The 36 teams of the Swiss Football League (Nationalliga) were divided into two tiers.
Each team in each group played a double round-robin in the qualification phase.
The first stage of the NLA began on 24 July 1991 and was completed on 8 December.
The teams took half of the points (rounded up to complete units) gained in the qualification as bonus with them.
Note: because SC Zug had their license revoked FC Emmenbrücke remained in NLB 1992–93