2023–24 Swiss Challenge League

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.

Swiss Challenge League

Season	2023–24
Dates	21 July 2023 – 20 May 2024
Champions	Sion[1]
Promoted	Sion
Relegated	Baden
UEFA Conference League	Vaduz
Matches played	180
Top goalscorer	Dejan Sorgić (Sion) 16 goals
Biggest home win	6–0 THU–BAD (4 Aug '23) VAD–SHA (3 Sep '23)
Biggest away win	0–5 BAD–WIL (27 Aug '23)
Highest scoring	6–3 THU–VAD (3 Nov '23)
Longest winning run	Sion (7 wins)
Longest unbeaten run	Sion (17 games)
Longest winless run	Vaduz (12 games)
Longest losing run	Baden (7 losses)
← 2022–23 2024–25 → All statistics correct as of 31 May 2024.

Overview

Teams

Due to the increased number of teams in the Super League, from ten to twelve,^[2] 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, runners-up Stade Nyonnais and third-placed FC Baden, Stade Nyonnais and Baden returned to second tier after 11 and 17 years absence respectively. Last season's last placed team Neuchâtel Xamax FCS remains in the Challenge League as winners of the relegation play-off.^[3] FC Sion, as losers of the promotion play-off, returned to the Challenge League after 17 years in the Super League.^[4]

Schedule

The Swiss Football League (SFL) released a detailed schedule on 7 December 2022.^[5][6] 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,^[7] together with the match times for the first nine rounds.^[8] Matches of European competitors FC Vaduz may be postponed to Sundays in rounds 7, 8, and 9, subject to their performance in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying.^[7]

Teams

Stadia and locations

Aarau

Baden

Bellinzona

Neuchâtel Xamax

Schaffhausen

Sion

Stade Nyonnais

Thun

Vaduz

Wil

Locations of clubs in the 2023–24 Swiss Challenge League teams

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity	Ref
FC Aarau	Aarau	Stadion Brügglifeld	8,000	[9]
FC Baden	Fislisbach	Esp Stadium	7,000	[10]
AC Bellinzona	Bellinzona	Stadio Comunale	5,000	[11]
FC Stade Nyonnais	Nyon	Stade de Colovray	7,200	[12]
FC Schaffhausen	Schaffhausen	Berformance Arena	8,200	[13]
FC Sion	Sion	Stade Tourbillon	14,283	[14]
FC Thun	Thun	Stockhorn Arena	10,014	[15]
FC Vaduz	Vaduz	Rheinpark Stadion	7,584	[16]
FC Wil 1900	Wil	Lidl Arena	6,958	[17]
Neuchâtel Xamax FCS	Neuchâtel	Stade de la Maladière	11,997	[18]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Aarau	Ranko Jakovljević	Olivier Jäckle	gpard	Credit Suisse
Baden	Michael Winsauer	Patrick Muff	macron	Badener Tagblatt
Bellinzona	Manuel Benavente	Matteo Tosetti	Acerbis
Schaffhausen	Christian Wimmer	Serge Müller	Puma	Methabau
Sion	Didier Tholot	Reto Ziegler	Macron	OIKEN
Nyon	Christophe Caschili	Quentin Gaillard	Adidas
Thun	Mauro Lustrinelli	Marco Bürki	Macron	Schneider Software AG
Vaduz	Marc Schneider	Benjamin Büchel	Puma	MBPI
Wil	Brunello Iacopetta	Kastrijot Ndau	ERIMA	Weber und Partner AG LIKA Group AG
Xamax	Uli Forte	Kenan Fatkič	Puma	groupe e

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of departure	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment	Ref.
Aarau	Boris Smiljanić	Departure	28 May 2023	Pre-season	Alex Frei	12 June 2023	[19][20]
Bellinzona	Fernando Cocimano (interim)	End of interim spell	13 June 2023		Sandro Chieffo	13 June 2023	[21]
Schaffhausen	Selcuk Sasivari (interim)		14 June 2023		Bigi Meier	14 June 2023	[22]
Sion	Paolo Tramezzani	Departure	15 June 2023		Didier Tholot	15 June 2023	[23]
Bellinzona	Sandro Chieffo	Sacked	3 October 2023	9th	Mario Rosas	3 October 2023	[24]
Schaffhausen	Bigi Meier		29 December 2023	10th	Christian Wimmer	29 December 2023	[25]
Vaduz	Martin Stocklasa		12 February 2024	8th	Marc Schneider	14 February 2024	[26][27]
Aarau	Alex Frei	Departure	25 March 2024	3rd	Ranko Jakovljević (interim)	25 March 2024	[28]

Number of teams by regions

No. of teams	Cantons	Team(s)
2	Aargau	Aarau, Baden
1
	St. Gallen	Wil
	Bern	Thun
	Schaffhausen	Schaffhausen
	Liechtenstein	FC Vaduz
	Vaud	Nyon
	Valais	Sion
	Neuchâtel	Neuchâtel Xamax
	Ticino	AC Bellinzona

