# 1953–54 Nationalliga A

The following is the summary of the Swiss National League in the 1953–54 football season, both Nationalliga A and Nationalliga B. This was the 57th season of top-tier and the 56th 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 Luzern and Biel-Bienne. 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 Lugano and Locarno, the ten teams that had been in third to twelfth position last season and the two newly promoted teams Thun and Yverdon-Sport. The top two teams at the end of the season would be promoted to the 1954–55 NLA and the two last placed teams would be relegated to the 1954–55 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 Biel-Bienne | Biel/Bienne | Bern | Stadion Gurzelen | 5,500 |
| 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 Luzern | Lucerne | Lucerne | Stadion Allmend | 25,000 |
| 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 | La Chaux-de-Fonds | 26 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 78 | 36 | +42 | 42 | Swiss Champions and Swiss Cup winners |
| 2 | Grasshopper Club | 26 | 19 | 3 | 4 | 108 | 47 | +61 | 41 | |
| 3 | Lausanne-Sport | 26 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 69 | 46 | +23 | 36 | |
| 4 | Young Boys | 26 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 66 | 44 | +22 | 30 | |
| 5 | Servette | 26 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 55 | 38 | +17 | 30 | |
| 6 | Bellinzona | 26 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 41 | 44 | −3 | 25 | |
| 7 | Grenchen | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 53 | 58 | −5 | 24 | |
| 8 | Basel | 26 | 11 | 2 | 13 | 55 | 62 | −7 | 24 | |
| 9 | Chiasso | 26 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 45 | 62 | −17 | 23 | |
| 10 | Luzern | 26 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 47 | 68 | −21 | 22 | |
| 11 | Zürich | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 45 | 64 | −19 | 20 | |
| 12 | Fribourg | 26 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 37 | 53 | −16 | 18 | |
| 13 | FC Bern | 26 | 8 | 1 | 17 | 40 | 75 | −35 | 17 | Relegated to 1954–55 Nationalliga B |
| 14 | Biel-Bienne | 26 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 36 | 78 | −42 | 12 | Relegated to 1954–55 Nationalliga B |

### Results

| Home \ Away | BAS | BEL | BER | BB | CDF | CHI | FRI | GCZ | GRE | LS | LUZ | SER | YB | ZÜR |
| Basel | | 3–2 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 1–6 | 4–3 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 3–4 |
| Bellinzona | 2–0 | | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Bern | 2–2 | 3–0 | | 2–1 | 1–4 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 1–5 | 3–6 | 3–5 | 5–2 | 0–5 | 0–4 | 1–0 |
| Biel-Bienne | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | | 1–5 | 3–4 | 2–0 | 0–5 | 2–4 | 0–3 | 5–2 | 1–4 | 2–4 | 2–2 |
| La Chaux-de-Fonds | 2–0 | 4–2 | 5–0 | 5–0 | | 5–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–3 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 4–2 |
| Chiasso | 3–5 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 5–2 | 3–3 | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–5 | 1–2 |
| Fribourg | 2–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | | 1–4 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Grasshopper Club | 3–4 | 6–0 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 7–2 | 3–0 | | 8–3 | 1–1 | 9–1 | 7–4 | 3–2 | 6–0 |
| Grenchen | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–6 | | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 3–1 |
| Lausanne-Sports | 5–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 3–4 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | | 4–0 | 2–2 | 6–1 | 2–5 |
| Luzern | 2–3 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 4–7 | | 2–2 | 4–0 | 5–1 |
| Servette | 2–2 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 3–4 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | | 0–0 | 4–0 |
| Young Boys | 3–0 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 5–0 | 5–0 | 7–4 | 3–4 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | | 5–0 |
| Zürich | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 6–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 5–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | |

### Topscorers

| Rank | Player | Goals | Club |
| 1. | Josef Hügi | 29 | Basel |
| 2. | Branislav Vukosavljević | 28 | Grasshopper Club |
| 3. | Roger Vonlanthen | 23 | Grasshopper Club |
| 4. | Eugen Meier | 22 | Young Boys |
| 5. | Charles Antenen | 17 | La Chaux-de-Fonds |
| 5. | Hans Hagen | 17 | Grasshopper Club |
| 7. | Robert Ballaman | 16 | Grasshopper Club |
| 8. | Res Kyd | 15 | Luzern |
| 9. | Jacques Fatton | 14 | Servette |
| 9. | Ferdinando Riva | 14 | Chiasso |

## Nationalliga B
### Teams, locations

| Team | Based in | Canton | Stadium | Capacity |
| FC Aarau | Aarau | Aargau | Stadion Brügglifeld | 9,240 |
| FC Cantonal Neuchâtel | Neuchâtel | Neuchâtel | Stade de la Maladière | 25,500 |
| FC Locarno | Locarno | Ticino | Stadio comunale Lido | 5,000 |
| FC Lugano | Lugano | Ticino | Cornaredo Stadium | 6,330 |
| 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 |
| FC Thun | Thun | Bern | Stadion Lachen | 10,350 |
| 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 |
| Yverdon-Sport FC | Yverdon-les-Bains | Vaud | Stade Municipal | 6,600 |

### Final league table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | FC Lugano | 26 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 55 | 38 | +17 | 36 | To play-off for NLB championship |
| 2 | FC Thun | 26 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 60 | 34 | +26 | 36 | To play-off for NLB championship |
| 3 | ES FC Malley | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 59 | 38 | +21 | 34 | |
| 4 | FC Cantonal Neuchâtel | 26 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 60 | 39 | +21 | 31 | |
| 5 | Young Fellows Zürich | 26 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 59 | 47 | +12 | 30 | |
| 6 | FC Schaffhausen | 26 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 50 | 42 | +8 | 28 | |
| 7 | Yverdon-Sport FC | 26 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 38 | 39 | −1 | 27 | |
| 8 | FC St. Gallen | 26 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 44 | 51 | −7 | 23 | |
| 9 | FC Solothurn | 26 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 41 | 50 | −9 | 23 | |
| 10 | FC Locarno | 26 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 39 | 55 | −16 | 22 | |
| 11 | FC Winterthur | 26 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 56 | 57 | −1 | 21 | |
| 12 | Urania Genève Sport | 26 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 31 | 47 | −16 | 20 | |
| 13 | FC Wil | 26 | 7 | 3 | 16 | 32 | 62 | −30 | 17 | Relegated to 1954–55 1. Liga |
| 14 | FC Aarau | 26 | 5 | 6 | 15 | 27 | 52 | −25 | 16 | Relegated to 1954–55 1. Liga |

### Decider for NLB championship

Lugano and FC Thun finished the season level on points in joint first position and both achieved promotion to 1954–55 Nationalliga A. However, it required a play-out to decide the division championship. The play-off was played on 16 May 1954 in the Stadion Allmend in Luzern.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Lugano | 3–2 | FC Thun |
Lugano won and were NLB champions.

## Further in Swiss football

* 1953–54 Swiss Cup
* 1953–54 Swiss 1. Liga