The 1943–44 Swiss Cup was the 19th season of Switzerland's football cup competition, organised annually since the 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association.

Overview Preamble In Switzerland during the second world war, sport became an integral part of the "spiritual national defense". This was a political and cultural movement that had already become increasingly important during the late 1930s. Politicians, intellectuals and media professionals had increasingly called for measures to strengthen Switzerland's basic cultural values. As football games were also considered to be one of the activities that seemed important for maintaining the morale of the population, the military authorities put considerably fewer obstacles in the way of the top players and the clubs as they had during the previous World War.

ASF/SFV Therefore, it came about that the Swiss Football Association (ASF/SFV) expanded themselves. To this date, the Association had 14 members in the top-tier and 25 members in the second-tier, calles 1. Liga. The decision of the extraordinary assembly, held on 9 October 1943 in Lugano, was to double the number of top-tier members to 28 clubs for the following season. The Nationalliga would then be divided into two strength classes each with 14 teams. The Nationalliga would become the new Nationalliga A (NLA), while the Nationalliga B (NLB) would be completely newly formed. From this moment, the 1. Liga would become the third-tier of the Swiss football league system and would also be increased in size, from 25 clubs in two groups, to 30 clubs in three groups with 10 teams each.

Format This season's cup competition began on 22 August 1943 with the first two games of the preliminary round, the rest were played one week later on the week-end of 29 August. The competition was to be completed on Easter Monday, 10 April 1944, with the final, which, since 1937, was traditionally held in the country's capital, at the former Wankdorf Stadium in Bern. The preliminary round was held for the lower league teams that had not qualified themselves for the competition. The lower league teams that had qualified joined the competition in the first round. The clubs from this season's 1. Liga were given a bye for the first round and joined the competition in the second round. The clubs from the 1943–44 Nationalliga were given byes for the first three rounds. These teams joined the competition in the fourth round, which was played on the third day of Christmas, 26 December. In total 222 clubs played in this season's Cup competition, 14 from the Nationalliga, 25 from the 1. Liga, 68 from the 2. Liga and 115 from fourth tier 3. Liga.

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 replay was foreseen and this was played on the visiting team's pitch. Rules and regulations to this situation were altered and amended continuously by each regional football association, due to the current situation (second world war). If the replay ended in a draw after extra time, or if a replay had not been agreed, a toss of a coin would establish the team that qualified for the next round.

Preliminary round The lower league teams that had not qualified themselves for the competition via their regional football association's own regional cup competitions or had not achieved their association's requirements, competed here in a kind of second chance round. Reserve teams were not admitted to the competition. The draw respected local regionalities. The preliminary round was played, with three exceptions, on Saturday 29 August 1943 and it consisted of 31 matches. Summary

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|22 August 1943

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|29 August 1943

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|5 September 1943

Round 1 In the first round, the lower league teams that had already qualified themselves for the competition through their regional football association's own regional requirements competed here, together with the winners of the preliminary round. Whenever possible, the draw respected local regionalities. Most of the games of the first round were played on Saturday 26 September, however, some games were played a few weeks later.

Summary

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|26 September 1943

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|3 October 1943

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|10 October 1943

Replay

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|3 October 1943

Matches

Round 2 The teams from this years 1. Liga joined the competition in this round, together with the winners of the first round. Summary

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|10 October 1943

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|17 October 1943

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|24 October 1943

Note: the match Vevey-Sports–Sierre was abandoned at 63' and awarded 3–0. Note: the match Allschwil–Nordstern was annuked and replayed after a protest from Allschwil. Replays

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|31 October 1943

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|7 November 1943

Matches

FC Rorschach played the 1943/44 season in the 2. Liga (third tier). Aarau played the 1943/44 season in the 1. Liga (second tier).

Round 3 Summary

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|7 November 1943

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|12 November 1943

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|14 December 1943

Matches

Solothurn and Aarau both played the 1943/44 season in the 1. Liga (second tier).

Round 4 The teams from this season's Nationalliga, who had received a bye for the first three rounds, entered the cup competition in this round. However, the teams from the Nationalliga were seeded and could not be drawn against each other. Whenever possible, the draw respected local regionalities. The fourth round was played on the third day of Christmas, Boxing Day. Summary

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|26 December 1943

Note: the match CS International–Lausanne-Sport was played in Lausanne. Replays

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|2 January 1944

Matches

SC Zug played the 1943/44 season in the 1. Liga (second tier)

Urania played the 1943/44 season in the 1. Liga (second tier).

Nordstern played the 1943/44 season in the 1. Liga (second tier).

Round 5 Summary

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|6 January 1944

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|9 January 1944

Replays

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|23 January 1944

Matches

Quarter-finals Summary

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|13 February 1944

Replay

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|27 February 1944

Matches

Semi-finals Summary

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|12 March 1944

Matches

Final The final was traditionally held in the capital Bern, at the former Wankdorf Stadium. This took place on Easter Monday 1944. Summary

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|10 April 1944

Telegram

Lausanne-Sport won the cup and this was the club's third cup title to this date. Six weeks later the team also won the domestic league therefore they secured themselves the double and this was the second time that they won the double.

Further in Swiss football 1943–44 Nationalliga 1943–44 Swiss 1. Liga

References

Sources Fussball-Schweiz FCB Cup games 1943–44 at fcb-achiv.ch Switzerland 1943–44 at RSSSF