1972–73 in Swiss football

Football in Switzerland
Season	1972–73
Men's football
Nationalliga A	Basel
Nationalliga B	Xamax
1. Liga	1. Liga champions:; FC Nordstern Basel; Group West:; FC Monthey; Group Cenral:; FC Nordstern Basel; Group South and East:; FC Tössfeld
1972–73 Swiss Cup	Zürich
1972 Swiss League Cup	Basel
Women's football
Swiss Women's Super League	DFC Aarau

The following is a summary of the 1972–73 season of competitive football in Switzerland.

Nationalliga A

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Basel^[1]	26	17	5	4	57	30	+27	39	Champions qualified for 1973–74 European Cup
2	Grasshopper Club	26	14	7	5	54	32	+22	35	Qualified for 1973–74 UEFA Cup and entered 1973 Intertoto Cup
3	Sion	26	13	7	6	35	30	+5	33	Qualified for 1973–74 UEFA Cup
4	Servette	26	14	3	9	41	23	+18	31
5	Winterthur	26	12	6	8	40	29	+11	30	Entered 1973 Intertoto Cup
6	Lausanne-Sport	26	11	6	9	46	27	+19	28
7	Zürich^[2]	26	10	8	8	38	33	+5	28	Swiss Cup winners qualified for 1973–74 Cup Winners' Cup and entered 1973 Intertoto Cup
8	Lugano	26	9	9	8	31	30	+1	27	Entered 1973 Intertoto Cup
9	Young Boys	26	9	5	12	39	40	−1	23
10	La Chaux-de-Fonds	26	8	7	11	30	43	−13	23
11	Chiasso	26	8	5	13	21	48	−27	21
12	St. Gallen	26	7	5	14	31	49	−18	19

13	Fribourg	26	4	7	15	24	43	−19	15	Relegated to 1973–74 Nationalliga B
14	Grenchen	26	4	4	18	23	53	−30	12	Relegated to 1973–74 Nationalliga B

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference within the league, however with play-off for qualifiers;

Nationalliga B

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Xamax	26	19	5	2	72	21	+51	43	NLB Champions and promoted to 1973–74 Nationalliga A

2	CS Chênois	26	15	7	4	44	24	+20	37	To promotion play-off
3	Luzern	26	15	7	4	60	26	+34	37	To promotion play-off

4	FC Biel-Bienne	26	11	6	9	45	35	+10	28
5	Vevey-Sports	26	11	5	10	50	40	+10	27
6	Mendrisiostar	26	9	9	8	30	34	−4	27
7	FC Young Fellows Zürich	26	11	4	11	35	37	−2	26
8	Etoile Carouge FC	26	8	8	10	36	51	−15	24
9	FC Wettingen	26	8	7	11	30	44	−14	23
10	FC Aarau^[3]	26	7	8	11	29	42	−13	22
11	FC Martigny-Sports	26	6	9	11	27	45	−18	21
12	AC Bellinzona	26	7	6	13	30	41	−11	20

13	SC Brühl^[4]	26	6	6	14	43	58	−15	18	Relegated to 1973–74 1. Liga
14	SC Buochs^[4]	26	3	5	18	26	59	−33	11	Relegated to 1973–74 1. Liga

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference within the league, however with play-off for qualifiers;

Promotion play-off

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Chênois	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Luzern

Chênois won and were promoted to 1973–74 Nationalliga A. Luzern remained in division.

1. Liga

Group West

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	FC Monthey	24	13	7	4	48	21	+27	33	Play-off to Nationalliga B
2	FC Dürrenast	24	11	8	5	43	31	+12	30	Play-off to Nationalliga B
3	FC Raron	24	11	5	8	42	36	+6	27
4	FC Stade Nyonnais	24	11	4	9	43	31	+12	26
5	FC Le Locle	24	9	7	8	43	38	+5	25
6	Yverdon-Sport FC	24	10	5	9	35	38	−3	25
7	FC Meyrin	24	9	7	8	26	33	−7	25
8	Central Fribourg	24	10	4	10	45	43	+2	24
9	FC Thun	24	10	4	10	35	46	−11	24
10	Urania Genève Sport	24	7	9	8	34	37	−3	23
11	ASI Audax-Friul	24	8	4	12	35	41	−6	20
12	FC Fontainemelon^[4]	24	5	6	13	33	47	−14	16	Relegation to 2. Liga Interregional
13	FC Renens^[4]	24	3	8	13	27	47	−20	14	Relegation to 2. Liga Interregional

Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference within the league, but decider play-off for qualifiers; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Draw.

