The spice of tomorrow

A challenge can be understood in many different ways. It can stand for something difficult or obstructive; for a restriction that makes life more difficult. But you can also look at a challenge in a completely different way: As a challenge, as a motivation to get the maximum out of limited possibilities. This is precisely the challenge in the dieci Challenge League.

 

When the Challenge League was introduced in 2003, it was boldly announced as a place for the ‘stars of tomorrow’. Today we can say: Not too much was promised. Many long-serving Nati players took their first steps in the Challenge League. Yann Sommer was in goal for FC Vaduz, Fabian Schär defended for FC Wil and Silvan Widmer for FC Aarau, Manuel Akanji and Remo Freuler played for FC Winterthur, Denis Zakaria for Servette FC. Many of the younger generation also benefited from their experience in the second-highest league, such as Zeki Amdouni, Dan Ndoye and Kwadwo Duah.

 

Masters of training

The dieci Challenge League still fulfils its role as a development league today. And this is more necessary than ever: more and more Swiss clubs are being taken over by foreign investors, whose top priority is rarely the development of regional talent. It is correspondingly difficult for young local footballers to find a place in the squad. Fortunately, however, there is the Challenge League: 15 per cent of all minutes played there are by Swiss players under the age of 21 -  almost twice as many as in the Super League.

Reason to celebrate: 9 Swiss players under the age of 21 have already played for FC Wil this season.
 
Some clubs excel in the promotion of young talent. At FC Wil and FC Schaffhausen, almost a third (!) of the minutes played are for local U21 players, while at FC Aarau and league leaders FC Thun, the figure is a fifth. This also pays off financially: This season, the Swiss Football League is distributing CHF 1 million as part of the ‘Young Talent Trophy’, which will be divided among the clubs in the Challenge League. The more young Swiss players are fielded, the more money there is from this pot.
 
But Swiss football benefits even more: the dieci Challenge League is the only way to ensure that our successful national team will not run out of young players. In this ideal environment, talented players can mature until they later add flavour to the game at the highest level. Just like Grana Padano, this hard cheese from the Po Valley, which only develops its full flavour after around a year of ageing, as the fine shavings on our new Fior di Margherita pizza prove.
 
The dieci Challenge League is the pantry of Swiss football, so to speak. If you want to see future delicacies, i.e. the ‘stars of tomorrow’, in action now, you have the opportunity to do so every weekend in the stadiums from Carouge to Schaffhausen to Vaduz.