# 1939–40 Swiss 1. Liga

The 1939–40 1. Liga season was the 9th season of the 1. Liga since its creation in 1931. At this time, the 1. Liga was the second-tier of the Swiss football league system. Due to the outbreak the Second World War on 1 September 1939 the start of the Swiss football championship was postponed until 22 October. The 1. Liga was postponed until December and it was completely reorganised for this season.

## Overview
### Preamble

In Switzerland during the second world war period, sport became an integral part of the "spiritual national defense". This was a political and cultural movement that had already become increasingly important during the late 1930s. Politicians, intellectuals and media professionals had increasingly called for measures to strengthen Switzerland's basic cultural values. Since the Nationalliga games were also considered to be one of the activities that seemed important for maintaining the morale of the population, the military authorities put considerably fewer obstacles in the way of the top players and leading clubs as they had during the previous World War.
Nevertheless, the outbreak of the Second World War, triggered by the German attack on Poland on 1 September 1939, was also a shock for Switzerland, although international signs had been pointing towards a war for some time. On 30 August, the Federal Assembly elected staff officer Henri Guisan as Commander-in-Chief of the Army. On 2 September, general mobilisation for war took place. The national exhibition in Zurich, during which the national football team had also played representative matches against teams from neighbouring countries, was closed for some time. The general mobilisation brought regular championship operations to a standstill, and in its place an improvised mobilisation championship was held without automatic promotion or relegation. In some cases the games could not be played or were postponed because the clubs did not have enough players available.

### Format

The 12 teams of the top-tier competed the improvised championship as in the years before. However, the 24 clubs that competed in the 1. Liga were re-organised. This season they were divided into five regional groups (as opposed to two in previous years), this was done to reduce travelling times. There were six teams in group 1 (West), five teams in group 2 (North-West), group 3 (Central) and group 4 (North-East), but only three in group 5 (South). The teams in group 1 played a double round-robin to decide their league position. The teams in the groups 2, 3 and 4 played three round-robins and the teams in group 5 played four round-robins. Two points were awarded for a win and one point was awarded for a draw. The five group winners then contested a play-off round to decide the championship. This contested of: a two legged semi-final for the two west group winners, a three team round-robin semi-final for the other groups and then there was to be a two legged-final for the title of 1. Liga champions.

## Group 1
### Teams, locations

| Club | Based in | Canton | Stadium | Capacity |
| Dopolavoro Genève | Genève | Geneva | | |
| FC Monthey | Monthey | Valais | Stade Philippe Pottier | 1,800 |
| FC Montreux-Sports | Montreux | Vaud | Stade de Chailly | 1,000 |
| FC Forward Morges | Morges | Vaud | Parc des Sports | 600 |
| Urania Genève Sport | Genève | Geneva | Stade de Frontenex | 4,000 |
| Vevey Sports | Vevey | Vaud | Stade de Copet | 4,000 |

### Final league table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Vevey Sports | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 39 | 13 | +26 | 18 | To play-offs |
| 2 | Urania Genève Sport | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 31 | 18 | +13 | 14 | |
| 3 | Dopolavoro Genève | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 29 | 26 | +3 | 11 | |
| 4 | FC Monthey | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 18 | 25 | −7 | 8 | |
| 5 | FC Forward Morges | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 20 | 20 | 0 | 7 | |
| 6 | FC Montreux-Sports | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 43 | −35 | 2 | |

## Group 2
### Teams, locations

| Club | Based in | Canton | Stadium | Capacity |
| FC Bern | Bern | Bern | Stadion Neufeld | 14,000 |
| US Bienne-Boujean | Biel/Bienne | Bern | | |
| 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 Fribourg | Fribourg | Fribourg | Stade Universitaire | 9,000 |

### Final league table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | FC Fribourg | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 32 | 18 | +14 | 17 | To play-offs |
| 2 | FC Bern | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 38 | 19 | +19 | 14 | |
| 3 | FC Cantonal Neuchâtel | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 24 | 34 | −10 | 10 | |
| 4 | US Bienne-Boujean | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 21 | 39 | −18 | 10 | |
| 5 | FC Étoile-Sporting | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 27 | 32 | −5 | 9 | |