Group Central

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	FC Nordstern Basel	24	16	3	5	44	22	+22	35	Play-off to Nationalliga B
2	SR Delémont	24	13	4	7	41	29	+12	30	Play-off to Nationalliga B
3	SC Kriens	24	11	7	6	46	32	+14	29
4	FC Solothurn	24	8	11	5	39	33	+6	27
5	FC Bern	24	8	9	7	47	47	0	25
6	FC Baden	24	9	6	9	31	35	−4	24
7	FC Porrentruy	24	9	6	9	29	34	−5	24
8	FC Moutier	24	7	9	8	46	39	+7	23
9	FC Emmenbrücke	24	9	4	11	42	40	+2	22
10	FC Laufen	24	8	6	10	37	40	−3	22
11	FC Concordia Basel	24	7	4	13	37	52	−15	18	Play-out against relegation
12	FC Turgi^[4]	24	5	8	11	27	43	−16	18	Play-out against relegation
13	FC Breite Basel^[4]	24	5	5	14	33	53	−20	15	Relegation to 2. Liga Interregional

Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference within the league, but decider play-off for qualifiers; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Draw.

Decider for eleventh place

The decider was played on 3 June in Solothurn.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
FC Concordia Basel	2–2 (a.e.t.)	FC Turgi

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

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	FC Tössfeld	24	13	8	3	45	22	+23	34	Play-off to Nationalliga B
2	SC Zug	24	12	5	7	39	33	+6	29	Play-off to Nationalliga B
3	FC Locarno	24	9	9	6	41	27	+14	27
4	FC Blue Stars Zürich	24	9	8	7	34	22	+12	26
5	FC Uzwil	24	9	7	8	36	39	−3	25
6	FC Gossau	24	9	6	9	35	34	+1	24
7	FC Red Star Zürich	24	7	8	9	28	28	0	22
8	US Giubiasco	24	6	10	8	21	28	−7	22
9	FC Frauenfeld	24	7	8	9	32	40	−8	22
10	FC Chur	24	6	9	9	27	36	−9	21
11	FC Rapid Lugano	24	7	7	10	30	41	−11	21
12	FC Vaduz^[4]	24	7	6	11	38	44	−6	20	Relegation to 2. Liga Interregional
13	AS Gambarogno^[4]	24	6	7	11	31	43	−12	19	Relegation to 2. Liga Interregional

Source: RSSSF (which contains a mistake by SC Zug, number of wins +1, number of draws -1, but points are correctly stated)
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference within the league, but decider play-off for qualifiers; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Draw.

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

Team 1	Score	Team 2
FC Nordstern Basel	3–3	SC Zug
SC Zug	0–6	FC Nordstern Basel

FC Nordstern Basel win 9–3 on aggregate and continue to the finals.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
FC Tössfeld	5–1	FC Dürrenast
FC Dürrenast	3–1	FC Tössfeld

FC Tössfeld win 6–4 on aggregate and continue to the finals.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
FC Monthey	0–1	SR Delémont
SR Delémont	3–1	FC Monthey

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.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	NOR	TÖS	DEL
1	FC Nordstern Basel	2	1	1	2	1	+1	2	—	2–0	—
2	FC Tössfeld	2	1	1	3	2	+1	2	—	—	3–0
3	SR Delémont	2	1	1	1	3	−2	2	1–0	—	—

Source: RSSSF

FC Nordstern Basel are champions, because they beat Tössfeld in the head-to-head and Tössfeld are runners-up. These two teams are promoted.^[4]

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 (a.e.t.). (agg. 3:2). Biel/Bienne-Basel 0:1. Basel-Biel/Bienne 5:1 (agg. 6:1).

