The 2012–13 Swiss Challenge League was the tenth season of the

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, while the ...

, the second tier of the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

football league pyramid. It began on 14 July 2012 and ended on 2 June 2013.

Teams

2011–12 Challenge League champions

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...

were promoted to the 2012–13 Super League. They weren't replaced by another team due to

Neuchâtel Xamax , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (France ...

being demoted to the 4th tier of Swiss football for financial irregularities. 2011–12 Challenge League runners-up

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the dis ...

had to compete in a promotion/relegation playoff against 9th-placed Super League team

Sion Sion may refer to * an alternative transliteration of Zion People * Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name Plac ...

and remained in the Challenge League after losing 3–1 on aggregate. The bottom five teams –

Stade Nyonnais FC Stade Nyonnais is an association football club based in the town of Nyon, Switzerland. The team currently competes in the Promotion League, the third tier of the Swiss football league system and plays its home matches at Stade de Colovray, ...

, Étoile Carouge,

Delémont Delémont (; fc, D'lémont; german: Delsberg, ) is the capital of the Swiss canton of Jura. The city has approximately 12,000 inhabitants . History The area of the municipality was already settled in the middle Bronze Age. Fifteen urn buria ...

Kriens Kriens is a city and a municipality in the district of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. The municipality lies at the foot of the mountain Pilatus, and is a western suburb of Lucerne. History In the oldest documents of the Bened ...

and Brühl – were relegated to the newly formed

1. Liga Promotion The Promotion League, named the YAPEAL Promotion League for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Swiss football league system. Eighteen clubs compete in the league, playing each other twice over the course of the season. The champions are ...

with no teams replaced them due to the Challenge League reducing from 16 to 10 teams.

League table

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.

First and Second Round

Third and Fourth Round

Season statistics

Top scorers

Assists

Hat-tricks

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 In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

: 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 Emiliano Ariel Dudar (born 12 August 1981) is a retired Argentine central defender. Career Born in Buenos Aires, Dudar began his career in the youth ranks of Velez Sarsfield and made his First Division debut in 2000. During his debut season he ...

(Chiasso) **

Pavel Pergl Pavel Pergl (14 November 1977 – 1 May 2018) was a Czech professional footballer who played as a central defender. He committed suicide on 1 May 2018. Career Pergl played for Sparta Prague, SG Dynamo Dresden (two spells), Preston North End, AE ...

(Bellinzona) **Mirko Quaresima (Chiasso)

References

External links

*
Soccerway
{{DEFAULTSORT:2012-13 Swiss Challenge League Swiss Challenge League seasons 2012–13 in Swiss football

de:Schweizer Fussballmeisterschaft 2012/13#Challenge League