2019–20 Swiss Challenge League

Swiss Challenge League
Season2019–20
ChampionsLausanne
PromotedLausanne
Vaduz
Relegatednone
Europa LeagueVaduz
Matches played180
Goals scored595 (3.31 per match)
Top goalscorerAldin Turkeš (22 goals)
Biggest home winLausanne-Sport 5–0 Lausanne-Ouchy
Lausanne-Sport 5–0 Schaffhausen
Lausanne-Sport 5–0 Wil
Grasshopper 5–0 Aarau
Biggest away winWinterthur 0–6 Lausanne-Sport
Grasshopper 0–6 Winterthur
Highest scoringAarau 5–4 Lausanne-Sport
Highest attendance9'000 (Winterthur 1–1 Grasshopper)

The 2019–20 Swiss Challenge League (referred to as the Brack.ch Challenge League for sponsoring reasons) was the 17th season of the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of competitive football in Switzerland, under its current name. The season started on 20 July 2019 and was scheduled to end on 20 May 2020.[1] The league was on winter break between 15 December 2019 and 24 January 2020.

On 28 February Swiss Football League postponed all Super and Challenge League matches of matchdays 24, 25 and 26. Postponement came after the Swiss Federal Council banned all major events until 15 March due to the COVID-19 outbreak.[2] On 13 March Super and Challenge League football was halted at least until the end of April.[3] The league eventually resumed on 19 June. The last regular games were played on 2 August 2020.

Participating teams

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A total of 10 teams participated in the league. 2018–19 Swiss Challenge League champions Servette FC were promoted to the 2019–20 Swiss Super League. They were replaced by Grasshopper Club Zürich, who got relegated after finishing last-placed in the 2018–19 Swiss Super League. Rapperswil-Jona was relegated after finishing 10th. They were replaced by FC Stade Lausanne-Ouchy, who won promotion from the 2018–19 Swiss Promotion League.

Stadia and locations

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Team Location Stadium Capacity
FC Aarau Aarau Stadion Brügglifeld 8,000
FC Chiasso Chiasso Stadio Comunale Riva IV 5,000
Grasshopper Club Zürich Zürich Letzigrund 26,104
SC Kriens Kriens Stadion Kleinfeld 5,360
FC Lausanne-Sport Lausanne Stade olympique de la Pontaise 15,850
FC Schaffhausen Schaffhausen LIPO Park Schaffhausen 8,200
FC Stade Lausanne-Ouchy Nyon[a] Centre Sportif de Colovray 7,200
FC Vaduz Liechtenstein Vaduz Rheinpark Stadion 7,584
FC Wil 1900 Wil IGP Arena 6,958
FC Winterthur Winterthur Schützenwiese 8,550
  1. ^ Stade-Lausanne-Ouchy's home stadium Stade Juan-Antonio-Samaranch in Lausanne can not accommodate SLO for the Challenge League. SLO will play at the Centre sportif de Colovray in Nyon.[4]

Personnel

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Team Manager
Aarau Switzerland Stephan Keller
Chiasso Switzerland Alessandro Mangiarratti (1ª-13ª)
Italy Andrea Manzo (14ª-)
Italy Alessandro Lupi (24ª-)
Grasshoper Hungary Zoltán Kádár
Kriens Switzerland Bruno Berner
Lausanne Switzerland Giorgio Contini
Lausanne-Ochy Switzerland Urs Meier
Italy Stefano Maccoppi
Schaffhausen Switzerland Murat Yakin
Liechtenstein Vaduz Liechtenstein Mario Frick
Wil Switzerland Ciriaco Sforza
Winterthur Germany Ralf Loose

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Lausanne (C, P) 36 22 7 7 84 36 +48 73 Promotion to 2020–21 Swiss Super League
2 Vaduz[a] (O, P) 36 18 10 8 78 53 +25 64 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round and for the promotion/relegation play-offs
3 Grasshopper 36 17 10 9 69 52 +17 61
4 Winterthur 36 15 10 11 56 58 −2 55
5 Kriens 36 16 6 14 58 59 −1 54
6 Wil 36 14 7 15 60 61 −1 49
7 Lausanne-Ouchy 36 11 9 16 47 64 −17 42
8 Aarau 36 10 11 15 65 80 −15 41
9 Schaffhausen 36 6 14 16 34 62 −28 32
10 Chiasso 36 5 8 23 44 70 −26 23
Source: Swiss Challenge League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head goal difference; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Draw.[5]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted
Notes:

Results

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Promotion play-offs

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The ninth-placed team of 2019–20 Swiss Super League, Thun, played against the runners-up of 2019–20 Swiss Challenge League, Vaduz.

First leg

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Vaduz2–0Thun
  • Cicek 45+3'
  • Sutter 58'
Report

Second leg

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Thun4–3Vaduz
Report

Vaduz won 5–4 on aggregate and promoted to the Swiss Super League.

References

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  1. ^ "Spielplan Calendrier 2019–20" (PDF). www.sfl.ch (in German and French). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Bundesrat streicht Grossanlässe: Fussballpartien am Wochenende abgesagt – Geisterspiele im Eishockey". Bluewin. 28 February 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  3. ^ "Keine Spiele in der Schweiz bis Ende April". Bluewin. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  4. ^ Gn, T (4 April 2019). "Stade-Lausanne-Ouchy sera contraint de jouer à Nyon" (in French). 24 Heures. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Reglement für den Spielbetrieb der SFL" (PDF) (in German). sfl.ch. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
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