The
Swiss Football Association (ASF/SFV) had 28 members at this time. The clubs were divided into two tiers, the top tier Nationalliga A (NLA) with 12 teams and the second tier Nationalliga B (NLB) with 16. The format in both divisions was that the teams played a double
round-robin to decide their table positions. Two points were awarded for a win and one point was awarded for a draw. Each club playing every other club twice (home and away), for a total of 22 rounds in the NLA and 30 rounds in the NLB. In the NLA following this first qualification stage the division was divided in two, the top placed six teams then played a championship stage and the other teams in a relegation play-out. In both groups each team took half of the points gained in the first stage, rounded up to complete units, as bonus with them. They played a further double round-robin within the group. The Swiss champions would qualify for the
1978–79 European Cup, the runners-up and third placed team would qualify for the
1978–79 UEFA Cup. From the play-out group the bottom two teams were relegated to the second-tier. From the NLB the top two teams were promoted and the bottom two teams relegated to the
1978–79 1. Liga. ==Nationalliga A==