The Swiss 36 No.5 Letzigrund - Grasshoppers Club Zürich and FC Zürich

Grasshoppers Club Zürich v FC Zürich - 20 May 2012

It would be better to entitle this article No 5 and 6 as GCZ and FCZ have the only ground-share currently operating in the Swiss Leagues.  

In previous articles, I have mentioned the small hooliganism problem that the Swiss authorities are fighting to get a hold of.  Well this was the match that resulted in the only Swiss game ever to be called off due to crowd trouble.  That was back in October with the game being abandoned due to continued clashes and the throwing of firecrackers between the fans with the score at 2 : 1 to GC.  Grasshoppers were awarded the game 3 : 0 with FCZ receiving a 50000 Franc fine.  

So after an undoubted low-point in Swiss football, you'd think people would learn wouldn't you?

We purchased our tickets for the match yesterday from a ticket corner office in Lugano.  No problem, we simply picked our seat in the GC area.  There was no check on what team we supported or any other vetting.  Enjoy the game was the only message.

The Letzigrund

The Letzigrund is about 10 minutes walk through peaceful back-streets from Zürich Hardbrücke Station.  You would scarcely have been aware that there was a football match going on until you got within 200m of the stadium, when we heard our first chants.

The Robocops were out in force, forming a line, along with a water-canon van that blocked GC fans from the FCZ fans.  Wait a minute.  We had just got off a train and walked to the ground.  Any FCZ fans could have done exactly the same as we had done.  This would have course left them in amongst opposing fans and perhaps not being allowed through to their own supporters.  Sure, it was an impressive display of force, but was it actually preventing anything?

Impressive Arena but an Impressive Football Stadium?

Now I always knew Swiss football was not the best supported.  But for me, this is the 2nd biggest fixture in the Swiss football calendar at the moment so I was surprised to have been able to get tickets just one day before.  There were many empty seats still showing on the ticket-agents screen as be bought our tickets so it was no surprise that tickets could be bought right up to kick-off at the ground.

We went in without a search.  Something I found very surprising.

The Letzigrund is a World Class athletics stadium, meaning of course that the fans are very remote from the action.  This is something that I do not think works well in football.  It must kill the atmosphere for the players.

We went up to the top of the quite gently sloped terracing and took seats right at the back.  A fellow Winterthur fan approached me, obviously recognizing me from more familiar surroundings (its something that happens more often these days).  The opposing main fan groups were at opposite sides of the ground, we were in the GC side and did not see any FCZ fans anywhere near us.  Perhaps that segregation did have an effect.

Flares?  Didn't we have trouble with those before?

There were plenty of pre-match chants being exchanged between the fans prior to the game, but nothing to worry about.  As the teams came out, so did the Flares in the Sudkürve.

OK, had one of those flares been thrown into the main GCZ block you would not arrest the guy who threw it.  He'd be put in the Swiss Olympic team to throw something!  The stadium announcer warned fans in the Sudkürve that they were not allowed to light fireworks and could be ejected!  But the stadium security had allowed the things to be brought in so, sorry Letzgrund-Management, your warnings just sound silly!   I can assure any Swiss reader that there would be no chance of getting the flares into an English ground.

Helmets on - They're Booing the Ref!

Security inside the ground was unobtrusive but there.  Stewards placed themselves in front of the main fan blocks and a private security company, amusingly named "Delta Force" were strategically deployed all around the ground, complete with helmets and batons.  It was quite amusing to watch them actually.  At every potential flashpoint on went the helmets, only to be removed when nothing further happened.

But the game passed without real incident and the Swiss did an excellent job of clearing fans from the stadium area and back to the main station.

Those Scores:

Getting There

7/10 - Really easy but it was always going to be so for us as we know Zürich quite well.  There are trams that take you to the stadium should you not want the 10 minute walk from Hardbrücke.  I can imagine it not being so straightforward for fans who do not know Zürich.

Friendliness

5/10 - I don't think one GC or FCZ fan spoke to me all afternoon.  The guys at the refreshment and souvenir stores were OK and the security absolutely unobtrusive.

