The following is a summary of the 1972–73 season of competitive football in Switzerland.
Nationalliga A
Final league table
Nationalliga B
League table
Promotion play-off
Chênois won and were promoted to 1973–74 Nationalliga A. Luzern remained in division.
1. Liga
Group West
Group Central
Decider for eleventh place The decider was played on 3 June in Solothurn.
The game was drawn, however, at this period in time, the extra-time as match extension had not yet been introduced. FC Concordia Basel were declaired winners due to the better goal-average of the regular season and, therefore, they remained in the division. FC Turgi were relegated to 2. Liga Interregional.
Group South and East
Promotion play-off The three group winners played a two legged tie against one of the runners-up to decide the three finalists. The games were played on 3 and 10 June.
Qualification round
FC Nordstern Basel win 9–3 on aggregate and continue to the finals.
FC Tössfeld win 6–4 on aggregate and continue to the finals.
SR Delémont win 4–1 on aggregate and continue to the finals.
Final round The three first round winners competed in a single round-robin to decide the two promotion slots. The games were played on 17, 24 June and 1 July.
FC Nordstern Basel are champions, because they beat Tössfeld in the head-to-head and Tössfeld are runners-up. These two teams are promoted.
Swiss Cup
The competition was played in a knockout system. In the case of a draw, extra time was played. If the teams were still level after extra time, the match was replayed at the away team's ground. Here, in case of a draw after extra time, the replay was to be decided with a penalty shoot-out. The quarter- and semi-finals were played as two legged rounds, home and away. The final was held in the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern.
Early rounds The routes of the finalists to the final were: Third round: NLA teams with a bye. Fourth round: Bellinzona-Zürich 1:4. Basel-Martigny 6.0. Fifth round: Zürich-Lausanne 2:1. YB-Basel 0:4. Quarterfinals: First leg: Zürich-Etoile Carouge 1:1. Return leg: Etoile Carouge-Zürich 0:4 (agg. 1:5). Chiasso-Basel 0:2. Basel-Chiasso 5:3 (agg. 7:3). Semifinals: Winterthur-Zürich 1:1. Zürich-Winterthur 2:1 . (agg. 3:2). Biel/Bienne-Basel 0:1. Basel-Biel/Bienne 5:1 (agg. 6:1).
Final
Swiss League Cup
The 1972 League Cup was played as a pre-season tournament. The semi-finals and the final itself, however, was played after the season had commenced. The early stage was a group stage. The finalists Basel and Winterthur had a bye in this stage and they joined in the first round on 5 August.
Early rounds The routes of the finalists to the final were:
Round 1
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Swiss Clubs in Europe Basel as 1971–72 Nationalliga A champions: 1972–73 European Cup Zürich as 1971–72 Swiss Cup winners: 1972–73 Cup Winners' Cup and entered 1972 Intertoto Cup Grasshopper Club as league third placed team: 1972–73 UEFA Cup and entered 1972 Intertoto Cup Lausanne-Sport as league fourth placed team: 1972–73 UEFA Cup Young Boys: entered 1972 Intertoto Cup Winterthur: entered 1972 Intertoto Cup
Basel
European Cup
First round
Újpesti Dózsa won 4–3 on aggregate.
Zürich Cup Winners' Cup
First round
Wrexham won 3–2 on aggregate
Intertoto Cup
Group 5
Results
Grasshopper Club UEFA Cup
First round
Grasshoppers won 4–2 on aggregate.
Ararat Yerevan won 7–3 on aggregate.
Intertoto Cup
Group 7
Lausanne-Sport UEFA Cup
First round
Red Star Belgrade won 7–4 on aggregate.
Young Boys Intertoto Cup
Group 3
Winterthur Intertoto Cup
Group 2
References
Sources Switzerland 1972–73 at RSSSF League Cup finals at RSSSF European Competitions 1972–73 at RSSSF.com Cup finals at Fussball-Schweiz Intertoto history at Pawel Mogielnicki's Page