The 1927–28 Swiss Cup was the 3rd edition of Switzerland's football cup competition, organised annually since the 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. This competition was to be continued annually.
Overview Preamble In Switzerland, after the end of the first world war, the 1920s saw a rapid rise in the popularity of top-level football and also a decade of rapid growth in grassroots football and many new football clubs were formed. By the mid-1920s, every larger Swiss town had a football pitch and its own football club. Top level organised football also experienced a boom and the larger already existing clubs were also expanding and growing. Between 1922 and 1930, twelve new football stadiums were built, each with a capacity of over 10,000 spectators. Furthermore, semi- and fully professional football players began to emerge and transfer fees started to become a reality.
The structure of the Swiss championships provided a top-tier Serie A with 27 teams (3 groups of 9 clubs) and a second-tier Promotion Series with 54 teams divided into 8 groups (4 groups of 8 teams, 1 group with 7 and 1 group with nine teams). From the third-tier the football system was arranged in the regional leagues, named Serie B, C and D. However, the Swiss league system was beginning to suffer a crisis and this would expand further during the following years. There were continuous disagreements between smaller and larger clubs. These were mainly concerning promotion/relegation procedures, but also due to the expanding professionalism, because the larger clubs would contest for the better players by offering them a wage.
Format This season 101 clubs applied for participation for the Swiss Cup. Therefore, the preliminary round was expanded to 48 teams. These played a knock out for 24 slots in the first principal round. This expansion, therefore, required that selected top-tier clubs also had to compete in the preliminary round and this caused further irritations.
With one exception, this qualifying round was played on the first Sunday in September 1927, thus in advance of the domestic league season. The first principal round was played on Sunday 2 October 1927. The competition was to be completed on Sunday 25 March 1928 with the final, which this year took place at the Stade des Charmilles in Genève. Reserve teams were not admitted to the competition.
The matches were played in a knockout format. In the event of a draw after 90 minutes, the match went into extra time. In the event of a draw at the end of extra time, if agreed between the clubs, a second extra time was played. If the score was still level at the final whistle, a replay was foreseen and this was played on the visiting team's pitch. If no replay was agreed or if the replay ended in a draw after extra time, a toss of a coin would establish which team was qualified for the next round.
Preliminary round The lower league teams that had not qualified for the main competition competed here in a knockout qualification round. The aim of this preliminary stage was to reduce the number of lower league teams before the first round was played. The winners of the qualification were to join the other clubs from the top-tier that were automatically qualified. The draw in the preliminary stage and in the early rounds of the main competition respected local regionalities. The qualification round was played in advance of the lower leagues regional season.
|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|28 August 1927
|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|4 September 1927
Note to the match Seebach–Wohlen: the match was abandoned in extra time, the result annulled and the game replayed. Note to the match Bellinzona–Hakoah Zürich: Hakoah Zürich declaired forfeit and the match was awarded as a 3–0 victory for Bellinzona. Note to the match Sparta Schaffhausen–Sankt Johann: Sankt Johann declaired forfeit and the match was awarded as a 3–0 victory for Sparta Schaffhausen.
Replays
|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|18 September 1927
|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|25 September 1927
First principal round The winners of the qualification round were to join the clubs from the lower leagues that had already qualified and the teams from the top-tier that were automatically qualified. The draw in the early rounds of the main competition respected local regionalities, whenever possible. Summary
|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|2 October 1927
Matches
Both teams played the 1927/28 season in the Serie A (top-tier).
Both teams played the 1927/28 season in the Serie A (top-tier).
Both teams played the 1927/28 season in the Serie A (top-tier).
Both teams played the 1927/28 season in the Serie A (top-tier).
Round 2 Summary
|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|6 November 1927
|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|13 November 1927
Note the match Old Boys–Winterthurer Sportverein was played in Winterthur.
Matches
Both teams played the 1927/28 season in the Serie A (top-tier).
Old Boys played the 1927/28 season in the Serie A (top-tier), Winterthurer Sportverein in the Serie Promotion (second tier).
Servette played the 1927/28 season in the Serie A (top-tier), Madretsch in the Serie Promotion (second tier).
Both teams played the 1927/28 season in the Serie A (top-tier).
Round 3 Summary
|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|4 December 1927
Replay
|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|11 December 1927
Note to match Old Boys–Liestal: Liestal declaired forfeit and the match was awarded as a 3–0 victory for Old Boys.
Matches
Both teams played the 1927/28 season in the Serie A (top-tier).
Both teams played the 1927/28 season in the Serie A (top-tier).
Luzern played the 1927/28 season in the Serie Promotion (second tier), St. Gallen in the Serie A (top-tier).
Minerva played the 1927/28 season in the Serie B (third tier), Etoile Carouge in the A (top-tier).
Both teams played the 1927/28 season in the Serie A (top-tier).
Both teams played the 1927/28 season in the Serie A (top-tier).
La Chaux-de-Fonds played the 1927/28 season in the Serie A (top-tier), Viktoria Bern in the Serie Promotion (second tier).
Liestal played the 1927/28 season in the Serie B (third tier), Old Boys in the Serie A (top-tier).
Liestal declaired forfeit and the match was awarded as a 3–0 victory for Old Boys who qualified for the next round.
Quarter-finals Summary
|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|5 February 1928
Matches
Semi-finals Summary
|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|4 March 1928
Matches
Final The final was held at the end of March 1928. The location for the final was decided by a toss of a coin between the two finalists. Servette won the draw and so the final was held at the Stade des Charmilles in Genève.
Summary
|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|25 March 1928
Telegram
Servette won the cup and this was the club's first cup title. Raymond Passello was the first player to score a hat-trick in a Swiss Cup final. Grasshopper Club reached the final for the third consecutive season, so this was the first ever cup game that the team lost in the competition.
Further in Swiss football 1927–28 Swiss Serie A 1927–28 FC Basel season
References
Sources Fussball-Schweiz Switzerland 1927–28 at RSSSF