Safety

7/10 - As a stadium, the Letzigrund is very safe.  Its all-seater except for the Sudkürve sector that the FCZ Fans have made there own.  This area is standing but I could see plenty of crush barriers to prevent any surges getting out of control.  The fences where we were would have been easy to get over should the need have arisen but that did not look to be the case in the Sudkürve or in the main sector for GC fans.

Bearing in mind the problems this fixture has had in the past, the security, or lack of it on entering the stadium was concerning.

Not such a bad view - but you are a long way away!

View

6/10 - Again certainly better than I thought it would be.  It's just that that athletics track does put you quite a distance from the football.  The gently sloped bowl that forms the stadium doesn't help in this respect either.  Seated football stadia tend to be more steeply terraced to keep the fans closer to the action.

Atmosphere

Sparsely populated stands don't help atmosphere.

5/10 - Its an end of season game involving two teams who are not going to win anything through the league this season.  But its also the 2nd biggest game in Swiss football and the Zürcher Derby.  With that in mind, I was disappointed.   The Sudkürve and a main block of GC fans to my left were the only places where there was noise on any consistent basis.  Elsewhere, very quiet.

Finally, 11200 fans in a 25000 capacity stadium didn't help.  Why don't Swiss clubs close off parts of the stadium to concentrate the crowd noise?

Beware the Super Blob!

Refreshments

6/10 - Expensive.  23 SFr (£15.50) for a barely alive 33cl Carlsberg, a Coke Zero and Sausage with a bread cake is not good.  The sausage was nice enough though, a standard Bratwürst.  Burgers were also available and I was surprised to see the Ice Cream cart brought around at half-time (so surprised I bought a Daim Ice Cream, which worryingly turned out to be a "Super Blob").  It tasted OK though but the missus was not impressed with her chewy cornetto cone!

Ice-Cream though?  Folks - its football, not the pictures!

Redeeming Feature

Great job in clearing fans onto free buses back to Zürich Hauptbahnhof.

Overall - 36 / 60


The Match

Enjoyed the start and the finish.  Wasn't so keen on the long, boring bit in between. 

GC started the better side, playing some attractive football in the opening 10 minutes.  FCZ only had a long ball that came onto the left wing that they tried several times to no avail.

Entertaining to start with though and after 2 minutes Davide Callà warmed Andrea Guatelli's hands from the edge of the area.  GC definitely looked the livelier with FCZ taking 10 minutes to have a half decent effort, fired wide from Scott Sutter.


Shortly after that, the game lost its fluency as FCZ seemed to work out how to pick the pockets of their opponents.  The game entered a long period where defences were on top, breaking up any attacking moves with ease.  GC were creating the better chances as it seemed they were more able to break through but the chances were squandered - at times embarrassingly.  


The game needed a goal and it was 19-year old Berat Djimsiti who provided it on his debut, finishing off the only move I saw that truly broke open the GC defence.  A cross, a header across the goal from Raphael Koch and Djimsiti beat the GC 'keeper Roman Bürki, who should have done better.


But the game was now alive and GC immediately raced down to the other end and had the ball in the net courtesy of Ijet Hajrovic.  But the linesman awarded what must have been a very close offside decision and FCZ breathed again.  The first fans in the GC kop decided to forfeit their 2 Franc deposits on their beer cups as they were hurled in the direction of the linesman, with no actual possibility of hitting him.  The force of steward in front of the two kops was immediately doubled - helmets on Delta Force!


It was all GC now as they pushed for an equalizer they richly deserved.  Finally, it looked like they'd do it when in the 90th minute the referee pointed to the spot having seen a handball by Loris Benito.  It was a good penalty from Steven Zuber but Guatelli got down well to save at the base of his right-hand post.  


And that was that.  GC's football certainly deserved more but as we say in German speaking countries. "Die Runde muss in das Eckige"

The Swiss 36 No.4 Stadio di Comaredo - FC Lugano

FC Lugano v FC Winterthur - 19th May 2012

FC Winti's Pirate Bus

This was one of our longest trips so far in the quest to do the Swiss 36 and it will remain one of the longest.  Its a 3 and 3/4 hour trip from my home, and we turned down the chance to go on the fans Pirate Bus, which promised to be very boozy.  At 50 SFr (£33.60) it wasn't a bad deal though!

