1. Liga Classic (1st League Classic in English) is the fourth tier of the Swiss football league system. At its creation in 1931, the fourth tier of Swiss football was called 3. Liga. The league is operated by a subdivision of the Swiss Football Association called Erste Liga. It is split into 3 groups of 16 teams, by geographical region.
Name history
The fourth tier of Swiss football has taken on various names over time:
1931–1944 : 3. Liga
1944–2000 : 2. Liga
2000–2012 : 2. Liga Interregional (creation of Swiss Amateur League in 2000)
2012–2014 : 1. Liga Classique
2014–2022 : 1. Liga
Since 2022 : 1. Liga Classic
Regional format
Group 1 contains teams from western Switzerland, which is generally French speaking. Group 2 contains teams from Central Switzerland, which is mostly German speaking. Group 3 contains teams from East Switzerland (and Liechtenstein) which contains German and Italian speaking regions.
Two teams in total are promoted at the end of the season to Promotion League, determined by a play-off competition involving the top 2 teams in each group. The bottom 2 teams in each group are relegated from this division to the 2. Liga Interregional.