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.
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| 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?
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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
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| Sparsely populated stands don't help atmosphere. |
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?
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| 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
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"
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"
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