Switzerland plans for six-team fall schedule

The Swiss American Football Federation, SAFV (Schweizerische American Football Verband) has decided to move ahead with an official season in 2021.

The federation, after consultation with the various teams, has set a date of June 5/6 as the start of the regular season. Final regular season games would be scheduled for the weekend of September 18/19 with semifinals to be held on October 2/3. The Swiss Bowl is set for October 9.

Normally, the season in Switzerland stretches from late March to late June with the Swiss Bowl usually held in early July.

The six teams – the Calanda Broncos, Basel Gladiators, Bern Grizzlies, Winterthur Warriors, Zurich Renegades and Geneva Seahawks – would play a total of 10 games, one home and one away against each opponent. A summer break has been factored in between July 18 and August 14 which also includes the weekend of August 7 on which the Swiss national team has a game scheduled.

All of this is ultimately dependent on the COVID-19 situation of course.

The Swiss held an unofficial season in 2020 in which the teams played basically without imports unless they had been residing in the country for at least five years.

A total of seven teams participated in the limited fall playing schedule, divided into two regional groups, East and West. Each team in the West group played a total of six games while in the East with only three teams, each played four games but then the Winterthur Warriors and Calanda Broncos played two extra games between each other. The two top teams from each faced each other in the semifinals with Calanda defeating the Thun Tigers 34-10 and the Warriors downing the Basel Gladiators 35-9.

In the final, Calanda defeated the Warriors 21-6.