Swiss Challenge League
The Swiss Challenge League or Brack.ch Challenge League is the second highest tier of the Swiss football league system. Ten teams play in the Challenge League. The winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, the bottom team is relegated to the 1. Liga Promotion.
From 2003 to 2012, the second placed team entered a two-legged playoff against the 9th placed team in the Super League, with the winner playing in the higher division next season.
The league was named Nationalliga B until 2003 when it was changed to the "Challenge League."
During 2001-2008 and again from 2009-2013 Liechtenstein's FC Vaduz also played in the Challenge League as Liechtenstein does not have a league of its own.
Participating clubs 2014–15
| Team |
Venue |
Capacity |
| FC Biel-Bienne | Gurzelen Stadion | 15,000 |
| FC Chiasso | Stadio Comunale | 11,160 |
| FC Lausanne-Sport | Pontaise | 15,850 |
| FC Lugano | Stadio Cornaredo | 15,000 |
| FC Schaffhausen | Stadion Breite | 7,300 |
| Servette FC | Stade de Genève | 30,084 |
| FC Wil | Stadion Bergholz | 6,958 |
| FC Winterthur | Schützenwiese | 8,550 |
| FC Wohlen | Stadion Niedermatten | 5,000 |
| FC Le Mont | Terrain du Châtaignier | 2,300 |
History
Nationalliga B Era
1 FC Lugano and FC Lausanne-Sport went bankrupt which meant that no team was relegated due to their league position. FC Sion were not awarded a license for the 2003-04 season resulted in an extra team being promoted.
Challenge League Era
1Sion were admitted to the league on October 29, 2003, after the season had already begun which brought the number of teams in the division to 17.
Only one club was relegated and two were promoted to extend the league to 18 clubs for the 2004–05 season.
2Baden were not relegated due to Servette being demoted to 1. Liga because of financial difficulties.
3Delémont and Kriens were also relegated to due the league being downsized to 16 teams for the 2008–09 season.
4Locarno and Gossau were not relegated due to Concordia and La Chaux-de-Fonds being denied professional licenses. |
See also
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| | | | National teams | |
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| | League system | |
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| | Domestic cups | |
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| | Others | |
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| 1. Liga era, 1931–1944 | | | Seasons |
- 1931–32
- 1932–33
- 1933–34
- 1934–35
- 1935–36
- 1936–37
- 1937–38
- 1938–39
- 1939–40
- 1940–41
- 1941–42
- 1942–43
- 1943–44
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| | Nationalliga B era, 1944–2003 | | | Seasons |
- 1944–45
- 1945–46
- 1946–47
- 1947–48
- 1948–49
- 1949–50
- 1950–51
- 1951–52
- 1952–53
- 1953–54
- 1954–55
- 1955–56
- 1956–57
- 1957–58
- 1958–59
- 1959–60
- 1960–61
- 1961–62
- 1962–63
- 1963–64
- 1964–65
- 1965–66
- 1966–67
- 1967–68
- 1968–69
- 1969–70
- 1970–71
- 1971–72
- 1972–73
- 1973–74
- 1974–75
- 1975–76
- 1976–77
- 1977–78
- 1978–79
- 1979–80
- 1980–81
- 1981–82
- 1982–83
- 1983–84
- 1984–85
- 1985–86
- 1986–87
- 1987–88
- 1988–89
- 1989–90
- 1990–91
- 1991–92
- 1992–93
- 1993–94
- 1994–95
- 1995–96
- 1996–97
- 1997–98
- 1998–99
- 1999–2000
- 2000–01
- 2001–02
- 2002–03
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| | Challenge League era, 2003–present | | | Seasons | |
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2011–12 in Swiss football |
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| | | | Domestic leagues | |
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| | Domestic cups | |
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| International club
competitions | |
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| Related to
national teams | |
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| Club seasons | | | Super League |
- Basel
- Grasshopper Club
- Lausanne
- Luzern
- Neuchâtel Xamax
- Servette
- Sion
- Thun
- Young Boys
- Zürich
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| | Challenge League |
- Aarau
- Biel-Bienne
- Chiasso
- Delémont
- Kriens
- Lausanne-Sport
- Locarno
- Lugano
- Schaffhausen
- Servette
- Stade Nyonnais
- Vaduz
- Wil
- Winterthur
- Wohlen
- Yverdon-Sport
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2014–15 Season