# 1951–52 Nationalliga A

The following is the summary of the Swiss National League in the 1951–52 football season, both Nationalliga A and Nationalliga B. This was the 55th season of top-tier and the 54th 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 Grasshopper Club and FC Bern. 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 Cantonal Neuchâtel and Grenchen, the ten teams that had been in third to twelfth position last season and the two newly promoted teams from the 1. Liga Malley and Schaffhausen. The top two teams at the end of the season would be promoted to the 1952–53 NLA and the two last placed teams would be relegated to the 1952–53 Swiss 1. Liga.

## Nationalliga A

The season commenced on 23 August 1951 and was completed with the last round on 12 June 1952.

### 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 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 Young Fellows | Zürich | Zürich | Utogrund | 2,850 |
| FC Zürich | Zürich | Zürich | Letzigrund | 25,000 |

### Final league table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Grasshopper Club | 26 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 79 | 38 | +41 | 38 | Swiss Champions and Swiss Cup winners |
| 2 | Zürich | 26 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 61 | 36 | +25 | 37 | |
| 3 | Chiasso | 26 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 59 | 49 | +10 | 35 | |
| 4 | Basel | 26 | 14 | 3 | 9 | 68 | 47 | +21 | 31 | |
| 5 | La Chaux-de-Fonds | 26 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 62 | 45 | +17 | 30 | |
| 6 | Servette | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 57 | 45 | +12 | 28 | |
| 7 | Young Boys | 26 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 61 | 52 | +9 | 27 | |
| 8 | Lausanne-Sport | 26 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 39 | 43 | −4 | 25 | |
| 9 | Bellinzona | 26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 43 | 55 | −12 | 22 | |
| 10 | Locarno | 26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 41 | 66 | −25 | 22 | |
| 11 | Lugano | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 46 | 54 | −8 | 21 | |
| 12 | Bern | 26 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 47 | 64 | −17 | 19 | |
| 13 | Young Fellows Zürich | 26 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 36 | 71 | −35 | 15 | Relegated to 1952–53 Nationalliga B |
| 14 | Biel-Bienne | 26 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 37 | 71 | −34 | 14 | Relegated to 1952–53 Nationalliga B |

### Results

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

### Topscorers

| Rank | Player | Goals | Club |
| 1. | Josef Hügi | 24 | Basel |
| 2. | Robert Ballaman | 22 | Grasshopper Club |
| 3. | Ferdinando Riva | 19 | Chiasso |
| 4. | Eugen Meier | 18 | Young Boys |
| 4. | Walter Bosshard | 18 | Zürich |
| 6. | Jacques Fatton | 16 | Servette |
| 6. | Charles Rossi | 16 | Zürich |
| 8. | Hans-Peter Friedländer | 14 | Lausanne-Sport |
| 8. | Berbig | 14 | Grasshopper Club |
| 8. | Ezio Sormani | 14 | Bellinzona |

## 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 Étoile-Sporting | La Chaux-de-Fonds | Neuchâtel | Les Foulets / Terrain des Eplatures | 1,000 / 500 |
| FC Fribourg | Fribourg | Fribourg | Stade Universitaire | 9,000 |
| FC Grenchen | Grenchen | Solothurn | Stadium Brühl | 15,100 |
| FC Luzern | Lucerne | Lucerne | Stadion Allmend | 25,000 |
| ES FC Malley | Malley | Vaud | Centre sportif de la Tuilière | 1,500 |
| FC Nordstern Basel | Basel | Basel-Stadt | Rankhof | 7,600 |
| FC Mendrisio | Mendrisio | Ticino | Centro Sportivo Comunale | 4,000 |
| FC Schaffhausen | Schaffhausen | Schaffhausen | Stadion Breite | 7,300 |
| FC St. Gallen | St. Gallen | St. Gallen | Espenmoos | 11,000 |
| Urania Genève Sport | Genève | Geneva | Stade de Frontenex | 4,000 |
| FC Winterthur | Winterthur | Zürich | Schützenwiese | 8,550 |
| SC Zug | Zug | Zug | Herti Allmend Stadion | 6,000 |

### Final league table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | FC Fribourg | 26 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 57 | 34 | +23 | 36 | NLB champions and promoted to 1952–53 Nationalliga A |
| 2 | FC Grenchen | 26 | 16 | 3 | 7 | 78 | 40 | +38 | 35 | Play-off for promotion |
| 3 | SC Zug | 26 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 52 | 34 | +18 | 35 | Play-off for promotion |
| 4 | FC Cantonal Neuchâtel | 26 | 15 | 4 | 7 | 72 | 33 | +39 | 34 | |
| 5 | ES FC Malley | 26 | 14 | 2 | 10 | 54 | 49 | +5 | 30 | |
| 6 | Urania Genève Sport | 26 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 46 | 46 | 0 | 26 | |
| 7 | Luzern | 26 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 49 | 52 | −3 | 25 | |
| 8 | FC Winterthur | 26 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 53 | 59 | −6 | 24 | |
| 9 | FC St. Gallen | 26 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 65 | 51 | +14 | 23 | |
| 10 | FC Aarau | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 39 | 62 | −23 | 22 | |
| 11 | FC Schaffhausen | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 31 | 56 | −25 | 21 | |
| 12 | FC Étoile-Sporting | 26 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 30 | 45 | −15 | 20 | |
| 13 | FC Mendrisio | 26 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 38 | 75 | −37 | 17 | Relegated to 1952–53 1. Liga |
| 14 | FC Nordstern Basel | 26 | 6 | 4 | 16 | 35 | 63 | −28 | 16 | Relegated to 1952–53 1. Liga |

### Decider for second place

FC Grenchen and SC Zug ended the season level on points in joint second place. Therefore they had to contest a play-off for promotion. The decider match for second place was played on 15 June 1952 at Stadion Neufeld in Bern.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| FC Grenchen | 1–0 | SC Zug |
FC Grenchen won the play-off and were promoted to 1952–53 Nationalliga A. SC Zug remained in the division fot the next season.

## Further in Swiss football

* 1951–52 Swiss Cup
* 1951–52 Swiss 1. Liga