# 2023–24 Swiss Challenge League

The 2023–24 Swiss Challenge League (referred to as the Dieci Challenge League for sponsoring reasons) is the 126th season of the second tier of competitive football in Switzerland and the 21st season under its current name.

## Overview
### Teams

Due to the increased number of teams in the Super League, from ten to twelve, two teams were directly promoted at the end of the last season and no teams were directly relegated, but third and last placed teams advanced to a promotion and relegation play-off, respectively. The remaining six teams were joined by the best placed eligible teams of the 2022–23 Swiss Promotion League, runners-up Stade Nyonnais and third-placed FC Baden, Stade Nyonnais and Baden returned to second tier after 11 and 17 years absence respectively. Last season's last placed team Neuchâtel Xamax FCS remains in the Challenge League as winners of the relegation play-off. FC Sion, as losers of the promotion play-off, returned to the Challenge League after 17 years in the Super League.

### Schedule

The Swiss Football League (SFL) released a detailed schedule on 7 December 2022. The season will begin on 21 July 2023 and conclude on 20 May 2024. As before, the league will go on winter break after matchday 18 on 17 December 2023 and resume on 26 January 2024. Promotion play-offs are scheduled for the week following the final matchday. The two legs of the promotion play-offs are scheduled for 26 and 31 May 2024, respectively.
The fixtures of the first 18 rounds were drawn and published on 21 June 2023, together with the match times for the first nine rounds. Matches of European competitors FC Vaduz may be postponed to Sundays in rounds 7, 8, and 9, subject to their performance in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying.

## Teams
### Stadia and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| FC Aarau | Aarau | Stadion Brügglifeld | 8,000 |
| FC Baden | Fislisbach | Esp Stadium | 7,000 |
| AC Bellinzona | Bellinzona | Stadio Comunale | 5,000 |
| FC Stade Nyonnais | Nyon | Stade de Colovray | 7,200 |
| FC Schaffhausen | Schaffhausen | Berformance Arena | 8,200 |
| FC Sion | Sion | Stade Tourbillon | 14,283 |
| FC Thun | Thun | Stockhorn Arena | 10,014 |
| FC Vaduz | Vaduz | Rheinpark Stadion | 7,584 |
| FC Wil 1900 | Wil | Lidl Arena | 6,958 |
| Neuchâtel Xamax FCS | Neuchâtel | Stade de la Maladière | 11,997 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Aarau | Ranko Jakovljević | Olivier Jäckle | gpard | Credit Suisse |
| Baden | Michael Winsauer | Patrick Muff | macron | Badener Tagblatt |
| Bellinzona | Manuel Benavente | Matteo Tosetti | Acerbis | |
| Schaffhausen | Christian Wimmer | Serge Müller | Puma | Methabau |
| Sion | Didier Tholot | Reto Ziegler | Macron | OIKEN |
| Nyon | Christophe Caschili | Quentin Gaillard | Adidas | |
| Thun | Mauro Lustrinelli | Marco Bürki | Macron | Schneider Software AG |
| Vaduz | Marc Schneider | Benjamin Büchel | Puma | MBPI |
| Wil | Brunello Iacopetta | Kastrijot Ndau | ERIMA | Weber und Partner AG LIKA Group AG |
| Xamax | Uli Forte | Kenan Fatkič | Puma | groupe e |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of departure | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Aarau | Boris Smiljanić | Departure | 28 May 2023 | Pre-season | Alex Frei | 12 June 2023 |
| Bellinzona | Fernando Cocimano (interim) | End of interim spell | 13 June 2023 | Pre-season | Sandro Chieffo | 13 June 2023 |
| Schaffhausen | Selcuk Sasivari (interim) | End of interim spell | 14 June 2023 | Pre-season | Bigi Meier | 14 June 2023 |
| Sion | Paolo Tramezzani | Departure | 15 June 2023 | Pre-season | Didier Tholot | 15 June 2023 |
| Bellinzona | Sandro Chieffo | Sacked | 3 October 2023 | 9th | Mario Rosas | 3 October 2023 |
| Schaffhausen | Bigi Meier | Sacked | 29 December 2023 | 10th | Christian Wimmer | 29 December 2023 |
| Vaduz | Martin Stocklasa | Sacked | 12 February 2024 | 8th | Marc Schneider | 14 February 2024 |
| Aarau | Alex Frei | Departure | 25 March 2024 | 3rd | Ranko Jakovljević (interim) | 25 March 2024 |

### Number of teams by regions

| No. of teams | Cantons | Team(s) |
| 2 | Aargau | Aarau, Baden |
| 1 |
| 1 | St. Gallen | Wil |
| 1 | Bern | Thun |
| 1 | Schaffhausen | Schaffhausen |
| 1 | Liechtenstein | FC Vaduz |
| 1 | Vaud | Nyon |
| 1 | Valais | Sion |
| 1 | Neuchâtel | Neuchâtel Xamax |
| 1 | Ticino | AC Bellinzona |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Sion (C, P) | 36 | 23 | 10 | 3 | 72 | 23 | +49 | 79 | Promotion to Swiss Super League |
| 2 | Thun | 36 | 23 | 7 | 6 | 73 | 38 | +35 | 76 | Qualification for promotion play-off |
| 3 | Vaduz | 36 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 67 | 55 | +12 | 49 | Qualification for Conference League second qualifying round |
| 4 | Xamax | 36 | 11 | 16 | 9 | 55 | 45 | +10 | 49 | |
| 5 | Wil | 36 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 48 | 52 | −4 | 44 | |
| 6 | Aarau | 36 | 12 | 7 | 17 | 53 | 59 | −6 | 43 | |
| 7 | Nyon | 36 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 45 | 58 | −13 | 43 | |
| 8 | Bellinzona | 36 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 37 | 50 | −13 | 42 | |
| 9 | Schaffhausen | 36 | 8 | 14 | 14 | 36 | 55 | −19 | 38 | |
| 10 | Baden (R) | 36 | 6 | 8 | 22 | 31 | 82 | −51 | 26 | Relegation to Swiss Promotion League |
* ↑ Vaduz qualified for the Conference League second qualifying round by winning the 2023–24 Liechtenstein Cup.

## Promotion play-off

The relegation play-off will be played in a two-legged game between the eleventh placed team of the Super League (5th of the relegation group) and the second placed team of the Challenge League. The two legs of the relegation play-offs are scheduled for 26 and 31 May 2024, respectively.
The winner of the play-off is whichever teams scores most in both games (no away goals rule). In case of a tie at the end of the two games, 30 minutes of extra time (two times 15 minutes) are added, followed by a penalty shoot-out, in case the teams are still tied.

### Second leg

Grasshopper wins 3–2 on aggregate.

## Attendances

| # | Football club | Home games | Average attendance |
| 1 | FC Sion | 18 | 6,542 |
| 2 | FC Aarau | 18 | 4,840 |
| 3 | FC Thun | 18 | 3,951 |
| 4 | Neuchâtel Xamax | 18 | 3,404 |
| 5 | FC Baden | 18 | 2,207 |
| 6 | FC Wil | 18 | 1,611 |
| 7 | FC Vaduz | 18 | 1,516 |
| 8 | FC Schaffhausen | 18 | 1,338 |
| 9 | AC Bellinzona | 18 | 836 |
| 10 | Stade Nyonnais | 18 | 781 |