The 2023–24 Swiss Challenge League (referred to as the Dieci Challenge League for sponsoring reasons) is the 126th season of the second tier of competitive football in Switzerland and the 21st season under its current name.

Overview

Teams

Due to the increased number of teams in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

, from ten to twelve, two teams were directly promoted at the end of the last season and no teams were directly relegated, but third and last placed teams advanced to a promotion and relegation play-off, respectively. The remaining six teams were joined by the best placed eligible teams of the

2022–23 Swiss Promotion League The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, runners-up Stade Nyonnais and third-placed

FC Baden Fussballclub Baden 1897, simply known as FC Baden, is a Swiss football club based in Baden, Canton Aargau, which is a short distance from Zürich. It was founded in 1897. FC Baden has a total of 22 different teams at age levels, including fiv ...

, Stade Nyonnais and Baden returned to second tier after 11 and 17 years absence respectively. Last season's last placed team

Neuchâtel Xamax FCS Neuchâtel Xamax Football Club Serrières or Neuchâtel Xamax FCS () is a Swiss football club based in Neuchâtel. It was created in 1970 through a merger between FC Cantonal, founded in 1906 and Swiss champions of 1916, and FC Xamax founded ...

remains in the Challenge League as winners of the

relegation play-off Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

FC Sion Football Club Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss Association football, football club from the city of Sion, Switzerland, Sion. The club was founded in 1909 and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have wo ...

, as losers of the

promotion play-off Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

, returned to the Challenge League after 17 years in the Super League.

Schedule

The Swiss Football League (SFL) released a detailed schedule on 7 December 2022. The season will begin on 21 July 2023 and conclude on 20 May 2024. As before, the league will go on winter break after matchday 18 on 17 December 2023 and resume on 26 January 2024. Promotion play-offs are scheduled for the week following the final matchday. The two legs of the promotion play-offs are scheduled for 26 and 31 May 2024, respectively. The fixtures of the first 18 rounds were drawn and published on 21 June 2023, together with the match times for the first nine rounds. Matches of European competitors

FC Vaduz Fussball Club Vaduz (En: ''Football Club Vaduz'') is a professional association football, football club from Vaduz, Liechtenstein that plays in the Challenge League (Switzerland), Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football. The club pla ...

may be postponed to Sundays in rounds 7, 8, and 9, subject to their performance in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying.

Teams

Stadia and locations

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

Number of teams by regions

League table

Results

First and second rounds

Third and fourth rounds

Promotion play-off

The relegation play-off will be played in a two-legged game between the eleventh placed team of the

(5th of the relegation group) and the second placed team of the Challenge League. The two legs of the relegation play-offs are scheduled for 26 and 31 May 2024, respectively. The winner of the play-off is whichever teams scores most in both games (no

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

). In case of a tie at the end of the two games, 30 minutes of

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

(two times 15 minutes) are added, followed by a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

, in case the teams are still tied.

First leg

Second leg

''Grasshopper wins 3–2 on aggregate.''

Attendances

References

External links

*
Soccerway
{{DEFAULTSORT:2022-23 Swiss Challenge League

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League (known as the Dieci Challenge League for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the wi ...

2 Swiss Challenge League seasons