# 1977–78 Nationalliga A

The following is the summary of the Swiss National League in the 1977–78 football season, both Nationalliga A and Nationalliga B. This was the 81st season of top-tier and the 80th 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 other teams 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 1978–79 European Cup, the runners-up and third placed team would qualify for the 1978–79 UEFA Cup. From the play-out group the bottom two teams were relegated to the second-tier. From the NLB the top two teams were promoted and the bottom two teams relegated to the 1978–79 1. Liga.

## Nationalliga A

The first round of the NLA was played on 13 August 1977. There was a winter break between 11 December and 26 February 1978. The qualifying phase was completed by 25 March and the second phase took place between 1 April and 27 May 1978.

### 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 |
| Étoile Carouge FC | Carouge | Geneva | Stade de la Fontenette | 3,690 |
| 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 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 Young Fellows Zürich | Zürich | Zürich | Utogrund | 2,850 |
| FC Zürich | Zürich | Zürich | Letzigrund | 25,000 |

### Qualifying phase table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Grasshopper Club | 22 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 60 | 27 | +33 | 34 | To championship round |
| 2 | Servette | 22 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 44 | 20 | +24 | 33 | To championship round |
| 3 | Lausanne-Sport | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 47 | 21 | +26 | 30 | To championship round |
| 4 | Basel | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 53 | 34 | +19 | 28 | To championship round |
| 5 | FC Zürich | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 38 | 27 | +11 | 28 | To championship round |
| 6 | Sion | 22 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 29 | 33 | −4 | 21 | To championship round |
| 7 | Xamax | 22 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 32 | 42 | −10 | 19 | To relegation play-out round |
| 8 | Young Boys | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 27 | 45 | −18 | 19 | To relegation play-out round |
| 9 | Chênois | 22 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 27 | 35 | −8 | 18 | To relegation play-out round |
| 10 | St. Gallen | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 27 | 38 | −11 | 17 | To relegation play-out round |
| 11 | Étoile Carouge | 22 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 22 | 40 | −18 | 13 | To relegation play-out round |
| 12 | Young Fellows Zürich | 22 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 14 | 58 | −44 | 4 | To relegation play-out round |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | BAS | CHÊ | ÉTO | GCZ | LS | NX | SER | SIO | STG | YB | YFZ | ZÜR |
| Basel | | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–5 | 1–4 | 6–1 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 2–2 |
| Chênois | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 5–0 | 0–2 |
| Étoile Carouge | 1–0 | 0–2 | | 2–3 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 |
| Grasshopper Club | 0–1 | 5–1 | 3–2 | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 7–2 |
| Lausanne-Sports | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 6–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 |
| Neuchâtel Xamax | 2–5 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–3 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 |
| Servette | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 3–0 | | 2–2 | 0–0 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| Sion | 4–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 0–2 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| St. Gallen | 1–2 | 5–3 | 2–0 | 2–6 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Young Boys | 4–5 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–5 | 3–1 | 2–1 | | 3–0 | 0–1 |
| Young Fellows | 1–4 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–4 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | | 1–3 |
| Zürich | 1–1 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 5–1 | |

### Championship table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Grasshopper Club | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 12 | +5 | 17 | 29 | Swiss Champions, qualified for 1978–79 European Cup and entered 1978 Intertoto Cup |
| 2 | Servette | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 17 | 28 | Swiss Cup winners, qualified for 1978–79 Cup Winners' Cup |
| 3 | Basel | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 14 | +7 | 14 | 27 | qualified for 1978–79 UEFA Cup |
| 4 | Lausanne-Sport | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 21 | 14 | +7 | 15 | 26 | qualified for 1978–79 UEFA Cup |
| 5 | Zürich | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 14 | 26 | entered 1978 Intertoto Cup |
| 6 | Sion | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 27 | −19 | 11 | 12 | entered 1978 Intertoto Cup |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | BAS | GCZ | LS | SER | SIO | ZÜR |
| Basel | | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Grasshopper Club | 4–2 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 |
| Lausanne-Sports | 1–1 | 4–3 | | 1–2 | 6–1 | 4–0 |
| Servette | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Sion | 1–4 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | | 0–1 |
| Zürich | 4–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 4–2 | |