Instead we took the train.  As you may have guessed by now, Swiss Rail delivers and excellent service.  Comfortable trains that run to a precise timetable so long trips are absolutely no problem, one of the reasons I am happy taking on the Swiss 36.

So, after heading out at 9:00am we were in Lugano just before 1, giving some time to do a couple of touristy things before the game at 6:00pm.  

Lugano is really beautiful.  Highly recommended to anyone looking for a holiday and I don't think it gets too much press outside of Italy and Switzerland.  But if you want to be wowed by fantastic mountain and lake scenery then go to Lugano.  It is spectacular.

So we had a trip to Camponie d'Italia, a small enclave of Italy within Switzerland and then boarded a boat for a trip around the lake which brought us back to Lugano at 5:30.  A bit fine for kick off but surely possible?  

Apparently not.  Our faithful app that guides us around Switzerland told us we were going to be 10 minutes late for kick-off so we grabbed a taxi.  We were at the Stadio di Comaredo inside 10 minutes.  I'm  sure that had we known where we were going we could have walked and still been in time for kick-off so I'm not sure what is happening with the public transport there.

We were a bit pushed for time so I didn't get any shot of the outside of the stadium.  It was built in 1951 and is showing its age a little, looking a little tatty at the edges.  We walked through the gates and were given what passed as a security check.  Normally, we carry as little as possible into football games but on this occasion, we hadn't managed to leave our rucksacks at left luggage.  There was a glass bottle in my rucksack, which obviously should have been removed, but I basically showed the security team my plastic cup and they were happy.  

We actually walked straight into the main stand without any difficulty.  No Winti fans there, but we did see Savvas Exouzidis, our centre-back warming up.  We yelled him and typical of all Winti players, he smiled and waved back.  The missus blew him a kiss and got one back in return.

The Winti fans were in the away section behind the goal to our right, where we should have been.  So out we went, actually we had to go completely out of the stadium.  But there was no problem getting back in, this time we simply said that our bags had been checked already and were allowed through to take up our places with the away support.

Sad turn out for decent football

One of the sad things that I find about Swiss Football is how disparaging the Swiss tend to be about any clubs outside of the Super League.  At my work, they treat it as a bit of a joke that I am a Winterthur fan.  I, of course defend Winti as real football.  Much better to go and watch a teams like Winterthur and Lugano every week than to sit at home and cheer the FC Basel or worse, FC Bayern result, when it comes in.

The sad sight of the empty stadium before us sums up all that is wrong with the average Swiss football fan.  Just 450 people had turned out to watch a 2nd flight football fixture involving the 4th and 5th placed teams.

Granted, neither team has anything left to play for, and it  was the day of the on the day, the Champions League final.  But come on Switzerland!  In English football you have to got right down to the bottom of the 5th tier before you start seeing average attendances in 3-digits!

So, I'm not getting on anything like a high horse about security.  If anything more was done security-wise, it would have simply been silly.   The way back to the stadium was fun, singing on a bus with fellow Winti fans while having a Lugano fan yell her disapproval at us.  All fun and good natured.  And to that Lugano fan - well done you.  You support your football team, which is more than I can say for the rest of your town.

Now those scores.

Getting There

5/10.  No problem on the railways but with 30 minutes before kick-off, I would have expected a bus to get us to the stadium on time, especially as the stadium is not far from the town-centre. 

Friendliness

7/10.  Nice people and easy security.  The Fans we met were fun.

Safety

2/10 - Using the Fuzzy's foot test the steps on the terracing were even higher than I had found the week before at FC Thun but at least here, the terraces were a decent width.  It was proper terracing, designed for people to stand on and not an area where the seats were simply not fitted.  That said, it is probably a good thing that the terraces are not packed.

Those hateful fences are there though, and unfortunately even worse than at Thun.  Here's a radical idea Lugano.  You do not get many fans so why do you need the fences?  Take them away.  They impair the view and, should you ever have a crowd, are dangerous.

