| Competition: | Swiss Challenge League |
| Season: | 2016–17 |
| Pixels: | 200 |
| Winners: | Zürich |
| Promoted: | Zürich |
| Relegated: | Le Mont |
| League Topscorer: | Jean-Pierre Nsamé (23 goals)[1] |
| Biggest Away Win: | Chiasso 0–6 Schaffhausen (15 May 2017) |
| Highest Scoring: | Zürich 6–3 Aarau (6 November 2016) |
| Matches: | 180 |
| Total Goals: | 529 |
| Longest Wins: | Schaffhausen (8 games) |
| Longest Unbeaten: | Zürich (18 games) |
| Longest Winless: | Wil (17 games) |
| Longest Losses: | Aarau Schaffhausen (7 games) |
| Highest Attendance: | 14,455 (3 June 2017) |
| Attendance: | 505,117[2] |
| Average Attendance: | 2,806 |
| Prevseason: | 2015–16 |
| Nextseason: | 2017–18 |
The 2016–17 Swiss Challenge League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Brack.ch Challenge League, was the 14th season of the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier in the Swiss football pyramid. It began on 23 July 2016 and ended on 3 June 2017.
On 1 May 2017 FC Le Mont decided to voluntarily relegate three steps down in the league system after being denied a licence to play in the Swiss Challenge League.[3] [4]
On 18 May 2017, Zürich became champions of the 2016–17 Challenge League following their 1–1 draw against Servette and Neuchâtel Xamax's 2–1 defeat at Schaffhausen.[5] They are thus promoted back to the top flight immediately following their relegation the previous season.
2015–16 Swiss Challenge League champions FC Lausanne-Sport were promoted to the 2016–17 Swiss Super League. They were replaced by FC Zürich, who got relegated after last place finish in the 2015–16 Swiss Super League. FC Biel-Bienne got relegated from the Challenge League as the Swiss Football League stripped Biel-Bienne of their league licence. Servette FC won promotion from the 2015–16 1. Liga Promotion.
| Team | Venue | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8,000 | |||
| 5,000 | |||
| 4,000 | |||
| 12,000 | |||
| 30,084 | |||
| 4,200 8,200 | |||
| 6,958 | |||
| 8,550 | |||
| 3,624 | |||
| 23,605 |
| Team | Manager | Kit manufacturer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nike | |||
| Primato | |||
| Karhu | |||
| Erima | |||
| gpard | |||
| 14fourteen | |||
| Nike | |||
| Umberto Romano (interim) | gpard | ||
| Adidas | |||
| Nike |
| Club | Name | Date of departure | Position in table | Replacement | Date of appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 August 2016[6] | 7th | 3 September 2016[7] | ||||
| 2 September 2016 | 9th | 7 September 2016[8] | ||||
| 7 December 2016[9] | 10th |  Nedjad Kuruzovic | Interim | |||
| Wil | 12 December 2016 | 3rd | 12 December 2016[10] | |||
| Schaffhausen | Nedjad Kuruzovic | Interim | 10th | 21 December 2016[11] | ||
| 30 December 2016 | 5th | 30 December 2016[12] | ||||
| 14 February 2017[13] | 9th | Interim[14] | ||||
| Wil | 27 March 2017 | 6th | 27 March 2017[15] | |||
| 18 April 2017[16] | 10th |  Baldo Raineri | 18 April 2017[17] |