1970–71 Nationalliga A
Swiss football season
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The following is the summary of the Swiss National League in the 1970–71 football season, both Nationalliga A and Nationalliga B. This was the 74th season of top-tier and the 73rd season of second-tier football in Switzerland.
Bellinzona
19 goals
| Season | 1970–71 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Grasshopper Club |
| Relegated | Fribourg Bellinzona |
| Top goalscorer | Walter Müller (Young Boys) 19 goals |
← 1969–70 1971–72 → | |
| Season | 1970–71 |
|---|---|
| Champions | St. Gallen |
| Promoted | St. Gallen FC Grenchen |
| Relegated | Young Fellows Urania Genève |
| Top goalscorer | Franz Meier (Wettingen) 20 goals |
← 1969–70 1971–72 → | |
Overview
The Swiss Football Association (ASF/SFV) had 28 member clubs at this time which were divided into two divisions of 14 teams each. The teams 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 12 teams from the previous 1969–70 season and the two newly promoted teams Sion and Luzern. The champions would qualify for the 1971–72 European Cup, the second and third placed teams would qualify for the newly created 1971–72 UEFA Cup and the last two teams in the league table at the end of the season were to be relegated.
The second-tier (NLB) was contested by the two teams that had been relegated from the NLA, FC Wettingen and St. Gallen, the teams that had been in third to twelfth position last season and the two newly promoted teams Vevey-Sports and FC Monthey. The top two teams at the end of the season would be promoted to the 1971–72 NLA and the last two teams would be relegated to the 1971–72 Swiss 1. Liga.[1]
At the end of the NLA season it came to an extraordinary situation, FC Basel finished the regular season level on points with Grasshopper Club Zürich and so these two teams had to contest a play-off game on 8 June 1971 to decide the championship title. Grasshopper won the play-off 4–3 after extra time.[2] Bellinzona finished last in the table and were relegated. Sion and Fribourg, were level on points, both classes as second last, so they had to compete a play-out against relegation. Sion won 1–0 and remained in the top-tier and Fribourg were relegated.[3]
Nationalliga A
Teams, locations
| Team | Based in | Canton | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC Basel | Basel |  Basel-Stadt |
St. Jakob Stadium | 36,800 |
| AC Bellinzona | Bellinzona |  Ticino |
Stadio Comunale Bellinzona | 5,000 |
| FC Biel-Bienne | Biel/Bienne |  Bern |
Stadion Gurzelen | 15,000 |
| FC Fribourg | Fribourg |  Fribourg |
Stade Universitaire | 9,000 |
| Grasshopper Club Zürich | Zürich |  Zürich |
Hardturm | 20,000 |
| FC La Chaux-de-Fonds | La Chaux-de-Fonds |  Neuchâtel |
Centre Sportif de la Charrière | 12,700 |
| FC Lausanne-Sport | Lausanne |  Vaud |
Pontaise | 15,700 |
| FC Lugano | Lugano | Ticino |
Cornaredo Stadium | 6,330 |
| FC Luzern | Lucerne |  Lucerne |
Stadion Allmend | 25,000 |
| Servette FC | Geneva |  Geneva |
Stade des Charmilles | 27,000 |
| FC Sion | Sion |  Valais |
Stade de Tourbillon | 16,000 |
| FC Winterthur | Winterthur | Zürich |
Schützenwiese | 8,550 |
| BSC Young Boys | Bern | Bern |
Wankdorf Stadium | 56,000 |
| FC Zürich | Zürich | Zürich |
Letzigrund | 25,000 |
Final league table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Basel[4] | 26 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 67 | 26 | +41 | 42 | To championship play-off |
| 2 | Grasshopper Club | 26 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 59 | 21 | +38 | 42 | To championship play-off and entered 1971 Intertoto Cup |
| 3 | Lugano | 26 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 50 | 34 | +16 | 31 | Qualified for 1971–72 UEFA Cup and entered 1971 Intertoto Cup |
| 4 | Lausanne-Sport | 26 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 51 | 43 | +8 | 30 | |
| 5 | Zürich[5] | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 41 | 42 | −1 | 28 | Entered 1971 Intertoto Cup |
| 6 | Winterthur | 26 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 36 | 38 | −2 | 27 | |
| 7 | Servette[6] | 26 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 39 | 36 | +3 | 26 | Swiss Cup winners, qualified for 1971–72 Cup Winners' Cup and entered 1971 Intertoto Cup |
| 8 | Young Boys[7] | 26 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 43 | 46 | −3 | 26 | |
| 9 | La Chaux-de-Fonds | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 46 | 47 | −1 | 24 | |
| 10 | Biel-Bienne | 26 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 32 | 43 | −11 | 21 | |
| 11 | Luzern | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 39 | 48 | −9 | 20 | |
| 12 | Sion | 26 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 32 | 46 | −14 | 19 | To relegation play-off |
| 13 | Fribourg | 26 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 35 | 63 | −28 | 19 | To relegation play-off |
| 14 | Bellinzona | 26 | 1 | 7 | 18 | 24 | 61 | −37 | 9 | Relegated to 1971–72 Nationalliga B |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference within the league, however with play-off for qualifiers;
Results
Championship play-off
| Grasshopper Club | 4–3 (a.e.t.) | Basel |
|---|---|---|
Ohlhauser  16'Grahn 75', 97'Meier 106' |
FCB summary | Mundschin 21' Wenger 70'Benthaus 119' (pen.) |
Grasshopper Club were championship play-off winners and thus qualified for 1971–72 European Cup. As runners-up Basel qualified for 1971–72 UEFA Cup.
