In the mid-1990s, the former football powerhouse increasingly experienced problems. Young Boys developed financial difficulties and in 1997 – for the first time since the 1946–47 season – YB was relegated to the National League B (today's Challenge League). New Swedish coaches Roland Andersson and Thomas Sjöberg helped the club recover, placing first and earning promotion again, with Robert Schober and Admir Smajic taking over on the bench. The following NLA season began with a surprise victory over the reigning champion Grasshoppers. Many defeats, however, forced the Young Boys back into the relegation play-offs. The economic and sporting emergency ended in the dismissal of coach Claude Ryf. The BSC Young Boys organization stood very close to bankruptcy and few thought it still possible to salvage YB. A Lucerne investment company saved the club from ruin, although by 1999 the debt was over 1.7 million Swiss francs (~€1.08 million).