The Swiss Football Association (ASF/SFV) had 28 member clubs at this time and these were devided into two divisions of 14 teams each.
The teams played a double round-robin to decide their table positions.
The top tier (NLA) was contested by the top 12 teams from the previous 1956–57 season and the two newly promoted teams Biel-Bienne and Grenchen.
The champions would qualify for the 1958–59 European Cup and the last two teams in the league table at the end of the season were to be relegated.
[1] Urania Genève Sport won and remained in top-tier.