# 1978–79 Nationalliga A

The following is the summary of the Swiss National League in the 1978–79 football season, both Nationalliga A and Nationalliga B. This was the 82nd season of top-tier and the 81st season of second-tier football in Switzerland.

## Overview

The Swiss Football Association (ASF/SFV) had 28 members at this time. The clubs were divided into two tiers, the top tier Nationalliga A (NLA) with 12 teams and the second tier Nationalliga B (NLB) with 16. The format in both divisions was that the teams played a double round-robin to decide their table positions. Two points were awarded for a win and one point was awarded for a draw. Each club playing every other club twice (home and away), for a total of 22 rounds in the NLA and 30 rounds in the NLB.
In the NLA following this first qualification stage the division was divided in two, the top placed six teams then played a championship stage and the others in a relegation play-out. In both groups each team took half of the points gained in the first stage, rounded up to complete units, as bonus with them. They played a further double round-robin within the group. The Swiss champions would qualify for the 1979–80 European Cup, the runners-up and third placed team would qualify for the 1979–80 UEFA Cup.
In the following season the format was changed and both tiers would have 14 teams. Therefore, only one team from the NLA was relegated and the top three teams in the NLA were promoted. The bottom two teams in the NLB were relegated to the 1979–80 1. Liga.

## Nationalliga A

The first round of the NLA was played on 12 August 1978. There was a winter break between 3 December and 4 March 1979. The qualifying phase was completed by 8 April and the second phase took place between 21 April and 23 June 1997.

### Teams, locations

| Team | Town | Canton | Stadium | Capacity |
| FC Basel | Basel | Basel-Stadt | St. Jakob Stadium | 36,800 |
| CS Chênois | Thônex | Geneva | Stade des Trois-Chêne | 8,000 |
| FC Chiasso | Chiasso | Ticino | Stadio Comunale Riva IV | 4,000 |
| Grasshopper Club Zürich | Zürich | Zürich | Hardturm | 20,000 |
| FC Lausanne-Sport | Lausanne | Vaud | Pontaise | 15,700 |
| Neuchâtel Xamax FC | Neuchâtel | Neuchâtel | Stade de la Maladière | 25,500 |
| FC Nordstern Basel | Basel | Basel-Stadt | Rankhof | 7,600 |
| FC St. Gallen | St. Gallen | St. Gallen | Espenmoos | 11,000 |
| Servette FC | Geneva | Geneva | Stade des Charmilles | 27,000 |
| FC Sion | Sion | Valais | Stade de Tourbillon | 16,000 |
| BSC Young Boys | Bern | Bern | Wankdorf Stadium | 56,000 |
| FC Zürich | Zürich | Zürich | Letzigrund | 25,000 |

### Qualifying phase table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | FC Zürich | 22 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 51 | 19 | +32 | 32 | To championship round |
| 2 | Servette FC | 22 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 56 | 23 | +33 | 30 | To championship round |
| 3 | Grasshopper Club Zürich | 22 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 35 | 24 | +11 | 27 | To championship round |
| 4 | FC Basel | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 36 | 29 | +7 | 26 | To championship round |
| 5 | BSC Young Boys | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 39 | 34 | +5 | 26 | To championship round |
| 6 | FC St. Gallen | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 26 | To championship round |
| 7 | Neuchâtel Xamax | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 42 | 33 | +9 | 24 | To relegation play-out round |
| 8 | CS Chênois | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 30 | 32 | −2 | 22 | To relegation play-out round |
| 9 | Lausanne Sports | 22 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 28 | 40 | −12 | 15 | To relegation play-out round |
| 10 | FC Chiasso | 22 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 20 | 46 | −26 | 13 | To relegation play-out round |
| 11 | FC Nordstern Basel | 22 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 19 | 44 | −25 | 12 | To relegation play-out round |
| 12 | FC Sion | 22 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 20 | 52 | −32 | 11 | To relegation play-out round |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | BAS | CHÊ | CHI | GCZ | LS | NX | NOR | SER | SIO | STG | YB | ZÜR |
| Basel | | 2–1 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| Chênois | 1–0 | | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–5 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 |
| Chiasso | 2–1 | 0–2 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Grasshopper Club | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | | 3–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 2–1 |
| Lausanne-Sports | 0–1 | 1–4 | 4–3 | 2–0 | | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| Neuchâtel Xamax | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | | 2–1 | 0–3 | 8–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| Nordstern | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | | 0–5 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 1–2 | 0–1 |
| Servette | 6–0 | 5–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 | | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Sion | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–4 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–5 | | 0–1 | 4–1 | 2–2 |
| St. Gallen | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | | 6–0 | 0–2 |
| Young Boys | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | | 1–3 |
| Zürich | 1–1 | 6–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 5–0 | 4–1 | |

