6 days left until kick-off: this will all be new in the Super League!

In many major leagues abroad it has long been mandatory, and now the Super League is also introducing it: mandatory main screening for players before the start of the season. To better manage head injuries, a basic neurological assessment of brain functions should be performed on each squad player before the transfer deadline. The basic neurological examination is based on several tests, which record the brain functions that may be affected by a head injury (such as balance, coordination, eye movements, cognition) and symptoms.

These individual baselines are very helpful in the event of a head injury during the initial on-field assessment and in deciding whether the player can return to the game. “Can a football player continue to play? Or not? And when can he play again? Test comparisons with personal starting values ​​are useful for these questions, as each person has individual neurological values. If the injured player deviates from the starting values ​​or has other neurological abnormalities, be replaced,” says Nina Feddermann.

The University of Zurich neurologist and sports neuroscientist supports the league in launching and implementing this project. Feddermann also advises Fifa and the International Football Association Board Ifab and, together with a group of experts, has drawn up a uniform protocol according to which team doctors should act on the sidelines. The main investigations are designed to prevent blatant wrong decisions. Like the one with national coach Fabian Schär in March 2019 against Georgia. At that moment, the defender was unconscious after almost half an hour of play and continued to play. A concussion was not diagnosed until after the game.

Frenchman Thierno Barry (20) was the top scorer in Belgium’s second division. Basel’s new «No. 11″ says: “My strengths are speed and scoring goals.” FCB is the perfect club for further development, he says, “Mo Salah was here too.” New Lucerne striker Teddy Okou (25) is also French and is coming from Lausanne-Ouchy as the top scorer in the Challenge League. Okou is fast, agile and good at dribbling. At 165 centimeters he may be 30 centimeters shorter than Barry, but he also has what it takes to be a big player in the become Super League.

Turn 10 into 12! After 20 seasons with 10 teams each in the Super League, our top division has expanded to 12 teams this summer. Three clubs from the canton of Vaud are new to the Super League: Lausanne Sport, Yverdon and Lausanne-Ouchy. Sion is relegated to the Challenge League.

With the competition boost comes a new mode. First, the majority of clubs opted for play-offs, after a referendum by FCZ boss Ancillo Canepa, the “Scottish mode” prevailed. Means: In a first phase, each team plays against each other three times, then the ranking is divided in the middle. All teams take the points from the first 33 rounds. In both groups there is one round of five matches per club. The clubs in the “Championship Group” play for the national title and places in the European Cup. The clubs in the “Relegation Group” play against relegation, with the bottom placed relegated directly and the second bottom playing a barrage (two games) against the runners-up in the Challenge League as before.

FC Yverdon Sport has a new majority shareholder. It is a group around the two Americans Jeffrey Saunders and Jamie Welch. Saunders will also serve as president. Outgoing owner Mario Di Pietrangelo will be new to sponsorship and marketing. The ownership structure of the Super League clubs has thus shifted further abroad. Now 42 percent of the clubs belong to foreign investors: in addition to Yverdon, the other two promoted teams, Lausanne and Lausanne-Ouchy, as well as GC and Lugano.

Thanks to the minimized risk of relegation from the increase in competition, many hope that more young players will have the opportunity to play regularly. The competition itself has also created an extra incentive for clubs to push their youngsters. For the first time this season, she pays a pot worth one million Swiss francs in rookie bonuses. The distribution key for the “Young Talent Trophy” is a simple rule of three: the million is divided among the clubs according to the number of minutes played by the Swiss U21 players.

There are a total of 38 match days in the new Super League – that’s two more than before. The championship now offers 230 games per season, compared to 182 games. That means that the winter break will be shorter and the English weeks (three games in one week) longer. It is quite possible that thanks to the increase in competition and the change of mode, one or two Super League records will also tumble: Jean-Pierre Nsame’s goalscoring record from the 2019/20 season with 32 goals for the season, for example , or the spectator round record (36th round 2022/23) out of a total of 110,078 stadium visitors.

FC Basel not only worked on their team this summer, but also in the stadium. The St.-Jakob-Park is now equipped with the largest stadium screen of all Swiss stadiums. The mass: 147.5 m² per wall. FC St. Gallen has also upgraded: there will be a new LED ring (350 m) around the interior of the Kybunpark, and there will also be a new screen.

FC St. Gallen has launched a digital innovation. It is the first sports club to offer its season subscription in the form of a fan scarf. The interactive scarf is not only an entry, it also helps to make the stadium look green and white. Incidentally, about 10,000 season tickets have already been sold.

Switzerland has extended the transfer window. Instead of August 31, Swiss clubs are now allowed to make transfers until September 7. The aim is to ensure that our clubs still have the opportunity to react if players are bought off shortly before the international transfer window closes on August 31.

Pairs of brothers in the Super League? There were quite a few: The Rodriguez’, Schneeuwlys, Xhakas, Kochs, Karlens or Ajetis, for example, once played with or against each other. From now on there is a new brother couple in the premier league. One that will never cross paths on the field! Because it is forbidden. Mirel Turkes (32) has been a Super League referee since 2022 and is not allowed to referee FC Winterthur matches. Because his younger brother Aldin Turkes (27) will be hunting goals for FC Winterthur from this season. But they don’t know otherwise: last season Mirel played 16 games in the Challenge League, none of which at Lausanne Sport, as his brother was under contract there.

The more matches are played, the more referees are needed: With foresight, the SFV drew four referees from the Challenge League at the beginning of last season. For this season, the quartet of Mirel Turkes, Anojen Kanagasingam, Johannes von Mandach and Nico Gianforte will strengthen the guild of Super League referees. This now includes 15 refs – 14 males and Esther Staubli being the only female. The Challenge League has also been increased by 4 refs. Two of them are referees – Michèle Schmölzer and Désirée Grundbacher. Three women now whistle in Switzerland’s two highest leagues. “We are very proud of that,” says referee boss Dani Wermelinger.

Doubles winner YB trades in his plastic pad. Because the artificial grass in Wankdorf shows signs of wear after four years and no longer meets the highest requirements, it is being replaced. The winner of the doubles hopes to be just as successful on the new surface imported from Germany as on the old artificial grass. This will be moved to FC Ins in Bernese Zealand.

As of this season, Blue no longer offers single games (“pay-per-view”), the Super League is only available as a subscription. The annual subscription (duration one year) is available for CHF 34.90 per month. The monthly subscription costs CHF 49.90 per month, but can also be canceled monthly. Blue also strengthens its team of experts with former pro football player Timm Klose (35) and launches a new social media format with “Kick’n’Trash”. Three guests watch the game together and talk to each other, while the spectators can participate via social media. SRF will continue to show one live match per round – on Saturdays at 8:30pm.

The new motto at FCZ: “As long as we don’t have our own stadium, we’ll make the rented Letzigrund ours.” The Letzigrund will be fully FCZ branded, from the sausage and merchandising stand to the VIP area. All employees appear in the FCZ look. All of this is intended to strengthen identification.

The 45-year-old Frenchman Anthony Braizat (Lausanne-Ouchy) and the 45-year-old German Timo Schultz (FC Basel) will celebrate their baptism of fire on the sidelines this weekend. With Ludovic Magnin (Lausanne), Patrick Framework (Winterthur), Marco Schällibaum (Yverdon) and René Weiler (Servette), four familiar faces return to the Super League.