2021–22 Swiss Challenge League

The 2021–22 Swiss Challenge League (referred to as the Dieci Challenge League for sponsoring reasons) was the 19th season of the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of competitive football in Switzerland, under its current name. The season started on 23 July 2021 and ended on 21 May 2022.[2]

Swiss Challenge League
Season2021–22
ChampionsWinterthur
PromotedWinterthur
RelegatedKriens
Europa Conference LeagueVaduz
All statistics correct as of 3 August 2021[1].

Participating teams edit

A total of 10 teams participate in the league. 2020–21 Swiss Challenge League champions Grasshopper Club Zürich was promoted to the 2021–22 Swiss Super League. They were replaced by FC Vaduz, who was relegated after finishing last-placed in the 2020–21 Swiss Super League. FC Chiasso was relegated after finishing in last place in the 2020–21 Swiss Challenge League and was replaced by Yverdon-Sport FC, who finished atop the 2020-21 Swiss Promotion League.

Stadia and locations edit

Locations of clubs in the 2021–22 Challenge League
Team Location Stadium Capacity
FC Aarau Aarau Stadion Wolfgang Werner 8,000
SC Kriens Kriens Stadion Fritz Müller 5,360
FC Stade Lausanne-Ouchy Lausanne Stade Gauthier Rousseau[a] 15,850
Neuchâtel Xamax FCS Neuchâtel Stade Jocelyn Lemaitre 11,997
FC Schaffhausen Schaffhausen Stadion Philipp Krüger 8,200
FC Thun Thun Stadion Ralf Wirtz 10,014
Vaduz   Vaduz Stadion Fürst Hans-Adam 7,584
FC Wil 1900 Wil Stadion Moritz Schüller 6,958
FC Winterthur Winterthur Stadion Fabian Honkhoff 9,400
Yverdon-Sport FC Yverdon-les-Bains Stade Municipal Guillaume Roy 6,600
  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 Stade Olympique de la Pontaise in Lausanne.[3]

Personnel and kits edit

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Aarau   Stephan Keller   Elsad Zverotić gpard Swiss Red Cross, Credit Suisse
Kriens   Bruno Berner   Elia Alessandrini Joma MVM AG
Lausanne-Ouchy   Meho Kodro   Andy Laugeois 14Fourteen none
Neuchâtel   Martin Rueda   Laurent Walthert Erima Groupe E, Briq
Schaffhausen   Martin Andermatt   Imran Bunjaku Puma Pistoleros, doc-oliday
Thun   Carlos Bernegger   Nicola Sutter Macron Schneider Software AG
Wil   Brunello Iacopetta   Philipp Muntwiler Erima Planet Pure
Winterthur   Alexander Frei   Davide Callà gpard Keller, Init7

Managerial changes edit

League table edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Winterthur (C, P) 36 18 11 7 76 45 +31 65 Promotion to Swiss Super League
2 Schaffhausen 36 19 8 9 73 49 +24 65 Qualified for the Promotion play-offs
3 Aarau 36 20 5 11 67 47 +20 65
4 Vaduz 36 18 6 12 68 58 +10 60 Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round[a]
5 Thun 36 17 5 14 62 57 +5 56
6 Xamax 36 14 8 14 56 54 +2 50
7 Lausanne-Ouchy 36 12 8 16 46 50 −4 44
8 Yverdon 36 11 11 14 44 52 −8 44
9 Wil 36 11 8 17 68 80 −12 41
10 Kriens (R) 36 3 4 29 25 93 −68 13 Relegation to Swiss Promotion League
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.[4]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Results edit

Statistics edit

Top scorers edit

As of 21 May 2022[5]
Rank Player Club Goals
1   Joaquín Ardaiz FC Schaffhausen 20
2   Kevin Spadanuda FC Aarau 18
3   Simone Rapp FC Vaduz 16
  Brighton Labeau Stade Lausanne-Ouchy
  Roman Buess FC Winterthur
6   Sofian Bahloul FC Wil 14
  Raphaël Nuzzolo Neuchâtel Xamax FCS
8   Koro Kone Yverdon-Sport 13
  Valon Fazliu Yverdon-Sport
10   Tunahan Cicek FC Vaduz 12

Awards edit

  • On 1 June 2022, FC Thun was awarded the Fair Play Trophy for the dieci Challenge League.[6]

Promotion play-offs edit

The ninth-placed team of the Super League played the runners-up of the Challenge League. The games were held on 26 and 29 May 2022, respectively.[7][8] The runner-up of the Challenge League hosted the first game.[9]

FC Schaffhausen was confirmed as the runner-up of the Challenge League on 21 May 2022. On 22 May, FC Luzern was confirmed as their opponent.

First leg edit

FC Schaffhausen2–2FC Luzern
Report
Attendance: 8,143
Referee: Fedayi San

Second leg edit

FC Luzern2–0FC Schaffhausen
Report
Attendance: 15,500

FC Luzern wins 4–2 on aggregate.

References edit

  1. ^ "SAISON-STATISTIK 2021/22". www.sfl.ch (in German). Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Rahmenterminplan 2021-22" (PDF). www.sfl.ch (in German and French). Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  3. ^ Verdon, Emilien (11 February 2020). "Football: SLO jouera la saison prochaine à la Pontaise" (in French). LFM. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  4. ^ "Matchcenter" (PDF) (in German). sfl.ch. Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Torschützenliste 2021/22". The Swiss Football Association (in German). The Swiss Football Association. Retrieved 1 Mar 2022.
  6. ^ "Fair Play Trophys gehen nach Lugano und Thun" [Fair Play trophies awarded to Lugano and Thun]. 2022-06-01.
  7. ^ "SFL bestimmt die Anspielzeiten bis zum Saisonende". Swiss Football League. 2022-03-03.
  8. ^ "Termine für 35. DCL-Runde und Barrage sind bekannt". Swiss Football League. 2022-04-25.
  9. ^ Swiss Football League [@News_SFL] (April 3, 2022). "SFL bestimmt die Anspielzeiten bis zum Saisonende" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

External links edit