championship three times under coaches
Georges Sobotka and
Helmut Benthaus. The fact that Michaud only reached the national team at the age of 32 had to do with the skills of his predecessor, because for years the position in the defensive centre was occupied by a similarly large sportsman,
Heinz Schneiter. Nevertheless, after his international debut on 24 May 1967, in the legendary 7–1 against Romania, Michaud brought it to a total of 15 international matches. After his retirement from active football, Michaud remained in the business. First as a technical director for the club at Benthaus' side, then from April 1972 to May 1973 as an interim national coach. He took over the position from
Louis Maurer and in that year he achieved a balanced record, seven international matches, one win, one defeat and five draws. Michaud played his early football in Basel's youth teams and was brought up to their first team by head coach
Béla Sárosi during
their 1955–56 season. At the end of that season, on 10 June 1956, he played his
domestic league debut in the home game at the
Landhof as Basel won 9–1 against
Fribourg. In the following season he had 11 appearances and then he moved to
FC Lausanne-Sport. Under head coach
Walter Presch in the
1957–58 Nationalliga A season, Michaud played in nine of the 26 league games. In the following season, he received less playing time and so he returned to his club of origin for the
1959–60 season as
Jenő Vincze became Basel's new head coach. In the first game of that season, on 23 August 1959, Michaud scored his first goal for the team, from a penalty kick. However, it could not help the team, because they were defeated 3–2 by
Grenchen. Michaud's first
Swiss Cup win was in
their 1962–63 season. The
Wankdorf Stadium hosted the cup final on 15 April 1963, and Basel played against favourites
Grasshopper Club Zürich. Two goals after half time, one by
Heinz Blumer and the second from
Otto Ludwig gave Basel a 2–0 victory. Michaud's first championship title was achieved in
Basel's 1966–67 season. In that same season, Michaud also won the
double with Basel. In the Cup final, again in the former
Wankdorf Stadium, on 15 May 1967, Basel's opponents were
Lausanne-Sports.
Helmut Hauser scored the decisive goal via a penalty. The game went down in football history due to the sit-down strike that followed that penalty goal. With the score at 1–1 after 88 minutes of play, referee
Karl Göppel awarded Basel a controversial penalty.
André Grobéty had pushed Hauser gently in the back, and Hauser let himself drop theatrically. After the 2–1 lead for Basel, the Lausanne players subsequently refused to resume the game and they sat down demonstratively on the pitch. The referee was forced to abandon the match. Basel were awarded the cup with a 3–0 forfait. Michaud won his second championship title in
Basel's 1968–69 season. They finished the season just one point clear of second-placed
Lausanne-Sports. Basel won 13 of the 26 games, drawing ten, losing three times; they scored 48 goals, conceding 28. He won the championship with Basel for the third time in
this 1969–70 season. The team again finished one point clear of Lausanne-Sports, who again ended in second position. Basel won 15 of the 26 games, drawing seven, losing four times. They scored 59 goals, conceding 23. During his time with Basel, Michaud played a total of 468 games for Basel, scoring a total of 30 goals. 268 of these games were in the
Swiss Super League, 45 in the
Swiss Cup, 43 in the UEFA competitions (
European Cup,
European Cup Winners' Cup,
Fairs Cup and
Cup of the Alps) and 112 were friendly games. He scored 19 goals in the domestic league, two in the cup, one in the European games and the other eight were scored during the test games. After having an active career, Michaud stayed with the club and became technical director for the period that Benthaus remained trainer.
International playing career Michaud was called up by trainers
Alfredo Foni and
Erwin Ballabio into the
Switzerland national football team. He played fifteen times for the
Switzerland national team. He played his debut for Switzerland on 24 May 1967 in the
Hardturm, in Zürich, in front of 21,337 spectators in the legendary 7–1 win against
Romania. Michaud played his last game for his country on 15 October 1969 in
Thessaloniki under coach
Erwin Ballabio. The
1970 FIFA World Cup qualification game for UEFA Group 1 ended with a 1–4 defeat against
Greece.
International coaching career Following his playing career, Michaud acted as assistant to trainer
Louis Maurer of the
Switzerland national team. After Maurer's early retirement as manager in November 1970, Michaud took over as manager. He was the team manager from April 1972 to May 1973.
René Hüssy followed Michaud as national team coach. Michaud stayed with the national team. He was the delegation leader of the Switzerland national team and later a senior member in the Committee of the National League (Responsible for game scheduling). ==Curiosity==