The Letzigrund Stadium - Capacity: 32,000 All Seater
About The Letzigrund Stadium The new stadium in the western suburbs of Zurich represents the ambition of the Swiss football authorities in creating a real legacy from the 2008 tournament. Zurich has always had a fierce rivalry between FC Zurich and Grasshoppers, and so the authorities had a real difficult job to decide whether to develop either stadium or simple build a new one. In the end they chose to completely rebuild the Letzigrund, home of FCZ since 1925.
The new stadium opened with the Zurich derby in September 2007 and is certainly one of the most distinctive being used in the tournament in 2008. It has been primarily designed as a multi-purpose venue and so there is an athletics track, but the stands have certainly been designed to support football as well. Spectators enter the stadium from wide concourses at the top of the stands – i.e with the pitch being built some way below ground level. All of the views are unobstructed and there are two large TV screens on the North and South stands. The most unique feature of the stadium however are the floodlights. In total there are 32 floodlight spikes which pierce the roof and act both as supports as well as lighting.
When the Letzigrund stadium is complete in 2007, attention will turn to the Hardturm stadium and it will be completely redeveloped as a 30,000 all seater football only stadium. Currently the Hardturm has a capacity of 17,700. The stadium is a strange affair with three stands joined together in a similar shape to Nuremburg’s Frankenstadion.
Who plays there? The rivalry that exists in Swiss football can never be called bitter, but in Zurich it is the closest you can get to a real derby. The two clubs have existed for over 80 years separated by the main railway line, but recent events have thrown them together, initially at the Hardturm whilst the new Letzigrund is being constructed, and then when Stade de Zurich is being built in 2008, the two clubs will move into FC Zurich's Letzigrund.
Grasshopper Zurich - http://www.gcz.ch are the most successful of the two, winning the Swiss Championship on 27 occasions, to FC Zurich's 11 occasions. However, the balance of power currently lies with the latter as they have won back to back championships in 2006 and 2007. They also have a better European record, reaching the European Cup semi-finals in 1964 and 1977.
Grasshoppers were formed in 1886, making them one of Switzerland's oldest clubs by Englishman Tom Griffiths, and they certainly dominated some of the early Swiss seasons by winning the championship on four occasions by 1905. Their golden period came during the 1990's when external sponsorship monies funded an expansion of the team to include such players as Shaun Bartlett, Hakan Yakin and Christian Sforza, and coaches including Leo Beenhakker, Christian Gross and Ottmar Hitzfeld. During this period they won six Swiss Championships in an 8 year period as well as two Swiss Cups. However, it did take them four attempts to get past the preliminary rounds before they reached the Group Stages of the Champions League in 1995. However, they finished bottom of a group featuring Ferencvaros, Ajax and Real Madrid. The following season they faired slightly better by finishing 3rd in their group ahead of Rangers but behind Ajax and Auxerre.
Since then they have had to make do with the occasional UEFA Cup campaign, although they can claim the Intertoto Cup as an honour in 2006.
FC Zurich - http://www.fcz.ch were formed ten years later in 1896 and spent many years in the shadows of their cross city rivals. In fact up until 1963 they only had two Swiss Championships to their name in terms of honours. However during the 1960's they started to dominate Swiss football, registering the title in 1963, 1966 and 1968 as well as two Swiss Cup wins during this period. In 1963 they entered the European Cup for the first time, and surpassed all expectations by reaching the Semi-Finals by beating Dundalk, Galatasaray and PSV before losing 8-1 to the team of the century Real Madrid.
The club then went through another period of domination under Timo Konietzka during the 1970's. They won the Swiss Cup in 1972 and 1973 before winning back to back titles in 1974 and 1975. In 1976 they won the domestic double for the first time. The following season they enjoyed another great run in the European Cup beating Glasgow Rangers, TPS and Dynamo Dresden before losing to eventual winners Liverpool in the semi-final.
Apart from a couple of sporadic honours in the 1980's the club had to wait until the stewardship of Lucien Favre before they really tasted honours again by winning the 2006 title with an injury time goal against champions elect FC Basel that resulted in some ugly scenes on the pitch in Basel. Their subsequent Champions League campaign only lasted 180 minutes as the team lost 302 on aggregate to Salzburg in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League. After last season's Championship win the team will be hoping for a better fairing in Europe and hopefully a Champions League Group Stages spot for the first time especially after winning the title again in May 2009.
How to get there The Letzigrund is located in the western fringes of the city centre, almost adjacent to the main railway line. The new stadium will have enhanced public transport access, although for some of the big games during Euro 2008 it may be quicker to walk to the stadium by following Badenerstrasse all the way down from Wersstrasse in the old town. The walk should take around 20 minutes. Tram line 2 and 3 also run at regular intervals down Badenerstrasse to the Letzigrund.
The nearest train station to the Letzigrund and the Hardturm is Hardbrücke which is one stop from the central station. For the former head southwards across the railway bridge and take third right into Bullingerstrasse and the stadium is 400metres away. For the Hardturm head north out of the station and then take the first major left into Pfingstweidstrasse for the stadium.
For a more indepth view as to who plays where in Zurich go to Footiemap.com to access their city football map.
Getting a ticket Tickets for every match at Euro 2008 have been sold out for many months, and the only way now of getting tickets is by applying through one of the nations football associations once they have qualified. Whilst tickets for matches may become available after the draw is made on the 2nd December, it is unlikely that a further sale to the public will yield more than a few hundred tickets per venues.
In terms of getting tickets for domestic matches, then you will have no problems in getting tickets on the day of the game. FC Zurich are the better supported of the two clubs, but they still only get an average home attendance of 10,000 even when playing at the Hardturm. The most popular match is the Zurich derby but even this does not sell out. Currently tickets can be purchased in advance from http://www.ticketcorner.com or by calling 0848 800 800 (from Switzerland only) and cost 20CHF for the Kurve’s behind the goal, to 50CHF for a seat in the main stand. No decision has been made about the cost of tickets in the new stadium.
Getting around Zurich is famous for its highly efficient, clean and safe public transport system. The network includes trams, buses, S-Bahn and pleasure boats that traverse the lake during the summer. There are maps posted at most tram and bus stops, although the Tourist Information Office located in the main station can provide these free of charge as well as selling you the Tageskarte day pass for 7.80CHF.
Zurich airport is located around 7 miles outside of the city centre in the area known as Kloten. The airport is Switzerland’s largest and includes daily flights from the UK with CityJet from London City, British Airways from London Gatwick and Heathrow, Easyjet from London Gatwick and Luton, Helvetic from Manchester, Swiss European from Birmingham, London City and Manchester and of course Swiss International from London Heathrow.
The airport handles over 19million passengers a year and is one of the best in terms of facilities for passengers in Europe. To reach the city centre then head down to the railway station under the terminal which transfers you to the Hauptbahnhof every 15 minutes in less than 10 minutes.
About The Letzigrund Stadium
FC Zurich - 