1944–45 Nationalliga A
Swiss football season
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The following is the summary of the Swiss National League in the 1944–45 football season, both Nationalliga A and Nationalliga B. This was the 49th season of top-tier and the 48th season of second-tier football in Switzerland.
1 July 1945
St. Gallen
| Season | 1944–45 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 3 September 1944 – 1 July 1945 |
| Champions | Grasshopper Club (13th title) |
| Relegated | Basel St. Gallen |
| Matches | 182 |
| Goals | 602 (3.31 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Hans-Peter Friedländer (GC) 26 goals |
← 1943–44 1945–46 → | |
Overview
Preamble
In Switzerland during the second world war, 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 as they had during the previous World War.[1]
ASF/SFV
Therefore, it came about that the Swiss Football Association (ASF/SFV) expanded themselves. The decision of the extraordinary assembly, held on 9 October 1943 in Lugano, was to double the number of members to 28 clubs for the 1944–45 season and to initiate a new format. The Nationalliga was divided into two strength classes each with 14 teams. The previous Nationalliga became the Nationalliga A (NLA), while the Nationalliga B (NLB) was newly formed. From this moment, the 1. Liga became the third-tier of the Swiss football league system. It was also increased in size, from 25 clubs in two groups, to new three groups with 10 teams each.
Format
The teams in both NLA and in NLB played a double round-robin to decide their table positions. Two points were awarded for a win and one point was awarded for a draw. The top tier (NLA) was contested by the top 13 teams from the 1943–44 Nationalliga and the newly promoted, 1. Liga champion, AC Bellinzona. The two last placed teams in the league table at the end of the season were to be relegated.
The second-tier, the newly formed NLB, was contested by the relegated team from the NLA, FC Luzern, and the 13 best teams of the 1943–44 Swiss 1. Liga season. The top two teams would be promoted to 1945–46 Nationalliga A and the two last placed teams would be relegated to the 1945–46 Swiss 1. Liga.[2]
Nationalliga A
Teams, locations
| Team | Based in | Canton | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC Basel | Basel |  Basel-Stadt |
Landhof | 4,000 |
| AC Bellinzona | Bellinzona |  Ticino |
Stadio Comunale Bellinzona | 5,000 |
| FC Biel-Bienne | Biel/Bienne |  Bern |
Stadion Gurzelen | 5,500 |
| FC Cantonal Neuchâtel | Neuchâtel |  Neuchâtel |
Stade de la Maladière | 25,500 |
| Grasshopper Club Zürich | Zürich |  Zürich |
Hardturm | 20,000 |
| FC Grenchen | Grenchen |  Solothurn |
Stadium Brühl | 15,100 |
| FC La Chaux-de-Fonds | La Chaux-de-Fonds | Neuchâtel |
Centre Sportif de la Charrière | 10,000 |
| FC Lausanne-Sport | Lausanne |  Vaud |
Pontaise | 30,000 |
| FC Lugano | Lugano | Ticino |
Cornaredo Stadium | 6,330 |
| Servette FC | Geneva |  Geneva |
Stade des Charmilles | 27,000 |
| FC St. Gallen | St. Gallen |  St. Gallen |
Espenmoos | 11,000 |
| BSC Young Boys | Bern | Bern |
Wankdorf Stadium | 56,000 |
| FC Young Fellows | Zürich | Zürich |
Utogrund | 2,850 |
| FC Zürich | Zürich | Zürich |
Letzigrund | 25,000 |
Final league table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grasshopper Club | 26 | 18 | 5 | 3 | 78 | 39 | +39 | 41 | Swiss Champions |
| 2 | Lugano | 26 | 15 | 4 | 7 | 55 | 36 | +19 | 34 | |
| 3 | Young Boys[3] | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 37 | 30 | +7 | 34 | Swiss Cup winners |
| 4 | Grenchen | 26 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 37 | 29 | +8 | 33 | |
| 5 | Lausanne-Sport | 26 | 15 | 2 | 9 | 58 | 39 | +19 | 32 | |
| 6 | Cantonal Neuchâtel | 26 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 36 | 29 | +7 | 29 | |
| 7 | Young Fellows Zürich | 26 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 35 | 43 | −8 | 25 | |
| 8 | La Chaux-de-Fonds | 26 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 42 | 50 | −8 | 23 | |
