Otto Demarmels (born 29 August 1948) is a retired Swiss footballer who played for 15 seasons for FC Basel. He played mainly in the position as defensive midfielder or as defender.
Club career
Demarmels played youth football by FC Pratteln and moved up to their first team in 1966. In that season they played 2. Liga (fourth tier of Swiss football) and he scored 40 goals for his team. A year later he transferred to FC Basel. Because his new team had just won the Swiss championship he had to wait some time before he was able to play. He played his debut for Basel on 16 September 1967 in the Nationalliga A home game at the Landhof against Young Fellows Zürich. He scored his first goal for his club in the same match, it was the winning goal as Basel won 1–0. It was a very special goal not only for the fact that it was the only goal of the match, but also because it was the last goal that Basel scored in their old stadium. Afterwards all games were played in the St. Jakob Stadium. In the very next game Demarmels also scored his next goal, it was the team's fourth as Basel won 4–1 against Zürich. In his first season for Basel he played 12 games in the domestic league scoring six goals.
In his second season with Basel (1968–69) Demarmels still did not become regular starter as they won the championship under player-manager Helmut Benthaus. The team finished the season one point clear of second placed Lausanne Sports. Basel won 13 of their 26 games, drawing ten, losing three times, they scored 48 goals conceding 28. However he did play 8 domestic league games scoring two goals and he played various games in the Swiss Cup and the Cup of the Alps.
Demarmels won the championship with Basel for the second time at the end of the season 1969–70. The team again finished one point clear of Lausanne Sports who ended the season in second position again. Basel won 15 of the 26 games, drawing seven, losing four times, they scored 59 and conceded 23 goals. Demarmels played 11 league games, scoring one goal, again he played various games in the Swiss Cup and played in the European Cup match in Glasgow against Celtic. He also played two games in the 1969 Cup of the Alps, in which Basel won the final against Bologna.
In his fourth season by the club Demarmels played 14 games in the domestic league (two goals) and two in the domestic cup (one goal). Basel finished the regular season level on points with Grasshopper Club Zürich and so they contested a play-off game on 8 June 1971 to decide the title winners. Grasshopper won the play-off 4–3 after extra time. In the 1970 Cup of the Alps Demarmels played two games but he missed playing in the final in which Basel won 3–2 against Fiorentina.
In Basel's 1971–72 season Demarmels became regular starter in the first team. In the pre-season 1971 Cup of the Alps he played four of the five games, scoring one goal, but he missed playing in the final in which Basel were defeated by Lazio. He played 25 of the 26 league matches, scoring four goals. The team won the championship four points clear of FC Zürich who ended the season in second position. Basel won 18 of the 26 games, drawing seven, losing only once, scoring 66 and conceded 28 goals. For Demarmels this was the third championship title. The Swiss Cup final was played on 22 May 1972 in the Wankdorf Stadium but Basel were defeated 0–1 by Zürich through a goal by Daniel Jeandupeux in extra time.
The 1972 Swiss League Cup was the inaugural Swiss League Cup competition. It was played in the summer of 1972 as a pre-season tournament to the 1972–73 Swiss football season. Basel beat Servette 8–0, Lausanne Sports 2–1 aet and Sion 6–1 to reach the final. This was won by Basel who defeated FC Winterthur 4–1 in the final which took place on 11 November 1972 at the Letzigrund in Zürich. Demarmels played in all four League Cup games and scored two goals in the semi-final against Sion. Ottmar Hitzfeld scored a hattick in the final. Again in their 1972–73 season Basel won the championship. Winning his fourth championship title, Demarmels played in all 26 league matches, scoring three goals. The team won 17 games, drew five and were defeated four times. They scored 57 goals, conceding 30. Ottmar Hitzfeld was the team and the league top scorer with 18 goals. Basel won the championship four points clear of Grasshopper Club who finished in second position. In the Swiss Cup Basel reached the final, which was played on 23 April 1973 in the Wankdorf Stadium against Zürich. The game ended goalless after 90 minutes. In extra time Peter Marti (92) and Fritz Künzli (101) scored the goals to give Zürich the title for the second consecutive time in a final against Basel.