| Season: | 1976–77 |
| Competition: | Nationalliga A |
| Winners: | Basel |
| Relegated: | Winterthur Bellinzona |
| Continentalcup1: | European Cup |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Basel |
| Continentalcup2: | Cup Winners' Cup |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Young Boys |
| Continentalcup3: | UEFA Cup |
| Continentalcup3 Qualifiers: | Servette Zürich Grasshopper Club |
| League Topscorer: | Franco Cucinotta (Zürich) 28 goals |
| Prevseason: | 1975–76 |
| Nextseason: | 1977–78 |
| Season: | 1976–77 |
| Competition: | Nationalliga B |
| Winners: | Etoile Carouge |
| Promoted: | Etoile Carouge Young Fellows Zürich |
| Relegated: | Mendrisiostar FC Raron |
| League Topscorer: | Stefan Fischer (SC Kriens) 19 goals |
| Prevseason: | 1975–76 |
| Nextseason: | 1977–78 |
The following is the summary of the Swiss National League in the 1976–77 football season, both Nationalliga A and Nationalliga B. This was the 80th season of top-tier and the 79th season of second-tier football in Switzerland.
The Swiss Football Association (ASF/SFV) had 28 members at this time and they had just reformed the Swiss football league system in advance of this season. The number of teams in the top tier (NLA) had been reduced from 14 to 12 and increased the second-tier (NLB) from 14 to 16 teams.
The NLA was contested by the first 11 teams from the previous season and the sole promoted team AC Bellinzona. The NLA was played in two stages. The first phase was the qualification and was played by all 12 teams in a double round-robin to decide their table positions. Two points were awarded for a win and one point was awarded for a draw. After completion of the qualification phase, the division was divided into two groups. The first six teams contended in the championship group and the teams in positions seventh to twelfth contended the relegation group. The teams took half of the points obtained in the qualification as bonus into the second stage. The first stage had 22 rounds, the second stage had 10 rounds. The champions would qualify for the 1977–78 European Cup and the Swiss Cup winners would qualify for 1977–78 Cup Winners' Cup. The UEFA modified the entry rules for Switzerland, therefore, this season three teams would qualify for the 1977–78 UEFA Cup. The last two teams in the relegation group dropped to the second-tier.
The NLB was contested 11 teams from that division the previous season, the three relegated teams Lugano, La Chaux-de-Fonds and Biel-Bienne and the two promoted teams Mendrisiostar and SC Kriens. The teams in the NLB played in just one stage, a total of 30 rounds. The top two teams achieved promotion, the bottom two teams were relegated to the 1. Liga.
The first round of the NLA was played on 14 August 1976. There was a winter break between 5 December and 26 February 1977. The qualifying phase was completed by 16 April and the second phase took place between 30 April and 25 June. A championship play-off was required and this took place on 28 June 1977 at the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern in front of 55,000 supporters.
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