View

5/10 - Better than I though it would be though.  I knew before going to the game that Stadio di Comaredo is multi-purpose and has a running track around the pitch.  But the track has only 6 lanes and there is no gap between the track and the terraces.  So we weren't so far away from the action.

Still though, those horrible fences are there!

Prices

A very reasonable 15 SFr (£10).  So why not go down to the football match, Lugano?

Winterthur uns Fussball Verein!

Atmosphere

2/10 - You  need fans to have an atmosphere, so nobody is at fault but the good people of Lugano, I'm afraid.  That said, I still did not understand why all 4 sides of the 10500 capacity stadium were open.  So the meagre crowd were also spread thinly around the ground.

The 100 or so Winterthur fans who made the trip did what they could though!

Refreshments

1/10  I went in search of refreshments at half time and returned with a 33 cl Eichenhof beer and a bag of crisps.  If more was available, I could not see it.  Really poor!

Redeeming Feature

In the last article, I commented on the setting of FC Thun but suggested that you watch this space.  As far as setting is concerned, Thun has been bested.

Overall - 22/60

The Match

Unremarkable but worthy of far more support.  

Danny Sereinig put the visitors ahead with a header around the half-hour mark but although the better side, I could not say Winti were controlling the game.  

Shortly before half time, slack defending resulted in Carlos Da Silva being able to cause Winti trainer Kuzmanovic the inconvenience of re-writing his team talk.   Winterthur were always the better side though and Patrick Bengondo finished well at the far post to give Winterthur a deserved 2:1 victory. 

The Swiss 36 No.3 Arena Thun, FC Thun

FC Thun v BSC Young Boys - 13th May 2012

After Winterthur's 2:1 victory over FC Biel / Bienne, possibly the only football club with a backslash in their name, we were at a loose end for Sunday and so we decided to tick-off another of the Swiss 36.  This time, the target was a Super League tie between FC Thun and BSC Young Boys, the Berner Derby.

Now,  Young Boys - jokes about their name will be made when we visit the Stade de Suisse.  You have no idea how difficult it is to pass up the opportunity.  But for now I am a martyr to my temptation.

This was the first Swiss match we were to attend that didn't involve wunderbare Winti, who, incidently should be playing in the Swiss Cup Final as I write having been robbed by a ref who missed the clearest penalty you will ever see.  But I digress (probably not for the first time in this one).

We arrived in Thun via Rafz.  Its an out-of-the-way route but we have this I-Phone app called Swiss-Hiker where you collect places you visit a bit like Pokémon.  Rafz, or somewhere near there was the last place we had to tick off in East Switzerland.  Digressing again - see, I told you!

In any case, it was an easy journey, as they tend to be when you travel with Swiss railways and with a change in Zürich and a change in Bern, and we were in the beautiful town of Thun, just one stop down the main line from Bern.

How we knew tickets were available at the station

Are you watching, English football! (and I bet it won't be the first time I say that!).  We simply bought our match ticket from the ticket-corner office at the station on the day.  Easy-peasy!

A 5 minute trip on a bus brought us to Arena Thun.  Now, in the last Swiss 36 article, I mentioned security.  It was evident again although I'd say this time they got it more right.  The bus driver was protected from us by a sturdy door and a heavy duty perspex screen;  and en route, we saw armoured cars and a water canon van.  

Difficult to get good shots of the Thun Arena from outside

I think I should say at this point that Switzerland does have a small hooliganism problem.  Indeed this season saw the first Swiss league game abandoned due to crowd trouble.  From what I am seeing, there seems to be an overwhelming desire to nip it in the bud before it gets hold. So, if I do seem to be complaining about excessive security, please think of it in this context.  If it works and Swiss football does drive the idiots away, then well done everybody!

How cool is that?!

At the ground, it was evident that Thun and YB fans were mixing freely with nothing but goodwill between them.  Great to see and in contrast to the security.

