Chur Reach the Super League and Redefine What Is Possible in Graubünden

April 2035 will be remembered as the month Graubünden finally arrived on Swiss football’s grandest stage. From the valley towns to the alpine passes, gold and black flags were unfurled as FC Chur confirmed promotion to the Super League – the first club from the canton ever to do so. This was not a last-day scramble or a fortunate alignment of results. It was domination, delivered with calm authority and unmistakable conviction.

With three games left to go still, Chur’s numbers tell a story that barely needs embellishment. Twenty-three wins. Nine draws. One defeat. A seventeen-point gap to St. Gallen, the pre-season favourites and presumed standard-bearers of the division. The league was expected to be a procession; instead, it became a demonstration. Week after week, Chur dismantled expectations just as efficiently as they dismantled opponents.

What made this campaign so compelling was not simply the outcome, but the way it unfolded. This was not a season carried by a single talisman or an overwhelming attacking force. Only Xabier Iriondo has reached double figures in the scoring charts, an anomaly in a league where promotion winners often lean heavily on one prolific striker. Chur did it differently. Goals came from everywhere, moments from anyone, structure from everyone.

Tactically, it was Arriola’s most fluid and adaptable season yet. Chur shifted between shapes without ever losing their identity, comfortable building in aggressive 2-3-5 structures one week and reverting to more conservative control the next. Full-backs inverted, midfielders rotated, forwards dropped and surged in equal measure. The constants were cohesion and clarity: every player understood not just their role, but the role of the collective.

This adaptability allowed Chur to absorb pressure when required and suffocate opponents when on the front foot. Matches were rarely chaotic culminating in a three month, ten game, streak where they didn’t concede a goal. Even in adversity, the team exuded a composure that suggested belief had long replaced hope. Promotion felt inevitable early on in the season.

Off the pitch, the implications are just as profound. Chur have operated for years with one eye on sustainability, balancing ambition against reality. Promotion changes that equation overnight. The immediate priority is clear: transition as many players as possible onto full-time contracts, providing the professional infrastructure demanded by the Super League. Additional income – from broadcasting, sponsorship, and increased matchday revenue – offers opportunity, but also responsibility.

And then comes the question that will define the next chapter of the club’s existence. Do Chur rebuild, seeking Super League-proven quality to ensure survival? Or do they double down on faith, trusting the group that carried them from regional obscurity to national relevance? It is a dilemma born not of desperation, but of success – and one that will test the conviction of everyone involved.

For now, those questions can wait. In April 2035, Chur are allowed to celebrate. A club once navigating the lower reaches of the Swiss pyramid now stands among the elite. Graubünden has its standard-bearer. And Swiss football has been reminded that progress, when guided by patience and principle, can still be spectacular.