Final

Easter Monday
23 April 1973

14:30

Zürich	2–0 (a.e.t.)	Basel
Marti 92' Künzli 101'	FCB summary FCZ summary Summary

Wankdorf, Bern

Attendance: 45,000

Referee:

Roland Keller Bern

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

Team 1	Score	Team 2
FC Basel	8–0	Servette FC Genève
FC Winterthur	4–1	FC Lugano

Quarter-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
FC Basel	2–1 (aet)	Lausanne-Sports
Grasshopper Club Zürich	1–2	FC Winterthur

Semi-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
FC Basel	6–1	FC Sion
FC Luzern	0–2	FC Winterthur

Final

11 November 1972

14:30

Final

Basel	4–1	FC Winterthur
Hitzfeld 6' (1:0) Hitzfeld 22' (2:0) Balmer 40' (3:1) Hitzfeld 90' (pen. 4:1)	FCB summary RSSSF summary	25' (2:1) Nielsen

Letzigrund, Zürich

Attendance: 7,600

Referee:

Jean Dubach Nidau

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

13 September 1972 First leg	Újpesti Dózsa	2–0	Basel	Újpest
17:30	Bene 39' Horváth 57' Zámbó 60'	UEFA summary FCB summary	88' Ramseier	Stadium: Ferenc Szusza Stadium Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Paul Schiller

27 September 1972 Second leg	Basel	3–2	Újpesti Dózsa	Basel
20:00	Hasler 65' (1:1) Balmer 75' (2:1) Balmer 83' (3:1)	UEFA summary FCB summary	32' E. Dunai 46' (0:1) Bene 58' P. Juhász 89' (3:2) Bene	Stadium: St. Jakob Stadium Attendance: 16,000 Referee: Walker

Újpesti Dózsa won 4–3 on aggregate.

Zürich

Cup Winners' Cup

First round

13 September 1972 First leg	Zürich	1–1	Wrexham	Letzigrund, Zürich
20:15	Kuhn 34' Künzli 47'	FCZ summary	48' Kinsey	Attendance: 6,500 Referee: Petar Kostovski

27 September 1972 Second leg	Wrexham	2–1	Zürich	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham
	May Mostyn Ashcroft 63' Sutton 74'	FCZ summary	Zigerlig 48' Martinelli	Attendance: 18,000 Referee: Rolf Nyhus

Wrexham won 3–2 on aggregate

Intertoto Cup

Group 5

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	SLO	FIR	ZÜR^[2]	DJU
1	Slovan Bratislava	6	5	0	1	16	7	+9	10	—	5–0	0–3	4–1
2	First Vienna	6	2	2	2	9	10	−1	6	0–1	—	2–2	3–0
3	Zürich^[2]	6	1	3	2	8	8	0	5	1–3	1–1	—	0–0
4	Djurgården	6	1	1	4	6	14	−8	3	2–3	1–3	2–1	—

Source: mogiel.net
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Draw.

Grasshopper Club

UEFA Cup

First round

13 September 1972 (1972-09-13) First leg	Nîmes	1–2	Grasshoppers	Stade Jean-Bouin, Nîmes
	Dell'Oste 30'	Report	Müller 28' Winiger 67'	Attendance: 8,569 Referee: Joaquim Fernandes Campos (Portugal)^{[citation needed]}

26 September 1972 (1972-09-26) Second leg	Grasshoppers	2–1	Nîmes	Hardturm, Zürich
	Müller 19' Citherlet 37' (pen.)	Report	Adams 49'	Attendance: 4,800 Referee: Jan Keizer (Netherlands)^{[citation needed]}

Grasshoppers won 4–2 on aggregate.

25 October 1972 (1972-10-25) First leg	Grasshoppers	1–3	Ararat Yerevan	Hardturm, Zürich
	Citherlet 90' (pen.)	Report	Kazaryan 28' Ishtoyan 52' Andreasyan 58'	Attendance: 6,927 Referee: Jacques Colling (Luxembourg)^{[citation needed]}

8 November 1972 (1972-11-08) Second leg	Ararat Yerevan	4–2	Grasshoppers	Hrazdan Stadium, Yerevan
	Kazaryan 13', 23' Markarov 49', 78'	Report	Gröbli 17' (pen.) Müller 65'	Attendance: 12,486 Referee: Francis Rion (Belgium)^{[citation needed]}

Ararat Yerevan won 7–3 on aggregate.

