Appenzell

In 1998, TV Appenzell's senior women reached the promotion playoffs for the second national division and turned the spot down. Turnverein Appenzell had run since 1876, and handball only became one of its sections in 1971, a year after the department itself started up.

The men's side has moved between the lower leagues rather than settling in one: 3. Liga in 1972, 2. Liga in 1980, a run to the 1. Liga in 1995 and back again in 1998. The A-Juniorinnen took the national junior women's title in 1995, and through the 1980s the club collected a string of Eastern Swiss regional championships across several age groups, plus the 1988 Stürm-Cup.

Ramon Hörler, who played in the NLA for TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen, had already worn a TVA shirt on a dual licence back in 2010/11 before returning after his top-flight career ended. Lucius Graf followed a more direct route: he topped the NLA scoring charts in 2017/18 with TSV Fortitudo Gossau, then joined TV Appenzell in 2022. Fortitudo Gossau remains one of the club's two main rivals, alongside SV Fides St. Gallen, and games against Fides carry the weight of a derby.

Matches are played at the Sporthalle Wühre, which holds 1,284 but rarely needs to: league games draw 300 to 500, with crowds pushing toward 600 only for the occasions that matter. Whatever brings the numbers up that far, it is still a gymnastics club's handball section deciding, as it did in 1998, how far it wants to go.