The Swiss Football League is the organization that controls and directs the professional football in Switzerland and Liechtenstein . Founded in 1933 as the National League (in German Nationalliga , in French Ligue Nationale ), it assumed its current name in 2003.
41-618: It deals with the Swiss Super League and Challenge League championships and is therefore made up of 22 clubs. The National League was founded between 15 and 16 June 1933 in Vevey , where representatives of several clubs had gathered to end years of discussions on the reform of national football. At that time there were two organizations within the federation, the Zusammenschluss der unteren Serien (ZUS), founded in 1921 by
82-512: A loose synonym. "Romandy" is not an official territorial division of Switzerland any more than there is a clear linguistic boundary. For instance, substantial parts of the canton of Fribourg and the western canton of Bern are traditionally bilingual, most prominently in Seeland around the lakes of Morat , Neuchâtel and Bienne (Biel). French is the sole official language in four Swiss cantons : Geneva , Vaud , Neuchâtel , and Jura ; and
123-515: A record-breaking streak of 8 championships between 2009 and 2017. After a change in leadership in 2017, however, they were dethroned by Young Boys, who won the next four straight championships. In April 2022, another proposal by the SFL committee to increase the league size to 12 was announced. The proposal includes three stages: an initial round-robin qualifying stage with all 12 teams (22 rounds); an intermediary stage, with two groups (1st-6th placed in
164-476: A request to repeal the decision to introduce the play-off modus. Instead they propose to use the system used in the Scottish Premiership . An according fan petition gathered 18,000 signatures (including national team star Breel Embolo ) in the first day of its publication and Super League heavy-weights BSC Young Boys officially supported the motion immediately. This triggered a renewed vote by
205-402: A row from 1908–1911. Over the next decade, FC Aarau , Montriond LS (now Lausanne-Sport ), SC Brühl , and Cantonal Neuchâtel FC each won their first title as nobody managed to monopolize the league. During the 1920s and 1930s, championships were achieved almost exclusively by modern Super League regulars, namely Grasshoppers, Servette, Zürich, Young Boys, Lausanne-Sport, and FC Lugano . FC Bern
246-661: Is a regional dialectal variant of roman (modern French romain , i.e. "Roman"); in Old French used as a term for the Gallo-Romance vernaculars. Use of the adjective romand (with its unetymological final -d ) in reference to the Franco-Provençal dialects can be traced to the 15th century; it is recorded, as rommant , in a document written in Fribourg in 1424 and becomes current in
287-720: Is known as Röstigraben (lit. " rösti ditch", adopted in Swiss French as barrière de rösti ). The term is humorous in origin and refers both to the geographic division and to perceived cultural differences between the Romandy and the German-speaking Swiss majority. The term can be traced to the WWI period , but it entered mainstream usage in the 1970s in the context of the Jurassic separatism virulent at
328-702: Is known as Welschland or Welschschweiz , and the French-speaking Swiss as Welsche , using the old Germanic term for non-Germanic speakers also used in English of Welsh (see * Walhaz ). The terms Welschland and Welschschweiz are also used in written Swiss Standard German but in more formal contexts they are sometimes exchanged for französischsprachige Schweiz ("French-speaking Switzerland") or französische Schweiz ("French Switzerland"). Simple Westschweiz "western Switzerland" may also be used as
369-486: Is played over 36 rounds from the end of July to May, with a winter break from mid-December to the first week of February. Each team plays each other four times, twice at home and twice away, in a round-robin . As teams from both Switzerland and Liechtenstein participate in the Swiss football leagues, only a Swiss club finishing in first place will be crowned champion—should a team from Liechtenstein win, this honor will go to
410-570: Is supported by Radio Télévision Suisse and the universities of Geneva , Fribourg , Lausanne and Neuchâtel . Historically, most of the Romandy has been strongly Protestant, especially Calvinist ; Geneva was one of the earliest and most important Calvinist centres. However, Roman Catholicism continued to predominate in Jura , Valais , and Fribourg . In recent decades, due to significant immigration from France and Southern European countries, Catholics can now be found throughout
451-839: Is the French-speaking historical and cultural region of Switzerland . In 2020, about 2 million people, or 22.8% of the Swiss population, lived in Romandy. The majority of the romand population lives in the western part of the country, especially the Arc Lémanique region along Lake Geneva , connecting Geneva , Vaud , and the Lower Valais . French is the sole official language in four Swiss cantons : Geneva , Vaud , Neuchâtel , and Jura . Additionally, French and German have co-official status in three cantons: Fribourg/Freiburg , Valais/Wallis , and Berne/Bern . The adjective romand (feminine romande )
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#1732780939237492-478: The Léman , Simplon and Mont-Terrible départements , respectively). Suisse romande is used in contrast to Suisse alémanique ("Alemannic Switzerland") the term for Alemannic German speaking Switzerland. Formed by analogy is Suisse italienne ("Italian Switzerland"), which is composed of Ticino and of a part of Grisons . In Swiss German , French-speaking Switzerland
533-562: The Ruinart Cup , was organized by Genevan newspaper La Suisse sportive as a response in 1897. It was mainly contested by teams from the French-speaking area , with the exception of FC Zürich and Grasshopper Club Zürich , the latter of which eventually won the tournament. The inaugural official championship was therefore organized for the following season, in 1898–99 , and won by Anglo-American Club against Old Boys Basel. It was, however, only competed by Swiss-German teams (with