### Championship group table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Servette | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 5 | +18 | 15 | 35 | Champions and Swiss Cup winners qualified for 1979–80 European Cup |
| 2 | Zürich | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 14 | +5 | 16 | 29 | qualified for 1979–80 UEFA Cup and entered 1979 Intertoto Cup |
| 3 | Grasshopper Club | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 13 | −2 | 14 | 23 | qualified for 1979–80 UEFA Cup and entered 1979 Intertoto Cup |
| 4 | St. Gallen | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 11 | −3 | 13 | 20 | entered 1978 Intertoto Cup |
| 5 | Young Boys | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 17 | −12 | 13 | 19 | Cup finalist qualified for 1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup |
| 6 | Basel | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 18 | 24 | −6 | 13 | 18 | |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | BAS | GCZ | STG | SER | YB | ZÜR |
| Basel | | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 6–0 | 1–3 |
| Grasshopper Club | 2–1 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| St. Gallen | 4–1 | 0–0 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Servette | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | | 4–1 | 1–0 |
| Young Boys | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | | 0–1 |
| Zürich | 4–2 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | |

### Relegation play-out

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts | Relegation |
| 1 | CS Chênois | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 21 | 14 | +7 | 11 | 24 | entered 1978 Intertoto Cup |
| 2 | FC Sion | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 8 | +7 | 6 | 20 | |
| 3 | FC Chiasso | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 10 | +6 | 7 | 20 | |
| 4 | Lausanne Sports | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 16 | +4 | 8 | 20 | |
| 5 | Neuchâtel Xamax | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 19 | −8 | 12 | 17 | |
| 6 | FC Nordstern Basel | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 24 | −16 | 6 | 9 | Relegated to 1979–80 Nationalliga B |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | CHÊ | CHI | LS | NX | NOR | SIO |
| Chênois | | 1–0 | 3–3 | 6–3 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Chiasso | 1–1 | | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Lausanne-Sports | 2–4 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–2 |
| Neuchâtel Xamax | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | | 2–3 | 0–2 |
| Nordstern | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | | 0–3 |
| Sion | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | |

## Nationalliga B
### Teams, locations

| Team | Town | Canton | Stadium | Capacity |
| FC Aarau | Aarau | Aargau | Stadion Brügglifeld | 9,240 |
| AC Bellinzona | Bellinzona | Ticino | Stadio Comunale Bellinzona | 5,000 |
| FC Bern | Bern | Bern | Stadion Neufeld | 14,000 |
| FC Biel-Bienne | Biel/Bienne | Bern | Stadion Gurzelen | 15,000 |
| Étoile Carouge FC | Carouge | Geneva | Stade de la Fontenette | 3,690 |
| FC Frauenfeld | Frauenfeld | Thurgau | Kleine Allmend | 6,370 |
| FC Fribourg | Fribourg | Fribourg | Stade Universitaire | 9,000 |
| FC Grenchen | Grenchen | Solothurn | Stadium Brühl | 15,100 |
| SC Kriens | Kriens | Lucerne | Stadion Kleinfeld | 5,100 |
| FC La Chaux-de-Fonds | La Chaux-de-Fonds | Neuchâtel | Centre Sportif de la Charrière | 12,700 |
| Lugano | Lugano | Ticino | Cornaredo Stadium | 6,330 |
| Luzern | Lucerne | Lucerne | Stadion Allmend | 25,000 |
| Vevey-Sports | Vevey | Vaud | Stade de Copet | 4,000 |
| FC Wettingen | Wettingen | Aargau | Stadion Altenburg | 10,000 |
| FC Winterthur | Winterthur | Zürich | Schützenwiese | 8,550 |
| FC Young Fellows Zürich | Zürich | Zürich | Utogrund | 2,850 |

### Final league table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 1 | FC La Chaux-de-Fonds | 30 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 71 | 31 | +40 | 43 | Champions promoted to 1979–80 Nationalliga A |
| 2 | Luzern | 30 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 62 | 36 | +26 | 43 | Promoted to 1979–80 Nationalliga A |
| 3 | FC Winterthur | 30 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 58 | 32 | +26 | 41 | To promotion play-off |
| 4 | Lugano | 30 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 51 | 31 | +20 | 41 | To promotion play-off |
| 5 | FC Frauenfeld | 30 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 46 | 39 | +7 | 32 | |
| 6 | FC Aarau | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 44 | 39 | +5 | 32 | |
| 7 | FC Bern | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 32 | |
| 8 | Vevey-Sports | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 47 | 41 | +6 | 28 | |
| 9 | FC Fribourg | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 37 | 33 | +4 | 27 | |
| 10 | AC Bellinzona | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 47 | 49 | −2 | 27 | |
| 11 | FC Grenchen | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 27 | 32 | −5 | 27 | |
| 12 | SC Kriens | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 38 | 48 | −10 | 27 | |
| 13 | FC Biel-Bienne | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 35 | 55 | −20 | 26 | |
| 14 | FC Wettingen | 30 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 40 | 48 | −8 | 25 | |
| 15 | Etoile Carouge FC | 30 | 5 | 11 | 14 | 42 | 53 | −11 | 21 | Relegated to 1979–80 1. Liga |
| 16 | FC Young Fellows Zürich | 30 | 3 | 2 | 25 | 21 | 99 | −78 | 8 | Relegated to 1979–80 1. Liga |

## Further in Swiss football

* 1978–79 Swiss Cup
* 1978–79 Swiss 1. Liga