| 9 | Servette[4] | 26 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 43 | 47 | −4 | 21 | |
| 10 | Bellinzona | 26 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 24 | 32 | −8 | 21 | |
| 11 | FC Zürich[5] | 26 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 45 | 57 | −12 | 20 | |
| 12 | Biel-Bienne | 26 | 5 | 10 | 11 | 39 | 56 | −17 | 20 | |
| 13 | Basel[6] | 26 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 45 | 59 | −14 | 18 | Relegated to 1945–46 NLB |
| 14 | St. Gallen | 26 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 28 | 56 | −28 | 13 | Relegated to 1945–46 NLB |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference within the league, however with play-off for qualifiers;
Results
Topscorers
| Rank | Player | Nat. | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hans-Peter Friedländer |  | 26 | Grasshopper Club |
| 2. | Alfred Bickel | | 18 | Grasshopper Club |
| 3. | Numa Monnard | | 16 | Lausanne-Sport |
| 4. | Domenico Gallo | | 13 | Lugano |
| Roberto Bergamini | | 13 | Lugano | |
| 6. | Georges Aeby | | 12 | Lausanne-Sport |
| Roger Courtois | | 12 | Lausanne-Sport | |
| Giovanni Conte | | 12 | Zürich | |
| 9. | Lauro Amadò | | 11 | Grasshopper Club |
| Mario Fornara | | 11 | Lugano | |
| Eugen Walaschek | | 11 | Young Boys | |
| Walter Bosshard | | 11 | Zürich | |
| René Bader | | 11 | Basel | |
Nationalliga B
Teams, locations
| Team | Based in | Canton | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC Aarau | Aarau |  Aargau |
Stadion Brügglifeld | 9,240 |
| FC Bern | Bern | Bern |
Stadion Neufeld | 14,000 |
| SC Brühl | St. Gallen | St. Gallen |
Paul-Grüninger-Stadion | 4,200 |
| SC Derendingen[7] | Derendingen | Solothurn |
Heidenegg | 1,500 |
| FC Étoile-Sporting[8] | La Chaux-de-Fonds | Neuchâtel |
Les Foulets / Terrain des Eplatures | 1,000 / 500 |
| FC Fribourg | Fribourg |  Fribourg |
Stade Universitaire | 9,000 |
| CS International Genève | Geneva | Geneva |
||
| FC Locarno | Locarno | Ticino |
Stadio comunale Lido | 5,000 |
| FC Luzern | Lucerne |  Lucerne |
Stadion Allmend | 25,000 |
| FC Nordstern Basel | Basel | Basel-Stadt |
Rankhof | 7,600 |
| US Pro Daro[9] | Bellinzona | Ticino |
Campo Geretta / Stadio Comunale Bellinzona | 500 / 5,000 |
| FC Solothurn | Solothurn | Solothurn |
Stadion FC Solothurn | 6,750 |
| Urania Genève Sport | Genève | Geneva |
Stade de Frontenex | 4,000 |
| SC Zug | Zug |  Zug |
Herti Allmend Stadion | 6,000 |
Final league table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FC Locarno | 26 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 60 | 26 | +34 | 40 | NLB champions and promoted to 1945–46 NLA |
| 2 | FC Bern | 26 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 65 | 36 | +29 | 39 | Promoted to 1945–46 NLA |
| 3 | FC Aarau[10] | 26 | 15 | 4 | 7 | 67 | 40 | +27 | 34 | |
| 4 | CS International Genève | 26 | 14 | 5 | 7 | 40 | 28 | +12 | 33 | |
| 5 | Urania Genève Sport | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 53 | 48 | +5 | 28 | |
| 6 | SC Derendingen | 26 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 43 | 43 | 0 | 27 | |
| 7 | FC Luzern | 26 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 41 | 32 | +9 | 26 | |
| 8 | FC Étoile-Sporting | 26 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 54 | 54 | 0 | 26 | |
| 9 | FC Fribourg | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 36 | 42 | −6 | 24 | |
| 10 | FC Nordstern Basel | 26 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 41 | 46 | −5 | 21 | |
| 11 | SC Brühl | 26 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 40 | 53 | −13 | 21 | |
| 12 | SC Zug | 26 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 24 | 38 | −14 | 18 | |
| 13 | FC Solothurn[2] | 26 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 29 | 61 | −32 | 15 | Relegated to 1945–46 1. Liga |
| 14 | US Pro Daro[2] | 26 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 24 | 70 | −46 | 12 | Relegated to 1945–46 1. Liga |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference within the league, however with play-off for qualifiers;