Swiss Review 4/2018

21 Swiss Review / July 2018 / No.4 Football Federation were applied and still apply today with very few exceptions. Leagues launched in Berne, Basel and St. Gallen At the turn of the millennium, alternative leagues also emerged in other German-speaking Swiss cities, such as Basel (Unsri Liga), St. Gallen (Brodworscht-League) and Berne (F.O.U.L). There, a team from the Reitschule – an au- tonomous cultural centre – took the initiative in 1995 to found an alternative league, originally consisting of four teams. Twenty men’s teams now play in two divisions on the Allmend pitches in Berne on alternative leaguematch days. A seven-teamwomen’s league was launched in 2010. It includes the female footballers of Miss en place. The idea to start a women’s team came about over an after-work beer in autumn 2013, recalls Lisia Bürgi. At the time, the student was working at a restaurant in Berne where the staff already had a men’s team. Bürgi had never played football before. Overcoming her inhibitions and joining a normal club without any previous experience would have been a step too far for the 23-year-old. “It’s all about having fun for us. And it’s great to see how we are constantly improving technically.” As there are not many proper matches in the women’s league with just six games each in the first and second halves of the season, Miss en place attach great importance to their weekly training ses- sions. The women playing in the Bernese league recently also attended a crash course held by an experienced ref- eree. As is customary in all alternative leagues, every women’s teamalso has to provide three officials to referee thematches of the other teams. “That has helped us a great deal. Having to make a penalty decision in the heat of the moment is not always easy,” says Bürgi. THEODORA PETER IS A FREELANCE JOURNALIST IN BERNE (SPRACHKRAFT.CH) the Revolution), in the association’s history. The left-wing footballers were soon on the state security service’s radar as the file entry of 7 July 1977 (see image) shows. The Zu- rich Office of Sport had obviously handed the member- ship lists required to use the pitches directly over to the police. The authorities did not apologise until decades later. To make amends, the Office of Sport made the Letzi- grund stadium in Zurich available to the association for the finals in 1992, the year whichmarked the association’s 25-year anniversary. Ambition at odds with left-wing ideals The founders wanted to transfer their left-wing ideals to the football pitch. Referees, league tables and uniform football kits were abolished. Instead the right to strike was introduced. Anyone who felt that fairness was being sac- rificed for “victory at all costs” could call for amatch to be interrupted and for a discussion to be held. However, ac- cording to Kohler, the ideals failed not least because “am- bition and the desire to win are not so much symptoms of capitalism as an intrinsic part of football”. The women, with their physical disadvantage, also came to feel this. While they were initially allowed to play with the men as a sign of equality, they saw less and less action as time went on. The disappointed female players initially formed a women’s team calledMama Zurigo, but gave up after a sea- son. The alternative league was a low-key affair during the 1980s. It experienced another upturn during the 1990s. In 1994, the Swiss national team caused a stir at the World Cup in the USA. Those on the left-wing scene were also on the edge of their seats. Football became fashionable among party-goers too. Teams from nightclubs, trendy bars and cultural centres increasingly joined the alternative league. De-politicisation was also taking place on the pitch: ref- erees were reintroduced and the official rules of the Swiss