Relegation play-out
Sion won the play-out and remained in the top-tier. Fribourg were relegated to 1971–72 Nationalliga B
Nationalliga B
Teams, locations
| Team | Based in | Canton | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC Aarau | Aarau |  Aargau |
Stadion Brügglifeld | 9,240 |
| SC Brühl | St. Gallen |  St. Gallen |
Paul-Grüninger-Stadion | 4,200 |
| FC Chiasso | Chiasso | Ticino |
Stadio Comunale Riva IV | 4,000 |
| Étoile Carouge FC | Carouge | Geneva |
Stade de la Fontenette | 3,690 |
| FC Grenchen | Grenchen |  Solothurn |
Stadium Brühl | 15,100 |
| FC Martigny-Sports | Martigny | Valais |
Stade d'Octodure | 2,500 |
| Mendrisiostar | Mendrisio | Ticino |
Centro Sportivo Comunale | 4,000 |
| FC Monthey | Monthey | Valais |
Stade Philippe Pottier | 1,800 |
| FC St. Gallen | St. Gallen | St. Gallen |
Espenmoos | 11,000 |
| Urania Genève Sport | Genève | Geneva |
Stade de Frontenex | 4,000 |
| Vevey Sports | Vevey | Vaud |
Stade de Copet | 4,000 |
| FC Wettingen | Wettingen | Aargau |
Stadion Altenburg | 10,000 |
| Neuchâtel Xamax FC | Neuchâtel | Neuchâtel |
Stade de la Maladière | 25,500 |
| FC Young Fellows Zürich | Zürich | Zürich |
Utogrund | 2,850 |
Final league table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. Gallen | 26 | 18 | 5 | 3 | 55 | 24 | +31 | 41 | NLB Champions and promoted to 1971–72 Nationalliga A |
| 2 | FC Grenchen | 26 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 53 | 21 | +32 | 39 | Promoted to 1971–72 Nationalliga A |
| 3 | Neuchâtel Xamax | 26 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 46 | 32 | +14 | 31 | |
| 4 | Mendrisiostar | 26 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 28 | 27 | +1 | 28 | |
| 5 | SC Brühl | 26 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 45 | 42 | +3 | 27 | |
| 6 | FC Aarau[8] | 26 | 7 | 13 | 6 | 28 | 31 | −3 | 27 | |
| 7 | Etoile Carouge FC | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 43 | 43 | 0 | 26 | |
| 8 | FC Monthey | 26 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 44 | 42 | +2 | 25 | |
| 9 | FC Chiasso | 26 | 6 | 11 | 9 | 24 | 36 | −12 | 23 | |
| 10 | FC Wettingen | 26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 47 | 48 | −1 | 22 | |
| 11 | Vevey-Sports | 26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 27 | 41 | −14 | 22 | |
| 12 | FC Martigny-Sports | 26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 26 | 42 | −16 | 22 | |
| 13 | Young Fellows[9] | 26 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 30 | 35 | −5 | 18 | Relegated to 1971–72 1. Liga |
| 14 | Urania Genève Sport[9] | 26 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 55 | −32 | 13 | Relegated to 1971–72 1. Liga |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference within the league, however with play-off for qualifiers;