Swiss roll through the turnstiles

Swiss football is experiencing a boom in popularity, according to the latest attendance figures for Nationaliga A matches.

Record levels
Crowds have risen to record levels this season and, for the first time, attendances for the opening 22 rounds of matches have surpassed the one million mark. In total 1,000,573 fans passed through the gates for the 132 games during the first half of the campaign.

New ground
The rise can in part be attributed to the new 33,000-capacity Saint Jakob stadium where FC Basel have shown outstanding form and currently top the league, four points clear of FC Lugano. No fewer than one quarter of all spectators who have watched Nationalliga matches this season have done so in Basel, a total of 257,343 people.

Thrilling game
The stadium also hosted the biggest gate so far this season when supporters watched Grasshopper-Club's amazing 5-4 victory over Basel on 2 December.