2012–13 Swiss Challenge League

The 2012–13 Swiss Challenge League was the tenth season of the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of the Swiss football league pyramid. It began on 14 July 2012[2] and ended on 2 June 2013.

Swiss Challenge League
Season2012–13
ChampionsAarau
PromotedAarau
RelegatedBellinzona
Matches played180
Goals scored523 (2.91 per match)
Top goalscorerArmando Sadiku
(20 goals)
Biggest home winBellinzona 8–0 Wil
Biggest away winLocarno 0–5 Winterthur
Highest scoringVaduz 5–3 Aarau
Aarau 5–3 Wohlen
Bellinzona 8–0 Wil
Locarno 2–6 Bellinzona
Longest winning run6 games
Aarau
Longest unbeaten run14 games
Bellinzona
Longest winless run10 games
Lugano
Longest losing run7 games
Locarno
Highest attendance6,100
Aarau 3–3 Wohlen
Lowest attendance203
Biel-Bienne 7–0 Wohlen
Average attendance1,454[1]

Teams

2011–12 Challenge League champions St. Gallen were promoted to the 2012–13 Super League. They weren't replaced by another team due to Neuchâtel Xamax being demoted to the 4th tier of Swiss football for financial irregularities. 2011–12 Challenge League runners-up Aarau had to compete in a promotion/relegation playoff against 9th-placed Super League team Sion and remained in the Challenge League after losing 3–1 on aggregate.

The bottom five teams – Stade Nyonnais, Étoile Carouge, Delémont, Kriens and Brühl – were relegated to the newly formed 1. Liga Promotion with no teams replaced them due to the Challenge League reducing from 16 to 10 teams.

Locations of the 2012–13 Challenge League clubs
Club City Stadium 2011–12 season
FC Aarau Aarau, Aargau Stadion Brügglifeld 2nd in Challenge League
AC Bellinzona Bellinzona, Ticino Stadio Comunale 3rd in Challenge League
FC Biel/Bienne Biel/Bienne, Berne Gurzelen Stadion 10th in Challenge League
FC Chiasso Chiasso, Ticino Stadio Comunale 7th in Challenge League
FC Locarno Locarno, Ticino Stadio del Lido 9th in Challenge League
FC Lugano Lugano, Ticino Cornaredo Stadium 5th in Challenge League
FC Vaduz Vaduz, Liechtenstein Rheinpark Stadion 8th in Challenge League
FC Wil 1900 Wil, St. Gallen Stadion Bergholz 6th in Challenge League
FC Winterthur Winterthur, Zürich Stadion Schützenwiese 4th in Challenge League
FC Wohlen Wohlen, Aargau Stadion Niedermatten 11th in Challenge League

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Aarau (C) 36 24 6 6 76 40 +36 78 Promotion to 2013–14 Swiss Super League
2 Bellinzona (D, R) 36 21 8 7 62 37 +25 64 Relegation to 2013–14 1. Liga Promotion[lower-alpha 1]
3 Winterthur 36 19 5 12 61 43 +18 62
4 Wil 36 15 6 15 59 65 −6 51
5 Biel-Bienne 36 13 8 15 59 59 0 47
6 Chiasso 36 13 8 15 42 51 −9 47
7 Lugano 36 11 11 14 52 50 +2 44
8 Wohlen 36 9 12 15 39 58 −19 39
9 Vaduz 36 10 7 19 41 52 −11 37
10 Locarno 36 5 9 22 32 68 −36 24
Source: Swiss Challenge League (in German)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (D) Disqualified; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Due to financial irregularities, AC Bellinzona was discounted seven points and were ultimately relegated at the end of the season. FC Locarno was thus not relegated in spite of their last-place finish.

Results

Teams played each other four times (twice home and twice away) over the course of the season, home and away, for a total of 36 matches per team.

Season statistics

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDate
Senegal Matar ColyBiel-BienneVaduz4–2[5]19 August 2012
North Macedonia Adis JahovićWilChiasso4–1[5]19 August 2012
Switzerland Davide CallàAarauWohlen5–3[6]28 October 2012
Serbia Kristian KuzmanovićWinterthurBellinzona5–1[7]4 November 2012
Italy Giuseppe MorelloBiel-BienneAarau5–15 November 2012
Cameroon Landry MouangueWilWinterthur4–0[8]2 December 2012
Switzerland Silvan WidmerAarauWohlen3–11 April 2013
Switzerland Pascal SchürpfBellinzonaWil8–018 April 2013
Nigeria Sani EmmanuelBiel-BienneWohlen7–012 May 2013

Scoring
  • First goal of the season: Gezim Shalaj for Lugano against Wil (14 July 2012)
  • Fastest goal of the season: Mirko Facchinetti for Chiasso against Bellinzona (27 August 2012)
  • Largest winning margin: 8 goals
    • Bellinzona 8–0 Wil (18 April 2013)
  • Highest scoring game: 8 goals
    • Vaduz 5–3 Aarau (6 August 2012)
    • Aarau 5–3 Wohlen (28 October 2012)
    • Bellinzona 8–0 Wil (18 April 2013)
    • Locarno 2–6 Bellinzona (8 May 2013)
  • Most goals scored by a single team: 8 goals
    • Bellinzona 8–0 Wil (18 April 2013)
  • Most goals scored by a losing team: 3 goals
    • Vaduz 5–3 Aarau (6 August 2012)
    • Aarau 5–3 Wohlen (28 October 2012)
    • Lugano 4–3 Bellinzona (2 June 2013)

Clean sheets
  • Most clean sheets: 15
    • Bellinzona
  • Fewest clean sheets: 4
    • Locarno

Discipline

References
  1. "Zuschauerzahlen – Challenge League". Swiss Challenge League (in German). Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  2. "Challenge League - Results and fixtures". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  3. "Torschützenliste – Challenge League". Swiss Challenge League (in German). Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  4. "Assistliste – Challenge League". Swiss Challenge League (in German). Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  5. "Lugano setzt sich an die Spitze". Swiss Challenge League (in German). 19 August 2012. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  6. "Aarau zum zehnten Mal in Folge ungeschlagen". Swiss Challenge League (in German). 28 October 2012. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  7. "Bellinzona mit kapitalem Fehltritt". Swiss Challenge League (in German). 4 November 2012. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  8. "Aarau überwintert auf Platz 1". Swiss Challenge League. 2 December 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
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