# 1973–74 Nationalliga A

The following is the summary of the Swiss National League in the 1973–74 football season, both Nationalliga A and Nationalliga B. This was the 77th season of top-tier and the 76th 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 1972–73 season and the two newly promoted teams Xamax and Chênois. The champions would qualify for the 1974–75 European Cup. The second and third placed teams were qualified for the 1974–75 UEFA Cup. The last two placed teams were relegated.
The second-tier (NLB) was contested by the two teams that had been relegated from the NLA, FC Grenchen and FC Fribourg, the teams that had been in third to twelfth position last season and the two newly promoted teams FC Nordstern Basel and FC Tössfeld. The top two teams would be promoted and the last two teams relegated.

## Nationalliga A

The first round of the NLA was played on 18 August 1973. There was a winter break between 9 December and 2 March 1974. The season was completed on 1 June 1974.

### 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 La Chaux-de-Fonds | La Chaux-de-Fonds | Neuchâtel | Centre Sportif de la Charrière | 12,700 |
| FC Lausanne-Sport | Lausanne | Vaud | Pontaise | 15,700 |
| FC Luzern | Lucerne | Lucerne | Stadion Allmend | 25,000 |
| 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 |
| FC Winterthur | Winterthur | Zürich | Schützenwiese | 8,550 |
| 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 | Zürich | 26 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 67 | 20 | +47 | 45 | Champions, qualified for 1974–75 European Cup and entered 1974 Intertoto Cup |
| 2 | Grasshopper Club | 26 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 41 | 27 | +14 | 33 | Qualified for 1974–75 UEFA Cup and entered 1974 Intertoto Cup |
| 3 | Servette | 26 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 49 | 35 | +14 | 32 | Qualified for 1974–75 UEFA Cup |
| 4 | Winterthur | 26 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 42 | 29 | +13 | 32 | Entered 1974 Intertoto Cup |
| 5 | Basel | 26 | 13 | 3 | 10 | 57 | 39 | +18 | 29 | |
| 6 | Young Boys | 26 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 52 | 38 | +14 | 28 | |
| 7 | Xamax | 26 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 38 | 38 | 0 | 26 | Entered 1974 Intertoto Cup |
| 8 | Lausanne-Sport | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 45 | 48 | −3 | 26 | |
| 9 | St. Gallen | 26 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 38 | 48 | −10 | 25 | |
| 10 | Sion | 26 | 5 | 12 | 9 | 24 | 31 | −7 | 22 | Swiss Cup winners, qualified for 1974–75 Cup Winners' Cup |
| 11 | Chênois | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 30 | 48 | −18 | 22 | |
| 12 | Lugano | 26 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 20 | 44 | −24 | 17 | |
| 13 | La Chaux-de-Fonds | 26 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 28 | 51 | −23 | 16 | Relegated to 1974–75 Nationalliga B |
| 14 | Chiasso | 26 | 2 | 7 | 17 | 18 | 53 | −35 | 11 | Relegated to 1974–75 Nationalliga B |

### Results

| Home \ Away | BAS | CDF | CHÊ | CHI | GCZ | LS | LUG | NX | SER | SIO | STG | WIN | ZÜR | YB |
| Basel | | 4–2 | 6–0 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 8–2 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–3 |
| La Chaux-de-Fonds | 0–2 | | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 |
| Chênois | 0–1 | 1–0 | | 4–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 |
| Chiasso | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 |
| Grasshopper Club | 2–1 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 2–1 | | 2–2 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Lausanne-Sports | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | | 3–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 5–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 2–4 |
| Lugano | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 |
| Neuchâtel Xamax | 0–5 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 5–0 | | 0–3 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–3 |
| Servette | 2–3 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 7–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 3–1 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 |
| Sion | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| St. Gallen | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | | 0–4 | 2–3 | 3–1 |
| Winterthur | 3–2 | 1–3 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Zürich | 5–1 | 8–1 | 4–0 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | | 3–0 |
| Young Boys | 3–1 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 2–3 | 2–2 | |

### Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Daniel Jeandupeux | Zurich | 22 |
| 2 | Walter Müller | Lausanne-Sport | 21 |
| 3 | Ottmar Hitzfeld | Basel | 19 |
| 4 | Peter Risi | Winterthur | 17 |
| 5 | Ilija Katić | Zurich | 16 |
| 5 | Miodrag Petrović | Servette | 16 |
| 7 | Jean-Michel Elsig | Xamax | 15 |
| 8 | Rolf Blättler | St. Gallen | 12 |
| 9 | Marcel Cornioley | Young Boys | 10 |
| 9 | Serge Muhmenthaler | Young Boys | 10 |
| 9 | Adolf Noventa | Grasshopper Club | 10 |
| 9 | Hansjörg Pfister | Servette | 10 |

## 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 |
| Étoile Carouge FC | Carouge | Geneva | Stade de la Fontenette | 3,690 |
| FC Fribourg | Fribourg | Fribourg | Stade Universitaire | 9,000 |
| FC Grenchen | Grenchen | Solothurn | Stadium Brühl | 15,100 |
| FC Luzern | Lucerne | Lucerne | Stadion Allmend | 25,000 |
| FC Martigny-Sports | Martigny | Valais | Stade d'Octodure | 2,500 |
| Mendrisiostar | Mendrisio | Ticino | Centro Sportivo Comunale | 4,000 |
| FC Nordstern Basel | Basel | Basel-Stadt | Rankhof | 7,600 |
| FC Tössfeld | Winterthur | Zürich | Talgut | 1,000 |
| Vevey-Sports | Vevey | Vaud | Stade de Copet | 4,000 |
| FC Wettingen | Wettingen | Aargau | Stadion Altenburg | 10,000 |
| FC Young Fellows Zürich | Zürich | Zürich | Utogrund | 2,850 |

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Luzern | 26 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 60 | 24 | +36 | 38 | NLB Champions and promoted to 1974–75 Nationalliga A |
| 2 | Vevey Sports | 26 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 48 | 28 | +20 | 37 | Promoted to 1974–75 Nationalliga A |
| 3 | FC Grenchen | 26 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 59 | 47 | +12 | 36 | |
| 4 | FC Aarau | 26 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 34 | 29 | +5 | 28 | |
| 5 | FC Nordstern Basel | 26 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 37 | 36 | +1 | 27 | |
| 6 | AC Bellinzona | 26 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 41 | 44 | −3 | 27 | |
| 7 | FC Wettingen | 26 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 49 | 42 | +7 | 26 | |
| 8 | FC Fribourg | 26 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 36 | 32 | +4 | 25 | |
| 9 | FC Biel-Bienne | 26 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 33 | 37 | −4 | 25 | |
| 10 | FC Martigny-Sports | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 24 | 35 | −11 | 22 | |
| 11 | Mendrisiostar | 26 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 28 | 41 | −13 | 22 | |
| 12 | Etoile Carouge FC | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 30 | 38 | −8 | 21 | |
| 13 | FC Young Fellows Zürich | 26 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 41 | 54 | −13 | 18 | Relegated to 1974–75 1. Liga |
| 14 | FC Tössfeld | 26 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 23 | 56 | −33 | 12 | Relegated to 1974–75 1. Liga |

## Attendances

| # | Football club | Average attendance |
| 1 | FC Zürich | 11,015 |
| 2 | FC Basel | 10,923 |
| 3 | Xamax | 8,392 |
| 4 | Servette FC | 8,138 |
| 5 | FC St. Gallen | 6,300 |
| 6 | BSC Young Boys | 6,154 |
| 7 | Lausanne-Sport | 5,662 |
| 8 | Grasshopper Club Zürich | 5,523 |
| 9 | FC Sion | 5,500 |
| 10 | FC Winterthur | 5,077 |
| 11 | CS Chênois | 3,877 |
| 12 | FC La Chaux-de-Fonds | 3,162 |
| 13 | FC Lugano | 2,762 |
| 14 | FC Chiasso | 2,562 |

## Further in Swiss football

* 1973 Swiss League Cup
* 1973–74 Swiss Cup
* 1973–74 Swiss 1. Liga