# 1952–53 Nationalliga A

The following is the summary of the Swiss National League in the 1952–53 football season, both Nationalliga A and Nationalliga B. This was the 56th season of top-tier and the 55th season of second-tier football in Switzerland.

## Overview

The Swiss Football Association (ASF/SFV) had 28 member clubs at this time which were divided into two divisions of 14 teams each. 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. The top tier (NLA) was contested by the top 12 teams from the previous season and the two newly promoted teams FC Fribourg and FC Grenchen. The last two teams in the league table at the end of the season were to be relegated.
The second-tier (NLB) was contested by the two teams that had been relegated from the NLA at the end of the last season, these were FC Biel-Bienne and FC Young Fellows, the ten teams that had been in third to twelfth position last season and the two newly promoted teams Wil and Solothurn. The top two teams at the end of the season would be promoted to the 1953–54 NLA and the two last placed teams would be relegated to the 1953–54 Swiss 1. Liga.

## Nationalliga A
### Teams, locations

| Team | Based in | Canton | Stadium | Capacity |
| FC Basel | Basel | Basel-Stadt | Landhof | 4,000 |
| AC Bellinzona | Bellinzona | Ticino | Stadio Comunale Bellinzona | 5,000 |
| FC Bern | Bern | Bern | Stadion Neufeld | 14,000 |
| FC Chiasso | Chiasso | Ticino | Stadio Comunale Riva IV | 4,000 |
| Grasshopper Club Zürich | Zürich | Zürich | Hardturm | 20,000 |
| FC Fribourg | Fribourg | Fribourg | Stade Universitaire | 9,000 |
| FC Grenchen | Grenchen | Solothurn | Stadium Brühl | 10,900 |
| FC La Chaux-de-Fonds | La Chaux-de-Fonds | Neuchâtel | Centre Sportif de la Charrière | 10,000 |
| FC Lausanne-Sport | Lausanne | Vaud | Pontaise | 30,000 |
| FC Locarno | Locarno | Ticino | Stadio comunale Lido | 5,000 |
| FC Lugano | Lugano | Ticino | Cornaredo Stadium | 6,330 |
| Servette FC | Geneva | Geneva | Stade des Charmilles | 27,000 |
| BSC Young Boys | Bern | Bern | Wankdorf Stadium | 56,000 |
| FC Zürich | Zürich | Zürich | Letzigrund | 25,000 |

### Final league table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Basel | 26 | 17 | 8 | 1 | 72 | 38 | +34 | 42 | Swiss Champions |
| 2 | Young Boys | 26 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 61 | 39 | +22 | 38 | Swiss Cup winners |
| 3 | Grasshopper Club | 26 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 73 | 39 | +34 | 32 | |
| 4 | Servette | 26 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 61 | 38 | +23 | 32 | |
| 5 | Chiasso | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 38 | 52 | −14 | 26 | |
| 6 | Bellinzona | 26 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 45 | 45 | 0 | 25 | |
| 7 | Lausanne-Sport | 26 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 52 | 45 | +7 | 24 | |
| 8 | La Chaux-de-Fonds | 26 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 53 | 61 | −8 | 23 | |
| 9 | Fribourg | 26 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 35 | 53 | −18 | 23 | |
| 10 | Zürich | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 45 | 48 | −3 | 22 | |
| 11 | Bern | 26 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 40 | 53 | −13 | 22 | |
| 12 | Grenchen | 26 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 38 | 54 | −16 | 20 | Play-out against relegation |
| 13 | Lugano | 26 | 5 | 10 | 11 | 38 | 53 | −15 | 20 | Play-out against relegation |
| 14 | Locarno | 26 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 33 | 66 | −33 | 15 | Relegated to 1953–54 Nationalliga B |
This was Basel's first championship title.

### Results

| Home \ Away | BAS | BEL | BER | CDF | CHI | FRI | GCZ | GRE | LS | LOC | LUG | SER | YB | ZÜR |
| Basel | | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 6–2 | 1–1 | 8–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 5–1 |
| Bellinzona | 2–3 | | 5–2 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 |
| Bern | 1–2 | 1–1 | | 3–1 | 0–0 | 5–2 | 1–6 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 3–3 |
| La Chaux-de-Fonds | 2–6 | 0–1 | 2–0 | | 4–0 | 1–4 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 6–2 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 2–1 |
| Chiasso | 4–3 | 1–4 | 2–3 | 2–2 | | 1–0 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 5–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Fribourg | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 2–5 | 0–2 | 2–1 |
| Grasshopper Club | 4–5 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 6–0 | | 2–3 | 3–1 | 7–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 |
| Grenchen | 2–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 0–4 | | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 2–2 |
| Lausanne-Sports | 1–2 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 1–3 | 7–1 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 6–1 | 5–4 |
| Locarno | 3–5 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 4–5 | 2–2 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 |
| Lugano | 0–0 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 5–5 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 4–4 | 0–1 | 1–6 | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| Servette | 3–3 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 7–1 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 1–5 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 6–0 | 0–0 | | 3–3 | 1–1 |
| Young Boys | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 5–2 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–3 | | 4–2 |
| Zürich | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | |

