Promotion League

The Promotion League, named the Hoval Promotion League for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Swiss football league system. Eighteen clubs compete in the league, playing each other twice over course of the season. The champions are promoted to the second tier, the Challenge League, while the bottom two teams are relegated to the 1st League Classic.

Promotion League

Founded	2012; 13 years ago (2012) as 1. Liga Promotion 2014; 11 years ago (2014) as Promotion League
Country	Switzerland
Confederation	UEFA
Number of clubs	18
Level on pyramid	3
Promotion to	Challenge League
Relegation to	1st League Classic
Domestic cup(s)	Swiss Cup
Current champions	Rapperswil-Jona (2nd Title) (2024–25)
Most championships	Rapperswil-Jona (2 Titles)
Website	matchcenter.el-pl.ch
Current: 2025–26 Promotion League

The league forms the semi-professional bridge to amateur football.^[1]

Overview

Eighteen teams play each other twice, once home and once away, for a total of 34 games. The season begins in August and ends in May, interrupted through a winter break from late November to early March.

The team finishing in first place—subject to license requirements of professional football—will be promoted to the division above, in turn the last-placed team of the second division will be relegated for the following season. Similarly, the bottom two teams are relegated to the fourth tier and replaced respectively.^[2]

It is the highest league in Switzerland that permits participation of reserve teams.

History

The league was introduced as the 1. Liga Promotion beginning with the 2012–13 season as part of a restructuring that saw the Challenge League reduced from 16 to 10 teams. This was done to decrease the competitive gap between it and the Super League by converting it to a purely professional league. The Promotion League would therefore serve as the semi-professional link to amateur football.^[3] The 1. Liga was consequently renamed to 1. Liga Classic, before reverting again in 2013 when the former adopted its current name. For its maiden season, six teams were relegated from the Challenge League, while the rest joined from the division below.^[4][5] In March 2020, the ongoing season was canceled after 17 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020–21 season suspended until further notice.^[6][7]

The league was expanded to 18 teams for the 2022–23 season and the number of allowed U21 teams is unrestricted.^[8]

Clubs

Current season

Main article: 2025–26 Promotion League

Basel II

Bavois

Biel-Bienne

Breitenrain

Bulle

Brühl

Cham

Grand-Saconnex

Kreuzlingen

Kriens

Lausanne-Sport II

Lugano II

Luzern II

Paradiso

Schaffhausen

Vevey-Sports

Young Boys II

Zürich II

Location of the 2025–26 Promotion League teams

Club	Canton	Location	Stadium	Capacity
FC Basel II		Basel	Stadion Rankhof Youth Campus Basel	7,000 1,000
FC Bavois		Bavois	Stade de Peupliers	1,000
FC Biel-Bienne		Biel/Bienne	Tissot Arena	5,200
FC Breitenrain Bern		Bern	Spitalacker	1,500
SC Brühl		St. Gallen	Paul-Grüninger-Stadion	4,200
FC Bulle		Bulle	Stade de Bouleyres	5,000
SC Cham		Cham	Stadion Eizmoos	1,800
FC Grand-Saconnex		Le Grand-Saconnex	Stade du Blanché	1,000
FC Kreuzlingen		Kreuzlingen	EC Technik Remu Arena	1,200
SC Kriens		Kriens	Stadion Kleinfeld	5,360
FC Lausanne-Sport II		Lausanne	Stade du Bois-Gentil	3,500
FC Lugano II		Lugano	Cornaredo Stadium	6,330
FC Luzern II		Lucerne	Swissporarena Allmend Sud	16,800 2,000
FC Paradiso		Paradiso	Campo Pian Scairolo	1,000
FC Schaffhausen		Schaffhausen	Berformance Arena	8,200
Vevey-Sports		Vevey	Stade de Copet	5,000
BSC Young Boys II		Bern	Stadion Wankdorf	32,000
FC Zürich II		Zurich	Sportplatz Heerenschürli	1,120

League champions

The following teams have won the league:^[9]

Season	Club
As 1. Liga Promotion
2012–13	FC Schaffhausen
2013–14	FC Le Mont
As Promotion League
2014–15	Neuchâtel Xamax
2015–16	Servette FC
2016–17	FC Rapperswil-Jona
2017–18	SC Kriens
2018–19	Stade Lausanne Ouchy
2019–20	None[a]
2020–21	Yverdon-Sport FC
2021–22	AC Bellinzona[b]
2022–23	FC Luzern II[c]
2023–24	Étoile Carouge FC
2024–25	FC Rapperswil-Jona
2025–26	TBD

1. The 2019–20 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Breitenrain was refused a license and withdrew its appeal alongside the license application. License holder and second-placed AC Bellinzona was promoted instead, but FC Breitenrain Bern was runner-up and AC Bellinzona crowned champions.
3. FC Luzern II was originally promotion but reserve team ineligible for promotion. License holder, second and third place Stade Nyonnais and FC Baden was promoted instead.