The following is a summary of the 2011–12 season of competitive football in Switzerland.
Super League
The Super League is the top tier of the Swiss football league system. The 2011–12 season was the 115th season since its foundation and the season began on 16 July 2011 and ended on 23 May 2012.
Final league table
Challenge League
The 2011–12 Challenge League was the ninth season of the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier in the Swiss football league pyramid. The season began on 22 July 2011 and ended on 23 May 2012. Due to the creation of the 1. Liga Promotion that was due to commence the following year, this season would see the reduction in the number of teams competing from 16 to 10. This reconstruction was done to decrease the competitive gap between the two top tiers by converting the second to a purely professional league. The new Promotion League would therefore serve as the semi-professional link to amateur football. Therefore, six teams were due to be relegated, however, as Neuchâtel Xamax were demoted from the top tier to the sixth level, subsequently only five teams were relegated.
Final league table
Promotion/relegation play-offs The ninth-placed Super League team Sion played a two-legged play-off against the Challenge League runners-up Aarau for the last slot in the top tier in the 2012–13 season.
Sion won 2–1 on aggregate and the two teams remained in their divisions.
1. Liga
The 1. Liga was up until here, the third highest tier in the Swiss football league pyramid, it was the highest tier in amateur football. The 1. Liga was divided into three regional groups, each with 16 teams. Due to the creation of the 1. Liga Promotion that was due to commence the following year, this season would see the number of teams in the groups reduced from 16 to 14 and it would be renamed as 1. Liga Classic. The new Promotion League would serve as the semi-professional link to amateur football. Six clubs could achieve promotion to the new third division, if they had applied for the semi-professional status. The four best U-21 teams would receive a wild card and advance as well. This reconstruction was done to decrease the competitive gap between the two top tiers and the amateur league. No teams were to be relegated to the next lowest level, then the fourth tier which would become the new fifth level.
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Swiss Cup
In the first semi-final Basel beat Winterthur 2–1 and Luzern beat Sion 1–0 in the second semi-final. The winner of the first semi-final was considered as home team in the final, which was played on 16 May 2012 at the Stade de Suisse in Bern.
Final
Swiss Clubs in Europe Basel as league champions: Champions League group stage Zürich as runner-up: Champions League third qualifying round Young Boys as third placed team: Europa League third qualifying round Sion as 2010–11 Swiss Cup winners: Europa League play-off round Thun as fifth placed team: Europa League second qualifying round Vaduz as 2010–11 Liechtenstein Cup winners: Europa League second qualifying round
Basel UEFA Champions League
Group stage / Group C
Knockout phase
Zürich UEFA Champions League
Third qualifying round
Zürich won 2–1 on aggregate.
Play-off round
Bayern Munich won 3–0 on aggregate. Zürich transfer to Europa League group stage
Europa League
Group stage / Group D
Notes Note 2: Vaslui played their home matches at Stadionul Ceahlăul, Piatra Neamț as their own Stadionul Municipal did not meet UEFA criteria.
Young Boys Europa League
Third qualifying round
Young Boys won 5–1 on aggregate.
Play-off round
2–2 on aggregate. Braga won on away goals.
Sion Europa League
Play-off round
1. FC Sion originally drew 0–0 in the first leg and won 3–1 in the second leg. UEFA overturned the result of both matches. Both matches were awarded 3–0 in favour of Celtic F.C.
Thun Europa League
Second qualifying round
Thun won 2–1 on aggregate.
Third qualifying round
3–3 on aggregate. Thun won on away goals.
Play-off round
Stoke City won 5–1 on aggregate.
Vaduz Europa League
Second qualifying round
3–3 on aggregate. Vaduz won on away goals.
Third qualifying round
Hapoel Tel Aviv won 5–2 on aggregate.
References
Sources Switzerland 2011–12 at RSSSF 1. Liga season 2011–12 at the official website Cup finals at Fussball-Schweiz