Intertoto Cup

Group 7

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	HAN	GCZ	STA	HVI
1	Hannover	6	4	1	1	15	10	+5	9	—	3–2	4–1	3–2
2	Grasshopper Club	6	2	3	1	12	7	+5	7	1–1	—	1–1	1–1
3	Stal Mielec	6	3	1	2	13	12	+1	7	3–2	1–4	—	5–0
4	Hvidovre	6	0	1	5	5	16	−11	1	1–2	0–3	1–2	—

Source: mogiel.net
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Draw.

Lausanne-Sport

UEFA Cup

First round

13 September 1972 (1972-09-13) First leg	Red Star Belgrade	5–1	Lausanne-Sport	Red Star Stadium, Belgrade
	Karasi 17' Lazarević 25', 55', 88' Janković 67'	Report	Grahn 63'	Attendance: 3,555 Referee: Ertuğrul Dilek (Turkey) ^{[citation needed]}

27 September 1972 (1972-09-27) Second leg	Lausanne-Sport	3–2	Red Star Belgrade	Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne
	Cucinotta 28' Grahn 80' García 89'	Report	Janković 14', 44'	Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Pablo Sánchez Ibáñez (Spain) ^{[citation needed]}

Red Star Belgrade won 7–4 on aggregate.

Young Boys

Intertoto Cup

Group 3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	STE	WIS	YB	ÅTV
1	Saint-Étienne	6	4	2	0	12	2	+10	10	—	0–0	0–0	3–0
2	Wisła Kraków	6	2	3	1	12	3	+9	7	0–1	—	8–0	1–1
3	Young Boys	6	1	2	3	4	17	−13	4	0–5	1–1	—	2–1
4	Åtvidaberg	6	1	1	4	6	12	−6	3	2–3	0–2	2–1	—

Source: mogiel.net
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Draw.

Winterthur

Intertoto Cup

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	NOR	SAL	WIN	GWA
1	Norrköping	6	3	2	1	10	7	+3	8	—	2–1	0–2	1–1
2	Austria Salzburg	6	4	0	2	11	9	+2	8	2–4	—	3–2	2–0
3	Winterthur	6	2	2	2	9	8	+1	6	1–1	1–2	—	3–2
4	Górnik Wałbrzych	6	0	2	4	3	9	−6	2	0–2	0–1	0–0	—

Source: mogiel.net
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Draw.

References

^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv" (1973). "1972/73 Rangliste" [1972/73 Ranking] (in Swiss High German). Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv". Retrieved 2023-11-16.
^ ^a ^b (red) dbFCZ (2023). "FCZ 1972/73" (in Swiss High German). dbFCZ. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
^ Beck, Stephan (2023). "Schweizer Meisterschaft 1972/73 Nationalliga B" [Swiss Championship 1972/73 Nationalliga B] (in German). arowa.ch. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Erste Liga (SFV) (2018). "Statistik der Ersten Liga über Aufstieg und Abstieg ab Saison 1931/32 bis 2018" [First League statistics on promotion and relegation from the 1931/32 season to 2018] (PDF). PDF page 8 (in German). Erste Liga, Abteilung des SFV. Retrieved 2023-11-16.

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
Josef Zindel (2018). FC Basel 1893. Die ersten 125 Jahre (in German). Basel: Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7245-2305-5.

Preceded by 1971–72	Seasons in Swiss football	Succeeded by 1973–74

[fcb-achiv-FCB-1972/73_Rangliste-1] Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv" (1973). "1972/73 Rangliste" [1972/73 Ranking] (in Swiss High German). Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv". Retrieved 2023-11-16.

[dbFCZ-FCZ-1972/73-2] (red) dbFCZ (2023). "FCZ 1972/73" (in Swiss High German). dbFCZ. Retrieved 2023-11-16.

[arowa-FCA-1972/73_Rangliste-3] Beck, Stephan (2023). "Schweizer Meisterschaft 1972/73 Nationalliga B" [Swiss Championship 1972/73 Nationalliga B] (in German). arowa.ch. Retrieved 2023-11-16.

[Erste_Liga-Statistik_der_Ersten_Liga_über_Aufstieg_und_Abstieg-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Erste Liga (SFV) (2018). "Statistik der Ersten Liga über Aufstieg und Abstieg ab Saison 1931/32 bis 2018" [First League statistics on promotion and relegation from the 1931/32 season to 2018] (PDF). PDF page 8 (in German). Erste Liga, Abteilung des SFV. Retrieved 2023-11-16.

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