| Georges Geldner | |
| Fullname: | Georg Wilhelm 'Georges' Geldner |
| Birth Date: | 7 July 1872 |
| Birth Place: | Switzerland |
| Death Date: | unknown |
| Years1: | 1893–1894 |
| Clubs1: | FC Basel |
Georg Wilhelm 'Georges' Geldner (born 7 July 1872) was a Swiss footballer who played for FC Basel in the 1890s.
During a visit to England, his brothers Roland Geldner and Max Geldner they had seen the new football game. They placed an advert in the local newspaper to arrange a meeting about founding the Football Club Basel. Max attended the founders meeting and joined the team that evening. Roland was appointed as the club's first president. Georges joined the team a few days later.[1]
Geldner trained with the team and eleven days after the club was founded the first game took place. Not much has been passed down from the first game that the FCB played on 26 November 1893. The club members met at the Landhof and played a game among themselves. It is considered as the first, but unofficial, game of FC Basel. The names of the players of both teams were recorded at that time, which can also be read in the annals of FC Basel, and the result was also passed on for posterity, Team 1: with the brothers and Georges, Roland and Max Geldner, Ferdinand Isler, Max Born, Josy Ebinger and Fritz Schäublin, beat Team 2: with John Tollmann, Adolf Hintermann, Wilhelm Glaser, Richard Strub, Mario Arbini, Emil Abderhalden, Lewis Gough and Jean Grieder by seven goals to two.[2]
The first football match that the club held was in the Landhof on 10 December against the football team of the club RTV/Realschüler-Turnverein, a secondary school student gymnastics club. Geldner and both his brothers also played in this match, which the FCB won two goals to nil.[3]
Teammate Charles Volderauer, as businessman, had good connections and used them from the very beginning. As early as June 1894, Volderauer organised the journey to visit Strassburger FV. Geldner travelled with the team by train to Strasbourg and played their first match against a foreign team, which ended with a 0–8 defeat.[4]
Georges Geldner stayed with the team only this one season and during this time he played in both these games for Basel without scoring a goal.[5]