As we entered the stadium, we were given our programme (generally free of charge at Swiss games) and this leaflet.  For those of you who don't have decent German, what Thun are offering season-ticket holders is that their name be printed on the 1st team shirt.  In other words they are acknowledging every individual fan as a sponsor.  How cool is that!  My hat is rightfully doffed.  Are you watching, English football!

So now that we're inside, time for those all important scores!

Getting there

9/10 - Thun is a mainline station from most major towns in Switzerland.  Buses run from right outside the station to the stadium.  The journey is about 5 minutes.

Friendliness

7/10 - On this occasion we were with the home fans so saw it perhaps a little differently from the last game.  We purchased a stitch-on FC Thun badge from the club shop and were given a couple of stickers by the shop when we explained our Swiss 36 mission.  Security was there but not too obtrusive until, when we left, we were prevented from going directly to our bus by a line of RoboCops (see previous article).  We simply walked around a nearby garage forecourt and onto the bus.  Barmy in the extreme!

During the game, we found it difficult not to sing along with the home-fans, so we gave it a couple of choruses of "FC Winti - FCW".  No problem.  Smiling home fans.

Safety

2/10 - Oh My God!  I really doubt if this ground would get a safety certificate for standing fans in England.  In the photo, you see my leg showing the height of the step between standing terracing levels.  It is 12"(30 cm).  There is only one crush barrier on the terrace.  Seriously, FC Thun.  One day, somebody will fall down this terrace and be seriously hurt!  It really needs seating or a crush barrier for each row to be installed.

Add to this the fences and you have something English fans see as a safety nightmare.  I would score it 1 if I had seen more grounds first!  Simply terrible!

View

6/10 - It was OK, though you had to go up the terracing to see properly due to fans hanging flags and banners on those terrible fences.

Price

24 SFr (£16) for a standing ticket.  Very fair!

Sidebar:  Have you ever seen lines as white as those!

Atmosphere

7/10 - The Thun fans kept singing, as did the folk from Bern.  Lots of noise, little animosity.  It was a good Derby.

Refreshments

4/10 - Feldschlösschen Beer.  The most widespread in Switzerland.  It was a tad expensive too at 5 SFr (£3.33) for 33ml!  I liked the cups though 

Food - Had a nice Thuner-Wurst (sausage from Thun) and a Beer-Bretzel for the missus.   Nothing special though and at 5 SFr for the Bretzel and 7 for the sausage, again on the pricey side.

Redeeming Feature

The setting of the stadium may be one of the best in the world, with the mountains all around.  Then again, we are in Switzerland, so watch this space.

Unfortunately, this view was behind us throughout the game.  The away fans, and fans on the right-hand side as we looked at it have this backdrop for the whole game.

Overall - 35/60

The Match


A good one for the neutrals.  Young Boys came back twice to earn a 2:2 draw in front of just over 9000 fans.

A great move by Thun had the Young Boys looking as naive as their name suggests and Marco Schneuwly, scoring against his old club,  finished well for Thun's first on 10 minutes.  Young Boys then put Thun under pressure for a long period before the inevitable happened and I called it.  As soon as the ball was swung onto the left flank to Canadian, Josh Simpson it was clear YB would score and it was Emmanuel Mayuka who smashed the ball into the net. 

Against the run of play, the home side recovered their lead.  Andreas Wittwer lost his marker and headed home.  2 : 1 to the home side at the break, but they were lucky to be leading.

In the second half, the Berners continued to pile on the pressure. Nicholas Schindelholz was adjudged to have brought down Moreno Costanzo in the 77th minute.  I wasn't so sure, but was a long way off.  In any case, it was an emphatic penalty from Christoph Spycher to level the tie.

2:2 was no less than Young Boys deserved and they probably went home feeling the more unlucky of the two sides.

The Swiss 36 No.2 AFG Arena, FC St. Gallen

FC St. Gallen v FC Winterthur - 28 April 2012

Just a short trip from my Swiss home in Winterthur, St. Gallen was an obvious choice for my first taste of Swiss away football.

