Marked for Liam Chipperfield
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Feb 2028
Every point is an argument now for Sion
Position 8 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Sion
Kevin Mbabu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Liam Chipperfield commits to Sion for another 3 years.
Loan watch21 Feb 2028
21 appearances at Mirandés and the goals keep coming. Sion are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Market21 Feb 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sion know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Gabriele Mulazzi has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Sion that is a harder question to answer.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match29 Nov 2027
Every point is an argument now for Sion
Position 8 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Kevin Mbabu in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Nov 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sion, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Nov 2027
Sion bow out of the cup
Young Boys go through and Sion go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match20 Nov 2027
The wait goes on for Sion
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Sion
Kevin Mbabu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad22 Nov 2027
44 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.72, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.12, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad22 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nias Hefti, and the manager let it.
Match20 Nov 2027
It needed Liam Chipperfield to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Grasshopper, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Defensive actions: 35. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Nothing got past Baltazar
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 27 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad15 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad15 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mario Perlingieri, and the manager let it.
Squad15 Nov 2027
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Sion will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Shots: 6, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Match13 Nov 2027
No goals between Sion and Vaduz
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Vaduz will be the happier side with the point.
Market15 Nov 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Rilind Nivokazi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Nov 2027
Every point is an argument now for Sion
Position 9 and 13 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market1 Nov 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sion can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad1 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match30 Oct 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Oct 2027
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sion may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Sion
Ilyas Chouaref was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match9 Oct 2027
Basel made Sion work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
A performance of 8.91 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Marked 8.53 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.39, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match11 Sep 2027
7 matches without a win for Sion
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Sion are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Sion
Ilyas Chouaref was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rilind Nivokazi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Marked 8.59 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match11 Sep 2027
Sion and Vaduz take a point apiece
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The terraces13 Sep 2027
Everybody has an opinion about Timothy Fayulu
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Shots: 11, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Ebrima Colley has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Sion will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 Sep 2027
Sion sink to position 8
5 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match4 Sep 2027
The wait goes on for Sion
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad6 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match4 Sep 2027
A bad afternoon for Sion against Lugano
2‑4 to Lugano, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.91, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad6 Sep 2027
No hiding place for Baltazar
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Baltazar, and the manager let it.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
A performance of 8.55 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Francesco Ruberto and Sion agree another 1 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Ali Kabacalman
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market9 Aug 2027
Everyone has stopped pretending: Vojvodina will make the call about Winsley Boteli this week. Sion have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Match7 Aug 2027
Sion come up short against Basel
Basel left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Théo Berdayes commits to Sion for another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Jun 2027
Grasshopper come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Sion did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market7 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Sion
Ilyas Chouaref was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market7 Jun 2027
Everyone has stopped pretending: Basel will make the call about Anthony Racioppi this week. Sion have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Market7 Jun 2027
The phone has started ringing about Altin Shala again, and this time the name on the line is Vaduz. Sion are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Liam Chipperfield and Sion agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 May 2027
Sion bow out of the cup
St. Gallen go through and Sion go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match19 May 2027
7 matches without a win for Sion
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Sion are no longer polite ones.
Squad24 May 2027
Tempers go at Sion
Ilyas Chouaref was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad24 May 2027
No place for Jan Kronig on the big day
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Sion pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Squad24 May 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad24 May 2027
Baltazar has to sit this one out
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Sion lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
Player ratings24 May 2027
A mark of 5.24 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Market24 May 2027
No fee and no drama: Atiq Esam has signed at Sion, and the wage bill is the only line that moved.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market12 Apr 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sion know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Quentin Daubin asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Anthony Racioppi: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match17 Feb 2027
Sion through in the cup
A 0‑0 win over Young Boys, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match22 Feb 2027
Every point is an argument now for Sion
Position 8 and 15 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 30 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Match17 Feb 2027
No end in sight to Sion's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sion has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad22 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
It was his to settle and he did not settle it. A long walk back to the halfway line, and a considerably longer week.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Noé Sow takes the honours
Marked 7.55 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Sion had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sion, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sion have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market11 Jan 2027
Vaduz come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Sion did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad11 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market11 Jan 2027
Add another name to the list: Thun have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Benjamin Kololli. The answer from Sion has not changed — yet.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Liam Chipperfield and Sion agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 40. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 24, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Sion
Kevin Mbabu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A defender's afternoon for Noé Sow
Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match17 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Liam Chipperfield. 1‑0 against Zurich, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad19 Oct 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Sion have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.