The 2022–23 Swiss Challenge League (referred to as the Dieci Challenge League for sponsoring reasons) is the 125th season of the second tier of competitive football in Switzerland and the 20th season under its current name.

Overview

Ten teams will compete in the league: eight teams of the previous season will participate in the league again. They are joined by

FC Lausanne-Sport FC Lausanne–Sport (also referred to as LS) is a Swiss football club based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Founded in 1896, Lausanne Sport played in the Swiss Super League in their most recent 2021-22 season, the highest tier of football ...

, the last-placed team of the

2021–22 Swiss Super League The 2021–22 Swiss Super League (referred to as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsoring reasons) was the 125th season of top-tier competitive football in Switzerland and the 19th under its current name and format. A total of ten teams c ...

, who replace previous seasons champions

FC Winterthur FC Winterthur is a Swiss football club based in Winterthur, Canton of Zürich. They play in the Swiss Super League, the first tier of Swiss football, and appeared regularly in the Nationalliga A during the 20th century. Their home is the Stad ...

. Last season's last-placed team

SC Kriens SC Kriens is a football club based in Kriens, Switzerland, who currently play in the Swiss Challenge League. They currently play at the Stadion Kleinfeld and form a local rivalry with FC Lucerne. SC Kriens women's team plays in the Nationall ...

were relegated and are replaced by

AC Bellinzona AC Bellinzona is a Swiss football club based in Bellinzona. It was founded in 1904, and won the Swiss Super League in 1948. After being folded in 2013 declaring bankruptcy, the team played the Ticino Group of 2.Liga, the sixth tier of the Swi ...

, who were promoted from the 2021-22

Swiss Promotion League 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 ...

FC Schaffhausen FC Schaffhausen is a Swiss football team from the town of Schaffhausen. The club plays in the Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football. Honours League Swiss Challenge League *Winners: 1962-63, 2003–04 Cup Swiss Cup *Runners-up: ...

, the losers of the 2021-22 relegation/promotion playoff, rejoined the league. Due to the format change and increased number of teams in the 2023–24 Swiss Super League, this season will function as a transition season. As a result, the top two teams will be directly promoted and no teams will be relegated at the end of the season. Furthermore, the third-placed team will play a promotion playoff against the last placed team of the

2022–23 Swiss Super League The 2022–23 Swiss Super League (referred to as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsoring reasons) is the 126th season of top-tier competitive football in Switzerland and the 20th under its current name and format. With this season, the Swi ...

, so a total of three teams may gain promotion to the Super League. Two teams of the 2022–23 Swiss Promotion League will be promoted and the third will play a relegation playoff with the last-placed Challenge League team.

Schedule

The schedule was announced on 17 June 2022. The first matchday will start on Friday 15 July 2022. Unlike the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

, the Challenge League will not start the winter break early due to the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

, which will be held in November and December 2022. As such, the 18th matchday will clash with matches of the World Cup. Restart of the league after the winter break will begin on 27 January 2023 and the season will conclude on the 27 May 2023. Relegation and promotion play-offs will be held in the following week.

Participating teams

Stadia and locations

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

League table

Results

First and second rounds

Third and fourth rounds

Play-offs

Promotion play-off

Relegation play-off

The relegation/promotion play-off will be played in a two-legged game between the last placed team of the Challenge League and the third placed team of the

Promotion League 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 ...

. These games will be played in the week following the final matchday (27 May 2023).

Awards

References

External links

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Soccerway
{{DEFAULTSORT:2022-23 Swiss Challenge League

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 ...

2022–23 in Swiss football Swiss Challenge League seasons Current association football seasons