### Relegation play-out

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Young Boys | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 20 | 13 | +7 | 10 | 23 | entered 1978 Intertoto Cup |
| 2 | Chênois | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 19 | 9 | +10 | 9 | 21 | |
| 3 | St. Gallen | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 9 | 21 | |
| 4 | Xamax | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 15 | −1 | 10 | 20 | |
| 5 | Étoile Carouge | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 7 | 18 | Relegated to 1978–79 Nationalliga B |
| 6 | Young Fellows Zürich | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 10 | 31 | −21 | 2 | 4 | Relegated to 1978–79 Nationalliga B |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | CHÊ | ÉTO | NX | STG | YB | YFZ |
| Chênois | | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 4–0 |
| Étoile Carouge | 1–5 | | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Neuchâtel Xamax | 3–0 | 1–1 | | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 |
| St. Gallen | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | | 2–2 | 3–0 |
| Young Boys | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | | 3–1 |
| Young Fellows | 1–5 | 1–5 | 3–4 | 1–0 | 2–4 | |

## 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 Biel-Bienne | Biel/Bienne | Bern | Stadion Gurzelen | 15,000 |
| FC Bulle | Bulle | Fribourg | Stade de Bouleyres | 7,000 |
| FC Chiasso | Chiasso | Ticino | Stadio Comunale Riva IV | 4,000 |
| FC Fribourg | Fribourg | Fribourg | Stade Universitaire | 9,000 |
| FC Gossau | Gossau | St. Gallen | Sportanlage Buechenwald | 3,500 |
| 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 |
| FC Lugano | Lugano | Ticino | Cornaredo Stadium | 6,330 |
| FC Luzern | Lucerne | Lucerne | Stadion Allmend | 25,000 |
| FC Nordstern Basel | Basel | Basel-Stadt | Rankhof | 7,600 |
| Vevey-Sports | Vevey | Vaud | Stade de Copet | 4,000 |
| FC Wettingen | Wettingen | Aargau | Stadion Altenburg | 10,000 |
| FC Winterthur | Winterthur | Zürich | Schützenwiese | 8,550 |

### Final league table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 1 | Nordstern Basel | 30 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 69 | 23 | +46 | 45 | Champions promoted to 1978–79 Nationalliga A |
| 2 | Chiasso | 30 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 70 | 30 | +40 | 45 | Promoted to 1978–79 Nationalliga A |
| 3 | Lugano | 30 | 16 | 10 | 4 | 57 | 19 | +38 | 42 | |
| 4 | Biel-Bienne | 30 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 37 | 30 | +7 | 36 | |
| 5 | Vevey-Sports | 30 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 58 | 36 | +22 | 35 | |
| 6 | Winterthur | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 44 | 44 | 0 | 32 | |
| 7 | Grenchen | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 45 | 45 | 0 | 28 | |
| 8 | Kriens | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 38 | 58 | −20 | 28 | |
| 9 | Bellinzona | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 44 | 55 | −11 | 26 | |
| 10 | Fribourg | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 35 | 46 | −11 | 26 | |
| 11 | Aarau | 30 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 44 | 67 | −23 | 26 | |
| 12 | Luzern | 30 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 34 | 39 | −5 | 25 | |
| 13 | Wettingen | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 36 | 48 | −12 | 25 | |
| 14 | La Chaux-de-Fonds | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 44 | 56 | −12 | 23 | |
| 15 | Gossau | 30 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 36 | 64 | −28 | 20 | Relegated to 1978–79 1. Liga |
| 16 | Bulle | 30 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 37 | 68 | −31 | 18 | Relegated to 1978–79 1. Liga |

## Further in Swiss football

* 1977–78 Swiss Cup
* 1977–78 Swiss 1. Liga