# 2012–13 Swiss Challenge League

The 2012–13 Swiss Challenge League was the tenth season of the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of the Swiss football league pyramid. It began on 14 July 2012 and ended on 2 June 2013.

## Teams

2011–12 Challenge League champions St. Gallen were promoted to the 2012–13 Super League. They weren't replaced by another team due to Neuchâtel Xamax being demoted to the 4th tier of Swiss football for financial irregularities. 2011–12 Challenge League runners-up Aarau had to compete in a promotion/relegation playoff against 9th-placed Super League team Sion and remained in the Challenge League after losing 3–1 on aggregate.
The bottom five teams – Stade Nyonnais, Étoile Carouge, Delémont, Kriens and Brühl – were relegated to the newly formed 1. Liga Promotion with no teams replaced them due to the Challenge League reducing from 16 to 10 teams.
| Club | City | Stadium | 2011–12 season |
| FC Aarau | Aarau, Aargau | Stadion Brügglifeld | 2nd in Challenge League |
| AC Bellinzona | Bellinzona, Ticino | Stadio Comunale | 3rd in Challenge League |
| FC Biel/Bienne | Biel/Bienne, Bern | Gurzelen Stadion | 10th in Challenge League |
| FC Chiasso | Chiasso, Ticino | Stadio Comunale | 7th in Challenge League |
| FC Locarno | Locarno, Ticino | Stadio del Lido | 9th in Challenge League |
| FC Lugano | Lugano, Ticino | Cornaredo Stadium | 5th in Challenge League |
| FC Vaduz | Vaduz, Liechtenstein | Rheinpark Stadion | 8th in Challenge League |
| FC Wil 1900 | Wil, St. Gallen | Stadion Bergholz | 6th in Challenge League |
| FC Winterthur | Winterthur, Zürich | Stadion Schützenwiese | 4th in Challenge League |
| FC Wohlen | Wohlen, Aargau | Stadion Niedermatten | 11th in Challenge League |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Aarau (C) | 36 | 24 | 6 | 6 | 76 | 40 | +36 | 78 | Promotion to 2013–14 Swiss Super League |
| 2 | Bellinzona (D, R) | 36 | 21 | 8 | 7 | 62 | 37 | +25 | 64 | Relegation to 2013–14 1. Liga Promotion |
| 3 | Winterthur | 36 | 19 | 5 | 12 | 61 | 43 | +18 | 62 | |
| 4 | Wil | 36 | 15 | 6 | 15 | 59 | 65 | −6 | 51 | |
| 5 | Biel-Bienne | 36 | 13 | 8 | 15 | 59 | 59 | 0 | 47 | |
| 6 | Chiasso | 36 | 13 | 8 | 15 | 42 | 51 | −9 | 47 | |
| 7 | Lugano | 36 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 52 | 50 | +2 | 44 | |
| 8 | Wohlen | 36 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 39 | 58 | −19 | 39 | |
| 9 | Vaduz | 36 | 10 | 7 | 19 | 41 | 52 | −11 | 37 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 10 | Locarno | 36 | 5 | 9 | 22 | 32 | 68 | −36 | 24 | |
* ↑ Due to financial irregularities, AC Bellinzona was discounted seven points and were ultimately relegated at the end of the season. FC Locarno was thus not relegated in spite of their last-place finish.

## Results

Teams played each other four times (twice home and twice away) over the course of the season, home and away, for a total of 36 matches per team.

## Season statistics
### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Matar Coly | Biel-Bienne | Vaduz | 4–2 | 19 August 2012 |
| Adis Jahović | Wil | Chiasso | 4–1 | 19 August 2012 |
| Davide Callà | Aarau | Wohlen | 5–3 | 28 October 2012 |
| Kristian Kuzmanović | Winterthur | Bellinzona | 5–1 | 4 November 2012 |
| Giuseppe Morello | Biel-Bienne | Aarau | 5–1 | 5 November 2012 |
| Landry Mouangue | Wil | Winterthur | 4–0 | 2 December 2012 |
| Silvan Widmer | Aarau | Wohlen | 3–1 | 1 April 2013 |
| Pascal Schürpf | Bellinzona | Wil | 8–0 | 18 April 2013 |
| Sani Emmanuel | Biel-Bienne | Wohlen | 7–0 | 12 May 2013 |

### Scoring

* First goal of the season: Gezim Shalaj for Lugano against Wil (14 July 2012)
* Fastest goal of the season: Mirko Facchinetti for Chiasso against Bellinzona (27 August 2012)
* Largest winning margin: 8 goals
** Bellinzona 8–0 Wil (18 April 2013)
* Highest scoring game: 8 goals
** Vaduz 5–3 Aarau (6 August 2012)
** Aarau 5–3 Wohlen (28 October 2012)
** Bellinzona 8–0 Wil (18 April 2013)
** Locarno 2–6 Bellinzona (8 May 2013)
* Most goals scored by a single team: 8 goals
** Bellinzona 8–0 Wil (18 April 2013)
* Most goals scored by a losing team: 3 goals
** Vaduz 5–3 Aarau (6 August 2012)
** Aarau 5–3 Wohlen (28 October 2012)
** Lugano 4–3 Bellinzona (2 June 2013)

### Clean sheets

* Most clean sheets: 15
** Bellinzona
* Fewest clean sheets: 4
** Locarno

### Discipline

* Most yellow cards (club): 86
** Chiasso
* Most yellow cards (player): 14
** Pietro Di Nardo (Biel-Bienne)
* Most red cards (club): 10
** Chiasso
* Most red cards (player): 2
** Marko Bašić (Lugano)
** Igor Djuric (Chiasso)
** Cha Jong-Hyok (Wil)
** Charles-André Doudin (Biel-Bienne)
** Emiliano Dudar (Chiasso)
** Pavel Pergl (Bellinzona)
** Mirko Quaresima (Chiasso)