574-632: The Swiss Challenge League . There was, however, a promotion/relegation playoff between 3rd in the Challenge League and 12th in the Super League. Last updated: 22 May 2022 Source: RSSSF All records are since the introduction of the Super League in 2003. Players in italics are still active. As of 15 December 2020. Romandy Romandy ( French : Romandie or Suisse romande ; Arpitan : Romandia )
615-500: The Swiss Football Association 'predicts' the likely positions of each club in order to produce a fixture schedule that ensures the best possible chance of all clubs playing each other twice at home and twice away. This is known as the league 'seeding' and is based on clubs' performance in the previous season. If the clubs do not finish in the half where they are predicted to finish, then anomalies can be created in
656-691: The 17th and 18th centuries in Vaud and Fribourg; it was adopted in Geneva in the 19th century, but its usage never spread outside of what is now French-speaking Switzerland. The term Suisse romande has become widely used since World War I; before World War I and during the 19th century, the term Suisse française "French Switzerland" was used, reflecting the cultural and political prestige of France (the canton of Vaud having been created by Napoleon out of former Bernese subject territories, while Geneva, Valais and Jura were even briefly joined to France, as
697-636: The Championship and 7-12th placed in the Qualification Group) of six teams each (10 rounds); the format of the third and final playoff phase is still to be determined. Despite pushback from fans and a general negative response from club officials, the proposal to increase the league size as well as the proposed format change were approved by the general assembly of the Swiss Football League on 20 May 2022. The details of
738-912: The High Alps again, separating the Val d'Anniviers from the Mattertal . Historically, the linguistic boundary in the Swiss Plateau would have more or less followed the Aare during the early medieval period, separating Burgundy (where the Burgundians did not impose their Germanic language on the Gallo-Roman population) from Alemannia ; in the High Middle Ages , the boundary gradually shifted westward and now more or less corresponds to
779-532: The SRG SSR refused to broadcast teams that wore advertisements on their kits. As a result, the broadcaster and the league reached a compromise, where the former would only show sponsors in reports lasting a maximum of 6 minutes, and teams would be obligated to wear neutral jerseys for longer appearances. The 1980s and 1990s saw Grasshoppers dominate and Neuchâtel Xamax , FC Luzern , and FC Sion win their first titles in 1986–87 , 1988–89 , and 1991–92 . In 1985,
820-618: The Serie B and Serie C and the Association Suisse de Série A (ASSA), founded in 1925, to which the teams of the maximum series belonged. In the 1931-1932 the National League championship was created, although only two years later the control body of the same name was born. The reform that gave birth to the single group championship was implemented for the 1933-1934 season. On 28 August 1933, the first matches were played under
861-486: The Supervisory Commission for transfers of the National League, announced the possibility of transferring a player from one club to another, in exchange of a sum of money, without a request for authorization to TRAKO itself. As a consequence of this, the status of Swiss footballers, who until then had remained officially "amateur", became "semi-professional". This practice was, moreover, already followed by
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#1732780939237902-580: The Swiss Jura participate in the Frainc-Comtou dialect spoken in the Franche-Comté region of France. Since the 1970s, there has been a limited amount of linguistic revivalism of Franco-Provençal dialects, which are often now called Arpitan (a 1980s neologism derived from the dialectal form of the word alpine ) and their area Arpitania . The cultural identity of the Romandy
943-564: The aegis of the new league. With the reform called "Wiederkehr project", approved during the extraordinary federal assembly held in Lugano on 9 October 1943, starting from the 1944-1945 season the National League championship was split into two distinct categories, called Lega National A and National League B ., each of which is made up of 14 teams On 5 July 1960, a circular from the Transfer- und Aufsichtskommission der National-Liga (TRAKO),
984-488: The co-official language – along with German – in the cantons of Valais , Bern , and Fribourg , French speakers forming the majority of the population in the regions of Lower Valais , Bernese Jura and Fribourg francophone ("French-speaking Fribourg "). Bernese Jura is an administrative division of the Canton of Bern, whereas the two others are informal denominations. The linguistic boundary between French and German
1025-764: The communities of Morat and Fribourg . It divides the canton of Fribourg into a western French-speaking majority and an eastern German-speaking minority and then follows the eastern boundary of Vaud with the upper Saane/Sarine valley of the Bernese Oberland . Cutting across the High Alps at Les Diablerets , the boundary then separates the French-speaking Lower Valais from the Alemannic-speaking Upper Valais beyond Sierre . It then cuts southwards into
1066-408: The exception of a team from Neuchâtel ) until 1900, due to a dispute about playing on Sundays. Teams from the canton of Zürich continued to dominate the league until 1907–08 , with Grasshoppers winning a further three, FC Winterthur winning two, and FC Zürich winning one title. Other champions from that time included Servette , St. Gallen , and Young Boys , who subsequently also won three in
