Switzerland maintained good position on international club level – 12th after 1981. Maybe because of the top league was changed again – it was increased back to the common 16-team format for 1981-82 season. Meaning, 3 teams were promoted from Second Division. Five clubs fought for the coveted spots, although one can take FC Frauenfeld, 5th, and FC Wettingen, 4th, with a grain of salt – neither was particularly strong to actually go up. Of course, Second Division did not have particularly strong teams, but maybe the decline of Winterthur should be mentioned.
Third row: Paul Kilgus (Teambetreuer), Urs Egli, Rafael Chèlos – Walter Christinger, Christian Häni, Armin Döbeli, Paul Hollenstein (Physiotherapeut).
Middle row: Adi Noventa (Trainer), Daniel Häfeli, André Hagenbuch, Reto Vergani, Ota Danek, Adriano Venica, Mirko Scapin, Ernst Rief (Masseur).
Sitting: Rolf Dünner, Roland Wanner, Luigi Stomeo, Hanjo Weller, Oscar Bouli, Roland Käser, Erwin Schweizer.
The decline started a few years back and there was no reverse – by now, Winterthur was just a mid-table second level club. They finished 8th in the 14-team league.
FC Bulle was lucky 3rd – one point ahead of Wettingen and promoted.
With 35 points – one more than FC Bulle – FC Aarau took the 2nd place. Just enough for promotion and although the season was not great, Aarau not only returned to the finest, but was the only promoted team with a good chance to establish itself in the to top league.
Vevey-Sports won the Second Division – a big success for the small club. It was not an overwhelming victory – they clinched the title by a single point – but nevertheless it was great for a club not known for winning. And better days loomed ahead, at least temporary – going to first division was division was wonderful, surviving there was a problem.