NEUCHATEL XAMAX - SPECIAL SHIRT 2025/2026
Neuchâtel Xamax were founded in 1970 through a merger of FC Cantonal, Swiss champions back in 1916, and FC Xamax, founded in 1912 and named after founding member and Swiss international 'Xam' Max Abegglen. A further merger with FC Serrières in 2013 gave the club its current name. Xamax play their home games at the Stade de la Maladière in Neuchâtel, an all-seater stadium opened in 2007 with a capacity of around 12,000, on the shores of Lake Neuchâtel in French-speaking Switzerland.
The 2025/2026 season, during which this striking special edition shirt was released, saw Xamax compete in the Challenge League, Switzerland's second tier, under manager Anthony Braizat. The club finished 5th of 10 with 49 points from 36 games (14 wins, 7 draws, 15 defeats), a mid-table finish that belied a campaign built far more on goals than defensive solidity: Xamax scored 55 and conceded 56, ending the season with a negative goal difference despite fielding the division's outright top scorer.
There was no deep cup run or promotion battle to define the campaign, but Xamax did produce the league's biggest away win of the season, thrashing Bellinzona 5-1 on the road in August, and followed it up with eye-catching home results including a 4-1 defeat of Nyon. It made for an entertaining, if inconsistent, campaign shaped far more by end-to-end scorelines than by defensive discipline.
The season's headline story belonged to one man. Kosovan forward Shkelqim Demhasaj finished as the Challenge League's outright top scorer with 21 goals, more than anyone else across the division's ten clubs, a remarkable return for a side that finished mid-table and conceded almost as many as it scored. It is the kind of individual campaign that keeps a club relevant even without silverware, and gives this special edition shirt a genuine hero to hang its story on.
Follow the club on X: @XamaxFCS