## Group 3
### Teams, locations

| Club | Based in | Canton | Stadium | Capacity |
| FC Aarau | Aarau | Aargau | Stadion Brügglifeld | 9,240 |
| FC Basel | Basel | Basel-Stadt | Landhof | 4,000 |
| FC Birsfelden | Birsfelden | Basel-Landschaft | Sternenfeld | 9,400 |
| FC Concordia Basel | Basel | Basel-Stadt | Stadion Rankhof | 7,000 |
| FC Solothurn | Solothurn | Solothurn | Stadion FC Solothurn | 6,750 |

### Final league table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | FC Basel | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 38 | 16 | +22 | 20 | To play-offs |
| 2 | FC Aarau | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 37 | 26 | +11 | 15 | |
| 3 | FC Concordia Basel | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 26 | 32 | −6 | 9 | |
| 4 | FC Solothurn | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 25 | 35 | −10 | 8 | |
| 5 | FC Birsfelden | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 14 | 31 | −17 | 8 | |

## Group 4
### Teams, locations

| Club | Based in | Canton | Stadium | Capacity |
| FC Blue Stars Zürich | Zürich | Zürich | Hardhof | 1,000 |
| SC Brühl | St. Gallen | St. Gallen | Paul-Grüninger-Stadion | 4,200 |
| SC Juventus Zürich | Zürich | Zürich | Utogrund | 2,850 |
| SC Zug | Zug | Zug | Herti Allmend Stadion | 6,000 |
| FC Zürich | Zürich | Zürich | Letzigrund | 25,000 |

### Final league table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | SC Brühl | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 31 | 15 | +16 | 19 | To play-offs |
| 2 | SC Zug | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 27 | 49 | −22 | 12 | |
| 3 | FC Zürich | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 39 | 25 | +14 | 11 | |
| 4 | FC Blue Stars Zürich | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 35 | 27 | +8 | 10 | |
| 5 | SC Juventus Zürich | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 19 | 35 | −16 | 8 | |

## Group 5
### Teams, locations

| Club | Based in | Canton | Stadium | Capacity |
| AC Bellinzona | Bellinzona | Ticino | Stadio Comunale Bellinzona | 5,000 |
| FC Chiasso | Chiasso | Ticino | Stadio Comunale Riva IV | 4,000 |
| FC Locarno | Locarno | Ticino | Stadio comunale Lido | 5,000 |

### Final league table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | AC Bellinzona | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 7 | +16 | 11 | To play-offs |
| 2 | FC Chiasso | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 28 | −14 | 6 | |
| 3 | FC Locarno | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 18 | 20 | −2 | 3 | |
The matches Bellinzona–Locarno and Chiasso–Bellinzona were not played as they were irrelevant in determining the team classified in the final phase.

## Championship play-off
### Semi-finals

The winners of the groups 1 and 2 played their matches on 30 June and 7 July 1940.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Vevey Sports | Forfeit | Fribourg |
Vevey did not play the match because the team had too few players due to the mobilisation. The game was awarded 0–3 for Fribourg
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Fribourg | 2–1 | Vevey Sports |
Fribourg won and advanced to the final.
The three other group winners played a three team round-robin for the other finalist.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | BRÜ | BAS | BEL |
| 1 | Brühl | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 3 | — | 2–2 | — |
| 2 | Basel | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 3 | — | — | 4–1 |
| 3 | Bellinzona | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 0 | 1–3 | — | — |
Due to the egality between two teams a play-off decider was required. This was played on 7 July in Basel.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Basel | 2–0 | Brühl |

### Final

The games in the final were played on 4 and 11 August 1940.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Fribourg | 4–0 | Basel |
| Basel | 4–2 | Fribourg |
Due to the egality, one win each, a replay was required. This was played at Stadion Neufeld in Bern on 18 August.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Fribourg | 1–2 | Basel |
Basel won the 1. Liga championship title.

## Further in Swiss football

* 1939–40 Nationalliga
* 1939–40 Swiss Cup
* 1939–40 FC Basel season