The following is the summary of the Swiss National League in the 1943–44 football season. This was the 47th season of top-tier Swiss football.
Overview Preamble In Switzerland during the second world war, sport became an integral part of the "spiritual national defense". This was a political and cultural movement that had already become increasingly important during the late 1930s. Politicians, intellectuals and media professionals had increasingly called for measures to strengthen Switzerland's basic cultural values. Since the Nationalliga games were also considered to be one of the activities that seemed important for maintaining the morale of the population, the military authorities put considerably fewer obstacles in the way of the top players as they had during the previous World War.
ASF/SFV Therefore, it came about that the Swiss Football Association (ASF/SFV) expanded themselves. To this date, the Association had 14 members in the top-tier and 25 members in the second-tier, calles 1. Liga. The decision of the extraordinary assembly, held on 9 October 1943 in Lugano, was to double the number of top-tier members to 28 clubs for the following season. The Nationalliga would then be divided into two strength classes each with 14 teams. The Nationalliga would become the new Nationalliga A (NLA), while the Nationalliga B (NLB) would be completely newly formed. The second-tier would be contested by the one relegated team from the NLA and the 13 best teams of the 1943–44 1. Liga season. From this moment, the 1. Liga would become the third-tier of the Swiss football league system and would also be increased in size, from 25 clubs in two groups, to 30 clubs in three groups with 10 teams each.
Format The 14 teams, in this final Nationalliga season, played a double round-robin to decide their table positions. Two points were awarded for a win and one point was awarded for a draw. It was contested by the top 13 teams from the 1942–43 Nationalliga and the newly promoted, 1. Liga champion, La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Nationalliga Teams, locations Team Based in Canton Stadium Capacity FC Basel Basel Landhof FC Biel-Bienne Biel/Bienne Stadion Gurzelen FC Cantonal Neuchâtel Neuchâtel Stade de la Maladière Grasshopper Club Zürich Zürich Hardturm FC Grenchen Grenchen Stadium Brühl FC La Chaux-de-Fonds La Chaux-de-Fonds Centre Sportif de la Charrière FC Lausanne-Sport Lausanne Pontaise FC Lugano Lugano Cornaredo Stadium FC Luzern Lucerne Stadion Allmend Servette FC Geneva Stade des Charmilles FC St. Gallen St. Gallen Espenmoos BSC Young Boys Bern Wankdorf Stadium FC Young Fellows Zürich Utogrund FC Zürich Zürich Letzigrund
Final league table
Results
Topscorers Rank Player Nat. Goals Club1. Erich Andres 23 Young Fellows Zürich2. Alfred Bickel 15 Grasshopper Club Alfred Weisshaar 15 Basel4. Numa Monnard 14 Lausanne-Sport 5. André Facchinetti 13 Cantonal Neuchâtel Marc Perroud 13 La Chaux-de-Fonds Josef Righetti 13 Grenchen8. Domenico Gallo 12 Lugano9. Hans-Peter Friedländer 11 Grasshopper Club10. Walter Bosshard 10 Zürich Robert Hasler 10 Biel-Bienne
Attendances
# Club Average 1 Lausanne 5,346 2 Young Fellows 4,962 3 Servette 4,615 4 Zürich 4,423 5 Basel 4,369 6 GCZ 3,769 7 Young Boys 3,577 8 Cantonal 3,477 9 La Chaux-de-Fonds 2,792 10 Biel-Bienne 2,554 11 Lugano 2,231 12 Luzern 2,215 13 St. Gallen 2,123 14 Grenchen 1,923
Source:
Further in Swiss football 1943–44 Swiss Cup 1943–44 Swiss 1. Liga
References
Sources Switzerland 1943–44 at RSSSF