### Topscorers

| Rank | Player | Goals | Club |
| 1. | Josef Hügi | 32 | Basel |
| 1. | Eugen Meier | 32 | Young Boys |
| 3. | Roger Vonlanthen | 23 | Grasshopper Club |
| 4. | Jacques Fatton | 22 | Servette |
| 5. | Robert Ballaman | 16 | Grasshopper Club |
| 5. | Miodrag Glisovic | 16 | Lausanne-Sport |
| 7. | Ferdinando Riva | 15 | Chiasso |
| 8. | Ledio Zanetti | 14 | Bellinzona |
| 8. | Hans Hagen | 14 | Grasshopper Club |
| 8. | Raymond Morand | 14 | La Chaux-de-Fonds |
| 8. | Heinz Pfister | 14 | Grenchen |

## Nationalliga B
### Teams, locations

| Team | Based in | Canton | Stadium | Capacity |
| FC Aarau | Aarau | Aargau | Stadion Brügglifeld | 9,240 |
| FC Biel-Bienne | Biel/Bienne | Bern | Stadion Gurzelen | 5,500 |
| FC Cantonal Neuchâtel | Neuchâtel | Neuchâtel | Stade de la Maladière | 25,500 |
| FC Étoile-Sporting | La Chaux-de-Fonds | Neuchâtel | Les Foulets / Terrain des Eplatures | 1,000 / 500 |
| FC Luzern | Lucerne | Lucerne | Stadion Allmend | 25,000 |
| ES FC Malley | Malley | Vaud | Centre sportif de la Tuilière | 1,500 |
| FC Schaffhausen | Schaffhausen | Schaffhausen | Stadion Breite | 7,300 |
| FC Solothurn | Solothurn | Solothurn | Stadion FC Solothurn | 6,750 |
| FC St. Gallen | St. Gallen | St. Gallen | Espenmoos | 11,000 |
| Urania Genève Sport | Genève | Geneva | Stade de Frontenex | 4,000 |
| FC Wil | Wil | St. Gallen | Sportpark Bergholz | 6,048 |
| FC Winterthur | Winterthur | Zürich | Schützenwiese | 8,550 |
| FC Young Fellows | Zürich | Zürich | Utogrund | 2,850 |
| SC Zug | Zug | Zug | Herti Allmend Stadion | 6,000 |

### Final league table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Luzern | 24 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 56 | 25 | +31 | 35 | NLB champions and promoted to 1953–54 Nationalliga A |
| 2 | FC Biel-Bienne | 24 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 57 | 30 | +27 | 34 | Promoted to 1953–54 Nationalliga A |
| 3 | ES FC Malley | 24 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 59 | 40 | +19 | 31 | |
| 4 | FC Winterthur | 24 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 50 | 42 | +8 | 31 | |
| 5 | FC St. Gallen | 24 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 43 | 40 | +3 | 27 | |
| 6 | FC Cantonal Neuchâtel | 24 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 35 | 34 | +1 | 25 | |
| 7 | FC Solothurn | 24 | 10 | 3 | 11 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 23 | |
| 8 | FC Wil | 24 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 36 | 36 | 0 | 21 | |
| 9 | Urania Genève Sport | 24 | 8 | 3 | 13 | 46 | 48 | −2 | 19 | |
| 10 | Young Fellows Zürich | 24 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 33 | 42 | −9 | 19 | |
| 11 | FC Schaffhausen | 24 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 28 | 43 | −15 | 17 | |
| 12 | FC Aarau | 24 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 29 | 62 | −33 | 17 | |
| 13 | SC Zug | 24 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 30 | 60 | −30 | 13 | Relegated to 1953–54 1. Liga |
| 14 | FC Étoile-Sporting | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew and were relegated to 1953–54 1. Liga |

## Further in Swiss football

* 1952–53 Swiss Cup
* 1952–53 Swiss 1. Liga