Our trip started at Winterthur station sitting on a platform, getting drunk while waiting for the arrival of the train. The train's arrival was preceded by familiar singing of "FC Winti - FCW" to the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" theme. (English readers should realize 'W' in German is pronounced 'Vay'" so it does fit). There was also a hell of a lot of smoke as a flare was thrown to herald the arrival of the "Winti Fanatics".

After a brief panic (lost my wallet and had it returned by a fellow Winti fan), we boarded what was to be a noisy trip Gossau. It was crowded and I seated myself next to a young lady who was apparently studying Russian and cracked open a beer.

Her face was a picture of disgust. A football hooligan was sitting next to her. I was obviously a hooligan. I was wearing a scarf, a shirt and was drinking beer. I felt the animosity and so sang along with the noisy fans on the upper deck.

Now, I did say we were going to Gossau, not St. Gallen and that, for me,is my major issue with the AFG Arena. It simply isn't in St. Gallen. It's in the suburb of Winkeln, between Gossau and St. Gallen. So how at home are the St. Gallen fans?

The Winti fans didn't care. Escorted by a reasonably subtle police-force from Winkeln station. They were loud and boisterouse. Never really confrontational though with "Scheiss St. Galler" being the most aggressive chant during the 20 minute march from the station. It would normally take 10 -if that. But with stopping for a good old chant and a sing it took longer.

The stadium actually has a shopping centre underneath it.  Quite a big one too, but on this occasion we were escorted up the stairs and into our cage for the evening.  The away fans are literally caged off from the rest of St. Gallen as soon as they climb the stairs of the footbridge crossing the road outside.  Even the refreshment stand has a very sturdy grill and your beer and burgers are passed through a hole in front of the Staff.  Strange really, I didn't think the staff there looked so scary.

Out into the Gast Sektor in one of the corners and, its modern clean, great view, although from behind heavy duty netting (no fences though).  

In fact security was the overwhelming theme of the away-end.  There was actually no need for fences.  A kind of moat, and then those nets removed any threat that there could have been to the pitch,  

Anyway, here's my scores out of 10 for the AFG Arena.

Getting there:

8/10 - Mainline train link to Gossau followed by a single stop on an urban train line to Winkeln.  About 10 minutes walk to the stadium

Friendliness: 

3/10 - OK we were the away fans and it was a Derby but still, the police made absolutely sure we went in our cage.  Absolutely no chances are taken with away fans, particularly if there is any kind of rivalry.  "Caged" would be my buzzword of the day.  Staff in the Gast-Sektor were friendly enough though.

Kept back 30 minutes at the end of the match by a line of RoboCops (Body armour, tear-gas canons, mace, night-stick).  Very pointless as by the time we arrived at Winkeln station ST. Gallen Fans were drinking at open-air bars - and many Winti Fans joined them.

Safety:

5/10  - Loads of security but how much safety?  It is an all-seater stadium so the chances of a crush are small.  Were there a crush, it was quite a drop to pitch level although the safety netting would have cushioned the first few.  There was also an incident at the end where a Winterthur fan required medical attention.  It took a good 10 minutes before a first-aider was there. Not acceptable!

View: 

7/10 - Excellent for a corner

Price: 

26 SFr for me and, bargain of the day, the wife got a "lady's day" treat at just 5 Sfr.  No program though.  These were for standing places, but exactly where we were supposed to stand was not clear.  That said, we managed it (can a Winti fan really allow his butt to touch the Green of Gallen?)

Atmosphere:  

7/10.  Probably lifted from a 5 due to the fact that we were with Winterthur fans.

Refreshments:  

5/10 - Schützengarten is the local brew.  It's not the worst in Switzerland, but being the best isn't that good!  Typical stadium food.

Redeeming Feature:

Seats in the dug-outs that look like urinals.  The stadium stylists should take a look at that.

Overall - 35/60

The Match

A good one as you could expect with a local Derby.  Winterthur were the better side in the first half and fully deserved their 1: 0 lead at the break with an own goal.  After the break, St.Gallen came right back and grabbed an equalizer through Manuel Sutter.  Winti's Patrick Bengondo's honesty in not going down when clearly pulled back made it difficult for the referee to give a penalty but on the day, 1 :1 was fair enough.