The 1939–40 1. Liga season was the 9th season of the 1. Liga since its creation in 1931. At this time, the 1. Liga was the second-tier of the

Swiss football league system The Swiss football league system, is a series of interconnected leagues for association football clubs in Switzerland, with seven teams from Liechtenstein, and one each from exclaves of Germany and Italy, also competing. The system has a hierarchi ...

. Due to the outbreak the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

on 1 September 1939 the start of the Swiss football championship was postponed until 22 October. The 1. Liga was postponed until December and it was completely reorganised for this season.

Overview

Preamble

In Switzerland during the

second world war World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

period, sport became an integral part of the "spiritual national defense". This was a political and cultural movement that had already become increasingly important during the late 1930s. Politicians, intellectuals and media professionals had increasingly called for measures to strengthen Switzerland's basic cultural values. Since the Nationalliga games were also considered to be one of the activities that seemed important for maintaining the morale of the population, the military authorities put considerably fewer obstacles in the way of the top players and leading clubs as they had during the previous World War. Nevertheless, the outbreak of the

, triggered by the German attack on Poland on 1 September 1939, was also a shock for Switzerland, although international signs had been pointing towards a war for some time. On 30 August, the Federal Assembly elected staff officer

Henri Guisan Henri Guisan (; 21 October 1874 – 7 April 1960) was a Swiss military officer who held the office of General of the Swiss Armed Forces during the Second World War. He was the fourth and the most recent person to be appointed to the rarely u ...

as Commander-in-Chief of the Army. On 2 September, general

mobilisation Mobilization (alternatively spelled as mobilisation) is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the ...

for war took place. The national exhibition in Zurich, during which the national football team had also played representative matches against teams from neighbouring countries, was closed for some time. The general mobilisation brought regular championship operations to a standstill, and in its place an improvised mobilisation championship was held without automatic promotion or relegation. In some cases the games could not be played or were postponed because the clubs did not have enough players available.

Format

The 12 teams of the top-tier competed the improvised championship as in the years before. However, the 24 clubs that competed in the 1. Liga were re-organised. This season they were divided into five regional groups (as opposed to two in previous years), this was done to reduce travelling times. There were six teams in group 1 (West), five teams in group 2 (North-West), group 3 (Central) and group 4 (North-East), but only three in group 5 (South). The teams in group 1 played a double round-robin to decide their league position. The teams in the groups 2, 3 and 4 played three round-robins and the teams in group 5 played four round-robins. Two points were awarded for a win and one point was awarded for a draw. The five group winners then contested a play-off round to decide the championship. This contested of: a two legged semi-final for the two west group winners, a three team round-robin semi-final for the other groups and then there was to be a two legged-final for the title of 1. Liga champions.

Group 1

Teams, locations

Final league table

Group 2

Teams, locations

Final league table

Group 3

Teams, locations

Final league table

Group 4

Teams, locations

Final league table

Group 5

Teams, locations

Final league table

The matches Bellinzona–Locarno and Chiasso–Bellinzona were not played as they were irrelevant in determining the team classified in the final phase.

Championship play-off

Semi-finals

The winners of the groups 1 and 2 played their matches on 30 June and 7 July 1940. Vevey did not play the match because the team had too few players due to the mobilisation. The game was awarded 0–3 for Fribourg

Fribourg or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...

won and advanced to the final. The three other group winners played a three team round-robin for the other finalist. Due to the egality between two teams a play-off decider was required. This was played on 7 July in Basel.

Final

The games in the final were played on 4 and 11 August 1940. Due to the egality, one win each, a replay was required. This was played at

Stadion Neufeld Stadion Neufeld is a multi-use stadium in Bern, Switzerland. It is the home ground of FC Bern and the junior team of BSC Young Boys. The capacity of the stadium is 14,000 spectators, including 3000 seats. BSC Young Boys used the stadium from 2001 ...

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

on 18 August.

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

won the 1. Liga championship title.

Further in Swiss football

1939–40 Nationalliga The following is the summary of the Swiss National League in the 1939–40 football season. This was the 43rd season of top-tier football in Switzerland. This was played as "Championnat Suisse de Mobilisation" due to the Second World War. Overv ...

* 1939–40 Swiss Cup *

1939–40 FC Basel season The FC Basel 1939–40 season was the forty-seventh season since the club's foundation on 15 November 1893. FC Basel played their home games in the Landhof in the district Wettstein in Kleinbasel. Albert Besse was the club's new chairman. He took ...

References

Sources

Switzerland 1939–40 at RSSSF
{{DEFAULTSORT:1939–40 Swiss 1. Liga 1939–40 in Swiss football Swiss 1. Liga (football) seasons

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...