These are the fairest and most unfair football teams in Switzerland

In the lower Swiss leagues, it is not the goal difference or the direct encounter that is decisive in a tie, but first the number of penalty points. Those who behave particularly honestly are also rewarded with participation in the main round of the Swiss Cup. But not everyone holds back politely when collecting cards, as the penalty stats show.

All association matches of the 2022/23 season were counted. So not only championship matches, but also cup matches and any decisive matches.

There are penalty points for all possible violations. Below is a small selection, the full list can be found here:

The regional associations keep the fair play rankings on their websites. Due to the different number of games, the coefficient is also calculated per game. We’ll use this for ranking here.

On average over all teams, one team collects three penalty points per game, calculated over the season (varying number of games) that is around 62.

Let’s start with the positives. Switzerland’s fairest team last season was the SC Wohlensee 2b. The Berner (incidentally the youth club of Watson-Sonnenschein Nico Franzoni) received only six yellow cards in 22 games. That makes a coefficient of 0.273. Coach Harry Voigt is of course happy, even though he says: “You don’t win games with penalties. However, I am proud that I was able to finish in the middle of the field with only a few penalties. After all, it is our first season in fourth grade.”

The fair play rating is not a topic of discussion for them. But you would rack up a few demerits for years to come. It went so far that a few years ago the local newspaper called the team “The Lambs of Wohlensee”. At that time there was only a penalty point on the last day of the preliminary round – no team had managed that before.

There are no internal “sanctions”. But Voigt admits: “I got one of the demerits because I commented on every move. Of course the boys laughed at me.”

The coach can explain why his team plays so fair: “Wohlensee does not have an A-youth team. About five years ago we outgrew the B-Juniors and started as an active team in the 5th division. We compensated our physical inferiority with playful skills and let the ball run instead of a duel. The team is much the same.” (Perhaps our Nico Franzoni can bring a little more experience when he returns to his boyhood club.)

SC Wohlensee has the lowest penalty point coefficient, but two other teams received the fewest yellow cards. The 5th Division SC Basel North and FC Union-Sportive Montfaucon 2 only had to be warned five times by referees. However, with fewer games, the coefficient is slightly higher (0.313).

Basel-Nord coach Benjamin von Falkenstein and his assistant coach Davide de Santis were aware that they are among the fairest teams: “We attach great importance to fair play. We’re on the field to have fun, not to bully and pay tickets for tickets afterwards.”

He mentions the good team spirit as “secret”, you can also deal with defeats. “Of course we want to win every game, but the focus is on enjoying football. We play in 5th grade. It would be a bit absurd if we approached every match with the hardness of a Champions League match.” The kickers from Basel North ensured a successful second half of the season. In the preliminary round they just missed the promotion group, but in the second half they won six times and tied once (one unrated game) – 1st place.

Von Falkenstein has little understanding for teams with many penalty points. His tip: “Football is a hobby in our league that should be fun for everyone. Neither opponents nor referees want to be offended or even injured on a Sunday morning.”

Also with FC Union Sportive Montfaucon 2 people are happy with the news, as Jean-Marc Bueche writes on request: “We emphasize again and again the value of fair play. Brutality breeds more brutality. We don’t want that.”

Honesty was rewarded at Montfaucon in 2017. At that time, thanks to this rating, the first team reached the main round of the Swiss Cup and was allowed to compete against Xamax. At that time there was a 0:21, which meant a Swiss Cup record. But the game and the event remain in positive memory.

On the other side of the table is the FC Vully Sport II. The team from the 5th division of Freiburg was able to celebrate promotion this season, but must also bear the title of most unfair team with 529 penalty points.

What happened? When asked, the union reports: “A player has committed an act of violence against an opponent. Given the situation, a three-year suspension was imposed, costing the Vully team 483 fair play points.

A request to Vully’s president, Olivier Hirschi, sheds some light on the scene in question. In the 85th minute, one of their players was provoked. A teammate who also does kickboxing came to his rescue and ended the argument with two to three punches. “The opponent suffered a minor head injury, the game was stopped,” Hirschi recalled.

The referee first banned the match twice, but the opponent did not accept it and the penalty was later increased to a three-year suspension for the player.

483 of the 529 penalty points are due to this duel, the association writes. In total, the team received four red cards during the season. That’s not exactly small either – especially if you’re playing all the way up front.

Also among the teams with many penalty points is the FC Thun. This also produces a 5th league team. How the 329 penalty points came about has yet to be answered.

It has already been shown above that the most unfair teams seldom collect many penalties through hard and unfair play, but “through words, gossip and excessive temper”, as SC Wohlensee coach Harry Voigt says. Or in short: “A calm mind helps.”

But does league membership also play a role? The following statistics say clearly: Yes. The higher the level, the more penalty points are awarded. On average almost 2 penalty points are awarded more in 2nd division matches than in 5th division matches.

Let’s take a closer look at that. What is the fairest competition at regional association level? Here it fluctuates 5th competition from Solothurn above. fairest 4th competition is that of the football association Bern / Jura, it is just behind its own 5th class.

Also in the 3. Competitions those teams of the Solothurn Football Association are those with the fewest penalty points in which 2nd competition the Central Swiss Football Association needs the fewest penalties.

The four most unfair divisions all come from the 2nd division. The clubs from Valais collected almost 6 penalty points per game.

But not only the competitive strength, also the connection with the association plays a role. For example, in Neuchâtel and Tessin football, only about two penalty points are distributed on average across all strength classes. On the other hand, in the football association of the Zurich region, most of the penalties have to be handed down.

Find your club from the 2nd to 5th league in the table here. Simply enter the name in the search field and you will receive all information about your club.