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Sion (C, P)	36	23	10	3	72	23	+49	79	Promotion to Swiss Super League
2	Thun	36	23	7	6	73	38	+35	76	Qualification for promotion play-off
3	Vaduz	36	13	10	13	67	55	+12	49	Qualification for Conference League second qualifying round[a]
4	Xamax	36	11	16	9	55	45	+10	49
5	Wil	36	11	11	14	48	52	−4	44
6	Aarau	36	12	7	17	53	59	−6	43
7	Nyon	36	11	10	15	45	58	−13	43
8	Bellinzona	36	11	9	16	37	50	−13	42
9	Schaffhausen	36	8	14	14	36	55	−19	38
10	Baden (R)	36	6	8	22	31	82	−51	26	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) Head-to-head goals scored 6) Away goals scored; 7) Draw.^[29]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Vaduz qualified for the Conference League second qualifying round by winning the 2023–24 Liechtenstein Cup.

Results

First and second rounds Home \ Away AAR BAD BEL NYO SHA SIO THU VAD WIL XAM Aarau — 1–0 1–2 0–2 1–1 0–0 5–2 3–2 1–1 2–3 Baden 1–2 — 1–1 2–0 1–1 0–4 0–2 2–3 0–5 0–4 Bellinzona 1–3 3–1 — 1–0 0–0 1–2 0–3 0–4 0–2 1–0 Nyon 4–0 1–1 2–3 — 2–1 1–2 3–2 1–0 2–0 1–1 Schaffhausen 1–1 2–0 0–0 1–1 — 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–3 2–2 Sion 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 — 2–3 3–3 3–0 1–0 Thun 2–0 6–0 3–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 — 2–1 3–1 1–1 Vaduz 2–2 1–2 1–2 2–1 6–0 0–2 1–1 — 2–2 1–1 Wil 0–2 0–1 0–0 3–2 2–0 0–0 0–3 3–2 — 2–0 Xamax 2–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 3–0 0–3 4–0 1–1 2–2 — Source: Swiss Football League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Third and fourth rounds Home \ Away AAR BAD BEL NYO SHA SIO THU VAD WIL XAM Aarau — 2–0 0–2 5–2 1–2 1–2 3–0 1–0 0–4 2–0 Baden 0–1 — 2–1 2–3 0–1 0–3 1–5 1–1 2–1 2–2 Bellinzona 5–2 4–0 — 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–0 0–1 0–0 1–2 Nyon 4–3 1–0 1–3 — 0–3 0–4 0–0 0–2 1–1 0–2 Schaffhausen 1–1 2–2 2–1 1–1 — 0–4 1–1 0–1 3–2 1–1 Sion 2–0 4–1 3–0 1–0 3–0 — 1–2 2–2 4–0 1–1 Thun 1–0 3–1 1–0 4–1 3–0 1–0 — 6–3 2–1 4–0 Vaduz 2–1 6–0 2–2 1–3 3–2 1–2 1–0 — 3–1 5–3 Wil 1–1 3–1 4–1 0–0 0–1 1–4 0–3 1–0 — 0–0 Xamax 3–1 1–1 0–1 4–0 2–1 0–0 4–0 1–1 2–2 — Source: Swiss Football League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion play-off

The relegation play-off will be played in a two-legged game between the eleventh placed team of the Super League (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.^[5]

The winner of the play-off is whichever teams scores most in both games (no away goals rule).^[30] In case of a tie at the end of the two games, 30 minutes of extra time (two times 15 minutes) are added, followed by a penalty shoot-out, in case the teams are still tied.

First leg

26 May 2024 (2024-05-26)

16:30 CEST (UTC+2)

Grasshopper	1–1	Thun
Morandi 90+7' (pen.)	Report	52' Gutbub

Letzigrund, Zürich

Attendance: 9,045

Referee: Sandro Schärer

Second leg

31 May 2024 (2024-05-31)

20:30 CEST (UTC+2)

Thun	1–2	Grasshopper
Koné 43' (pen.)  90+4'	Report	3' Morandi 90+1' Abubakar

Stockhorn Arena, Thun

Attendance: 10,014

Referee: Urs Schnyder

Grasshopper wins 3–2 on aggregate.

Attendances

#	Football club	Home games	Average attendance[31]
1	FC Sion	18	6,542
2	FC Aarau	18	4,840
3	FC Thun	18	3,951
4	Neuchâtel Xamax	18	3,404
5	FC Baden	18	2,207
6	FC Wil	18	1,611
7	FC Vaduz	18	1,516
8	FC Schaffhausen	18	1,338
9	AC Bellinzona	18	836
10	Stade Nyonnais	18	781