Switzerland Football
Switzerland Football
Due to the previous mode, which was found to be too complicated, the league was reformed for the 2003/04 season, which also involved a name change. For the first time, the top division now has a title sponsor – Switzerland tip. As a further step, the league was reduced from twelve to ten teams. The clubs also had to undertake to obtain planning permission for the construction of a modern stadium by 2010. Theoretically, clubs face forced relegation if they do not meet this criterion, but the Swiss Football League has granted postponements. As a rule, newcomers only receive a permit for the top division if their stadium either meets the requirements or the stadium can be converted.
Since the Switzerland football league reform in 2003, the name of the main sponsor of the league has also been part of the official designation.
Axpo Holding was the title sponsor of the league from 2003 to 2012, which is why it was officially called the Axpo Super League.
After the Switzerland football reform in 2003, considerations were underway at the beginning of 2008 to enlarge the league to twelve teams again and to reintroduce the “line”. In Switzerland, the “dash” is used colloquially to describe the mode that provides for the creation of a promotion/relegation round after the preliminary round. In this case, in a league of 12, only the eight best teams in the preliminary round would be fighting for the championship title in the Super League. The remaining four teams would have to compete against the four best teams of the Challenge League preliminary round in the second half of the season and play there for league status or relegation.
In June 2009, the clubs of the Swiss Football League (SFL) decided at an extraordinary general assembly in Bern to increase Switzerland football again to twelve teams; a working group was due by November 2009 to work out details about the time and mode of introduction. However, the proposal was rejected again at the General Assembly in November 2009.
From the 2012/13 season, the league was called Raiffeisen Super League, named after the new title sponsor Raiffeisen Switzerland.
The 2003 introduced barrage of the second last against the second in the Challenge League was eliminated with a mode change for the 2012/13 season.
In October 2017, intensive thought was again given to changing the format and increasing the league to 12 or 14 teams. An analysis by the Switzerland Football League showed that Switzerland has a maximum potential of 12 teams in the top division. A mode with 12 teams was tested with the Dutch company Hypercube. However, the tight schedule of matches before Christmas and the early relegation battle deterred the Swiss Football League from reforming. The return to the barrage between the second in the Challenge League and the second from last in the Super League was rejected by a vote of 10:10. It would have needed a two-thirds majority. In May 2018, just six months later, the barrage was reintroduced with 16:4 votes. The mode change already came into effect for the 2018/19 season.
Credit Suisse has been the title sponsor of the Super League since the 2021/22 season. Switzerland tip now had real competition.