1107-498: The final playoff stage was also finalized: The new format will be implemented for the 2023–24 season , while the transitional 2022–23 season will have only the last placed team playing a relegation playoff against the 3rd place of the Challenge League . A change of format for the Swiss Challenge League is not yet clear. In October 2022, following heavy fan protests, reigning champions FC Zürich officially submitted
1148-402: The first time, with the company initially being restricted in showing games on TV. For the 1956–57 season , jersey numbers were declared mandatory, with Young Boys initiating an unprecedented streak of four titles the same season. The 1966–67 season first saw the emergence of Basel as a dominant team, as they won 7 of the following 14 seasons. As shirt sponsors first appeared by 1976,
1189-405: The fixture list. Clubs sometimes play another three times at home and once away (or vice versa), or a club can end up playing 20 home (or away) games in a season These "Scottish Model" format changes were implemented for the 2023-24 Swiss Super League season , alongside the expansion to 12 teams. Due to the expansion, the 2022-23 season had no automatic relegation spots and two promotion spots in
1230-400: The general assembly. On 11 November 2022, the new proposal to instead use the "Scottish Model" was approved by the general assembly of the Swiss Football League. By the time of the vote, the petition opposing the play-off system had gathered over 60,000 signatures. The increased number of teams was not up for a re-vote, though. The new format is as follows: At the beginning of each season,
1271-432: The high medieval period (see Walser ). Traditionally speaking the Franco-Provençal or Patois dialects of Upper Burgundy , the romand population now speak a variety of Standard French . Today, the differences between Swiss French and Parisian French are minor and mostly lexical, although remnants of dialectal lexicon or phonology may remain more pronounced in rural speakers. In particular, some parts of
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1312-525: The highest-placed Swiss team. Relative to their league coefficient ranking the highest-placed teams will compete in UEFA competitions —again with exception of teams from Liechtenstein, who qualify through the Liechtenstein Cup . The bottom team will be relegated to the Challenge League and replaced by the respective champion for the next season. The club finishing in 9th place will compete against
1353-433: The league was restructured from 12 to 10 teams for the 2003–04 season , simplifying the format by removing the relegation playoff round. A return to 12 teams was discussed on multiple occasions in 2009 and 2018, but ultimately rejected, among others due to reservations about the early relegation battle. This new era initially proved to be one of domination for Basel, as 11 of the first 14 seasons were won by them, including
1394-545: The main clubs. When the league took on its current name in 2003, the championships were also subsequently renamed as Super League and Challenge League . The members of the League are 22, twelve from the Super League and ten from the Challenge League. Swiss Super League The Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in
1435-474: The number of foreigners on a team was increased from one to two, promptly leading to a new transfer record of 1.3 million francs with Servette acquiring Mats Magnusson . In 1992–93 Aarau won the championship the first time in 79 years, while St. Gallen earned their first title in 97 years at the turn of the millennium . The rebranding of the Nationalliga A into the Super League occurred in 2003, when
1476-421: The second-placed team of the Challenge League in a relegation play-off over two games, home and away, for a spot in the succeeding tournament. Matches in the Super League employ the use of a video assistant referee . The Swiss Football Association was founded in 1895, but were initially unable to organize an annual competition, citing the teams' travel costs. The first unofficial championship , competed for
1517-493: The time. The linguistic boundary cuts across Switzerland north-to-south, forming the eastern boundary of the canton of Jura and then encompassing the Bernese Jura , where the boundary frays to include a number of bilingual communities, the largest of which is Biel/Bienne . It then follows the border between Neuchâtel and Bern and turns south towards Morat , again traversing an areal of traditional bilinguism including
1558-709: The top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season. As of March 2024, the Swiss Super League is ranked 12th in Europe according to UEFA 's ranking of league coefficients, which is based upon Swiss team performances in European competitions. The 2023–24 season will be the 127th season of the Swiss top-flight, making it the longest continuously running top-flight national league . The Super League
1599-531: The western boundary of the Zähringer possessions, which fell under Bernese rule in the late medieval period, and does not follow any obvious topographical features. The Valais has a separate linguistic history; here, the entire valley, as far as it was settled, would have been Gallo-Roman speaking until its upper parts were settled by Highest Alemannic speakers entering from the Bernese Oberland in
1640-512: Was not suspended during World War II due to Switzerland's neutrality, but the post-war years nevertheless brought change. The 1944–45 season saw the separation of the league into the Nationalliga A and B, with the winner of the former declared Swiss champion. The 1946–47 , 1947–48 , 1952–53 , and 1953–54 seasons saw further maiden victories achieved by FC Biel-Bienne , AC Bellinzona , FC Basel , and FC La-Chaux-de-Fonds , respectively. In 1954, broadcasting rights were sold to SRG SSR for
1681-425: Was the exception in 1923; however, their championship was denied after the use of an unauthorized player. The league was reformed into the Nationalliga in 1931 and initially changed from three regional groups to two groups with 9 teams each. The league composition thereafter varied on several occasions, ranging from 12 to 16 teams competing in a single group. Contrary to its neighboring countries, national football