| Season | 1978–79 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Servette |
| Relegated | Nordstern |
| European Cup | Servette |
| Cup Winners' Cup | Young Boys |
| UEFA Cup | Zürich Grasshopper Club |
| Top goalscorer | Peter Risi (Zürich) 16 goals |
1979–80 → | |
| Season | 1978–79 |
|---|---|
| Champions | La Chaux-de-Fonds |
| Promoted | La Chaux-de-Fonds Luzern Lugano |
| Relegated | Etoile Carouge Young Fellows |
| Top goalscorer | n/a |
1979–80 → | |
The following is the summary of theSwiss National League in the 1978–79 football season, both Nationalliga A and Nationalliga B. This was the 82nd season of top-tier and the 81st season of second-tier football in Switzerland.
TheSwiss Football Association (ASF/SFV) had 28 members at this time. The clubs were divided into two tiers, the top tier Nationalliga A (NLA) with 12 teams and the second tier Nationalliga B (NLB) with 16. The format in both divisions was that the teams played a doubleround-robin to decide their table positions. Two points were awarded for a win and one point was awarded for a draw. Each club playing every other club twice (home and away), for a total of 22 rounds in the NLA and 30 rounds in the NLB.
In the NLA following this first qualification stage the division was divided in two, the top placed six teams then played a championship stage and the others in a relegation play-out. In both groups each team took half of the points gained in the first stage, rounded up to complete units, as bonus with them. They played a further double round-robin within the group. The Swiss champions would qualify for the1979–80 European Cup, the runners-up and third placed team would qualify for the1979–80 UEFA Cup.
In the following season the format was changed and both tiers would have 14 teams. Therefore, only one team from the NLA was relegated and the top three teams in the NLA were promoted. The bottom two teams in the NLB were relegated to the1979–80 1. Liga.
The first round of the NLA was played on 12 August 1978. There was a winter break between 3 December and 4 March 1979. The qualifying phase was completed by 8 April and the second phase took place between 21 April and 23 June 1997.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FC Zürich[1] | 22 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 51 | 19 | +32 | 32 | To championship round |
| 2 | Servette FC | 22 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 56 | 23 | +33 | 30 | |
| 3 | Grasshopper Club Zürich | 22 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 35 | 24 | +11 | 27 | |
| 4 | FC Basel[2] | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 36 | 29 | +7 | 26 | |
| 5 | BSC Young Boys | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 39 | 34 | +5 | 26 | |
| 6 | FC St. Gallen | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 26 | |
| 7 | Neuchâtel Xamax | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 42 | 33 | +9 | 24 | To relegation play-out round |
| 8 | CS Chênois | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 30 | 32 | −2 | 22 | |
| 9 | Lausanne Sports | 22 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 28 | 40 | −12 | 15 | |
| 10 | FC Chiasso | 22 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 20 | 46 | −26 | 13 | |
| 11 | FC Nordstern Basel | 22 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 19 | 44 | −25 | 12 | |
| 12 | FC Sion | 22 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 20 | 52 | −32 | 11 |
| Home \ Away | BAS | CHÊ | CHI | GCZ | LS | NX | NOR | SER | SIO | STG | YB | ZÜR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basel | 2–1 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | |
| Chênois | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–5 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | |
| Chiasso | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | |
| Grasshopper Club | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 2–1 | |
| Lausanne-Sports | 0–1 | 1–4 | 4–3 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | |
| Neuchâtel Xamax | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 8–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | |
| Nordstern | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–5 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 1–2 | 0–1 | |
| Servette | 6–0 | 5–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | |
| Sion | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–4 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 2–2 | |
| St. Gallen | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 6–0 | 0–2 | |
| Young Boys | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | |
| Zürich | 1–1 | 6–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 5–0 | 4–1 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Servette | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 5 | +18 | 15 | 35 | Champions and Swiss Cup winners qualified for1979–80 European Cup |
| 2 | Zürich[1] | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 14 | +5 | 16 | 29 | qualified for1979–80 UEFA Cup and entered1979 Intertoto Cup |
| 3 | Grasshopper Club | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 13 | −2 | 14 | 23 | qualified for1979–80 UEFA Cup and entered1979 Intertoto Cup |
| 4 | St. Gallen | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 11 | −3 | 13 | 20 | entered1978 Intertoto Cup |
| 5 | Young Boys | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 17 | −12 | 13 | 19 | Cup finalist qualified for1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup |
| 6 | Basel[2] | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 18 | 24 | −6 | 13 | 18 |
| Home \ Away | BAS | GCZ | STG | SER | YB | ZÜR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basel | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 6–0 | 1–3 | |
| Grasshopper Club | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | |
| St. Gallen | 4–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | |
| Servette | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | |
| Young Boys | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | |
| Zürich | 4–2 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts | Relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CS Chênois | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 21 | 14 | +7 | 11 | 24 | entered1978 Intertoto Cup |
| 2 | FC Sion | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 8 | +7 | 6 | 20 | |
| 3 | FC Chiasso | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 10 | +6 | 7 | 20 | |
| 4 | Lausanne Sports | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 16 | +4 | 8 | 20 | |
| 5 | Neuchâtel Xamax | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 19 | −8 | 12 | 17 | |
| 6 | FC Nordstern Basel | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 24 | −16 | 6 | 9 | Relegated to1979–80 Nationalliga B |
| Home \ Away | CHÊ | CHI | LS | NX | NOR | SIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chênois | 1–0 | 3–3 | 6–3 | 3–1 | 1–1 | |
| Chiasso | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | |
| Lausanne-Sports | 2–4 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–2 | |
| Neuchâtel Xamax | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 0–2 | |
| Nordstern | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–3 | |
| Sion | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FC La Chaux-de-Fonds | 30 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 71 | 31 | +40 | 43 | Champions promoted to1979–80 Nationalliga A |
| 2 | Luzern | 30 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 62 | 36 | +26 | 43 | Promoted to1979–80 Nationalliga A |
| 3 | FC Winterthur | 30 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 58 | 32 | +26 | 41 | To promotion play-off |
| 4 | Lugano | 30 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 51 | 31 | +20 | 41 | |
| 5 | FC Frauenfeld | 30 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 46 | 39 | +7 | 32 | |
| 6 | FC Aarau[3] | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 44 | 39 | +5 | 32 | |
| 7 | FC Bern | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 32 | |
| 8 | Vevey-Sports | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 47 | 41 | +6 | 28 | |
| 9 | FC Fribourg | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 37 | 33 | +4 | 27 | |
| 10 | AC Bellinzona | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 47 | 49 | −2 | 27 | |
| 11 | FC Grenchen | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 27 | 32 | −5 | 27 | |
| 12 | SC Kriens | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 38 | 48 | −10 | 27 | |
| 13 | FC Biel-Bienne | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 35 | 55 | −20 | 26 | |
| 14 | FC Wettingen | 30 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 40 | 48 | −8 | 25 | |
| 15 | Etoile Carouge FC[4] | 30 | 5 | 11 | 14 | 42 | 53 | −11 | 21 | Relegated to1979–80 1. Liga |
| 16 | FC Young Fellows Zürich[4] | 30 | 3 | 2 | 25 | 21 | 99 | −78 | 8 |
| Preceded by 1977–78 | Nationalliga seasons in Switzerland | Succeeded by 1979–80 |