Biel is in even more trouble. There was a hearing yesterday where a series of accusations were made against the club. Most were already public, but the most significiant one for this year is when asked if the players had been paid, there was no clear response. The players are considering a strike. To make matters worse, their new manager Zlatko Petricevic was not at training yesterday and said publicly that the financial agreements promised have not materialized. If they are not forthcoming, he will not manage Biel again. And the final blow, the club has not submitted anything yet to the cantonal authorities about his work permit. What a mess.
9 April Le Mont - Schaffhausen Xamax - Wohlen 10 Apirl Aarau - Winterthur Chiasso - LS 11 April Wil - Biel The Le Mont - Schaffhausen match is a very important one at the bottom of the table. Wil needs to defeat Biel to keep the pressure on LS.
9 April Le Mont - Schaffhausen 0-1 Xamax - Wohlen 4-0 10 Apirl Aarau - Winterthur 3-0 Chiasso - LS 1-1 11 April Wil - Biel LS has given Wil some life. Yes they still have a game in hand, but if Wil wins tonight, they will close to within 2 points. LS 49* Wil 44* Xamax 42 Aarau 39 Winterthur 35 Schaffhausen 32* Wohlen 32 Biel 30* Chiasso 30 Le Mont 27*
I pose a question to my fellow forum goers.... Who in the BCL of the 4 teams in the hunt for promotion (alright only 2 really stand a chance of going up) is best equipped to survive? In terms of squad (at the moment), financial means to strengthen said squad, facilities (stadium, training, youth, etc.). The 4 being LS, Wil, Xamax and Aarau. I have my own opinion but I am not really caught up on what type of training facilities and youth development most Swiss clubs have in fact the only 2 that come to mind with any sort of youth system are Servette and LS. I know Aarau have none to speak of.
One way to answer your question is to look at where are the 2nd teams for each club. LS - BCL Team Vaud - Premier League Classic FC Wil - BCL Wil 2 - 2nd Interregional League Xamax - BCL Xamax 2 - 2nd Interregional League Aarau - BCL Aarau 2 - 2nd Interregional League So from this, it looks like LS has the best 2nd team. I think that the set-up of all are pretty similar. In terms of staying up, I think that either LS or Wil will struggle with Lugano/Vaduz next season for relegation. Wil might have deeper pockets, but there is less revenue from their stadium. Who knows. Good questions.
16 April Chiasso - Xamax Wohlen - Wil 17 April Biel - Aarau Le Mont - LS 18 April Schaffhausen - Winterthur Wil has stayed the course and made things interesting. They could take over the top spot, granted LS would have a match in hand.
16 April Chiasso - Xamax 2-1 Wohlen - Wil 1-0 17 April Biel - Aarau 1-3 Le Mont - LS 0-2 18 April Schaffhausen - Winterthur Lots of lost opportunities over the weekend. Losses by Xamax and Wil really hurt any chance that they still had of promotion. LS with a derby win over last place Le Mont moves to 5 points up with a match in hand. Aarau is the team of the Spring season. As poor as they were in the fall, they have been good this spring. LS 52* Wil 47 Aarau 42 Xamax 42 Wohlen 35 Winterthur 35* Chiasso 33 Schaffhausen 26** Biel 30 Le Mont 27
18 April Schaffhausen - Winterthur 2-2. The home team goes up early then Bengondo scored twice to bring the visitors back. The match was also halted for about 5 min due to flares the Winterthur fans had. 20 April Aarau -- Xamax Wil - Chiasso 21 April LS - Wohlen Schaffhausen - Biel Winterthur - Le Mont
How about some positive news for a change. With the Vidal dive yesterday, here was a nice bit of Fair Play by Schaffhausen. Follow the link and watch the video. http://www.sfl.ch/fr/news/news/article/le-geste-de-fair-play-de-musa-araz/ A Winterthur player fall and the referee had just moved his field of vision. He showed a yellow card to the offending player, only to have the Winterthur player explain that no one had touched him.
20 April Aarau -- Xamax 2-2 Wil - Chiasso 1-1 21 April LS - Wohlen Schaffhausen - Biel Winterthur - Le Mont LS could extend their lead to 7 points. That would be really hard to beat, and they would still have a match in hand.
21 April LS - Wohlen 1-0 Schaffhausen - Biel 6-1 Winterthur - Le Mont 2-1 Huge win for LS. LS 55* Wil 48 Aarau 43 Xamax 43 Winterthur 39 Schaffhausen 36* Wohlen 35 Chiasso 34 Biel 30 Le Mont 27 24 April Biel - LS Chiasso - Schaffhausen Le Mont - Aarau Wohlen - Winterthur 25 April Xamax - Wil
The tweet I dreaded to write for weeks: FC Biel is dead. The players decided to not play again and gave the keys to the stadium to the city.— Oliver Zesiger (@aulit_z) April 22, 2016 Oli is the authority on both Swiss football and FC Biel/Bienne since he lives in Biel. What a mess.
BCL officially postponed the match between Biel and Lausanne. Whether it eventually takes place or not is anyone's guess, but, as of right now, things are not looking good at all for the future of this season.
I think the only way they keep playing has two possibilities. 1. The other BCL clubs pay the salaries. 2. The ASF pays their salaries. I doubt that either of these will happen, so I think that next season, the Tissot Arena will be very empty while whatever replaces FC Biel plays in at highest the 2nd Interregional League.
The match was postponed because the Biel players went on strike and refused to play until they get paid. They also don't have a manager. It's a complete mess there.
24 April Biel - LS PPD Chiasso - Schaffhausen 1-1 Le Mont - Aarau 1-1 Wohlen - Winterthur 0-2 25 April Xamax - Wil LS 55 ** Win 48* Aarau 44 Xamax 43* Winterthur 42 Schaffhausen 37* Chiasso 35 Wohlen 35 Biel 30* Le Mont 28 The following BCL teams received their license to play in the RSL/BCL next season Aarau LS Xamax Schaffhouse Wil Winterthur Wohlen Biel, Chiasso and Le Mont were all denied their license on the first chance. They will all have a chance to appeal. If they were all rejected, that would mean that 3 clubs would be relegated. There were only 3 non- RSL/BCL clubs that applied for a license, Rapperswil-Jona and Servette who earned it and Kriens who will need a 2nd chance. In the worst case scenario, Biel, Chiasso and Le Mont are relegated and all three Rapperswil-Jona, Servette and Kriens receive theirs and are all promoted.
25 April Xamax- Wil 4-2 28 April Schaffhausen - LS Also Biel has lost their license and docked points. They will play no more. It looks like they have adjusted all matches that Biel played this spring. All matches this spring are officially 0-0 with no points being awarded, but individual stats will count.
Yup. Lausanne needs 6 points to clinch, so if they win tonight and on Sunday, the season is essentially over for everyone.
Well as a fan of the BCL (most of the teams in it I have a soft spot for) I will be happy to see LS go up. I feel terrible for Bienne. I have a close friend who is a Xamax supporter who went through this in 2011 and of course it is the fans that suffer. In the end I hope this makes Bienne stronger and that a quick return is hopefully on track for them. Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk