Lazy national stereotypes are all well and good but it is said that it takes the Swiss longer to implement innovations than any other nation.
For many years Zurich has planned to install a public bicycle rental system in the city such as those that can be found in many other European cities. With automated pick up and drop off stations the system was near to running but a wave of public feedback on the issue has meant the system stalled.
As with bicycle rental so it would seem is the case with a new football stadium in the city.
SWISS SUPER LEAGUE
SATURDAY 21ST OCTOBER 2017
LETZIGRUND STADION
Fans: 17,783
The new Hardturm is a football only venue that is planned for the site of the old Swiss stadium that hosted WM 1954. Once host to Champions League football and a FIFA World Cup semi-final, the stadium was closed in 2007 and then demolished in 2008.
With the site now a rundown shell plans for a new stadium were made in the expectation Switzerland would be chosen as a host for the 2008 European Championships.
In 2003 official plans were presented for a new 30,000-seated arena that would be able to host group matches at the UEFA European Championships. However, resistance from local residents highlighting traffic issues led to a number of delays and the plans being rejected.
Switzerland is not really a football country – many people in Zurich look on with disdain on football and the people who follow it.
Football supporters get a bad press in Switzerland from both national and local governments.
Instead, by way of compromise (in the best spirit of Swiss cooperation and governmental appeasement) it was decided by the city to renovate the Letzigrund stadium for the 2008 Euros.
Since the Euros things have struggled to progress.
In 2009 Credit Suisse the financial body that owned the prestigious land on which the Hardturm sits, stepped out of any redevelopment project and instead sold the land to the city of Zurich. New plans were then made for a smaller stadium with 16,000 seats in conjunction with a shopping complex and hotel, but the plans were again voted down in a local referendum in 2013.
The site, which sits in close proximity to the Schweizer Finanz museum was opened up to new bids in 2015 and the city announced a competition for investors to come up with the best project for the land. In the summer of 2016, a winner was announced and plans for a new stadium with a capacity of 18,500 have been exhibited.
This, however, will not be the end of the matter.
The winning project team are attempting to develop the project but again a popular vote from locals on the issue will take place. This means that there is no firm timeline as to when a new stadium is expected to be ready or whether the new plans will even be accepted at all.
In tandem to this is the delicate issue of stadium ‘ownership’.
The Hardturm was the traditional home ground of Grasshoppers Club Zurich but if the concept is given the go-ahead any new Zurich Stadium will be shared by both clubs – Grasshoppers and city rivals FC Zurich.
When the Letzigrund was being redeveloped for Euro 2008 both Zurich clubs shared the Hardturm stadium and this has proved unpopular with fans. The average attendances of FC Zurich have grown exponentially over the last 5 years while those of Grasshopper have tailed off to record low levels.
With a compact layout and a small capacity, a new stadium in the Hardturm area of Zurich is planned to be a football-only venue.
The main issue of whether the project gets the go-ahead seems to center around that of local municipal spend. Many locals perceive that the current existence of the Letzigrund in Zurich means there is no justification for another sports venue.
However, with any new stadium earmarked to be built privately by a joint financial and private bidders at a cost of 500 million CF, there is hope that the new so called ‘Ensemble’ Project will not generate opposition among the nearby residential communities.
The ‘Ensemble’ project includes the building, financing as well as the operation of a football stadium for 18,500 spectators. Two 137-meter residential and commercial towers alongside the stadium are also part of the plans.
These strategically positioned towers will contain 173 community housing apartments offering rented housing in a city that already has huge affordable housing and office space problems.
With a Saturday evening kick-off, local rivalries and fierce anticipation build early in the city for the derby.
At the former Hardturm Stadium, the fans of Grasshopper began to congregate on the broken terracing from mid afternoon. The site resembles a rundown car park but specific areas of the former stadium still exist including part of the stadium wall and one area of terracing.
This makes the site ideal as a meeting point for supporters in the lead up to a fixture.
Despite being relatively isolated at around 4.30 pm a large group of masked FC Zurich fans arrive off the tram and challenge the riot police guarding the site to a fight. Chants are also directed to those Grasshoppers fans who are inside.
Tear gas is fired at the FCZ groups and they are quickly dispersed back towards the city center but it’s already a warning that this a powder-keg high-risk fixture prone to outbreaks of supporter violence.
By 5.30 pm all the plans have been prepared by the away fans and the rallying call to march to the Letzigrund can be heard.
Around 600 fans embark on the 30-minute walk to the stadium through side streets and via an underpass. They are led by a line of riot police and tracked by an overhead police helicopter. Despite the security personnel on display, the walk is characterized by aggressive chanting as well as hundreds of smoke bombs and pyrotechnic devices being lit and thrown.
Outside the Letzigrund, a much larger Corteo procession of FCZ supporters has also met its endpoint and chanting across police lines commences between rival supporters.
Originally opened in 1925 the Letizgrund venue is better known for its role in hosting the athletes of the Weltklasse Zürich. It has also witnessed courtroom argument. The city powers and several construction companies have been involved in a dispute with respect to the 2007 upgrade.
Off the field, there is the parallel issue of ground ownership and this is complicated further by the perceptions of fans as to whom ‘owns’ the stadium. While the stadium was originally owned by FC Zürich, actual ownership now is the hands of the city of Zurich.
This evening, the question seems to be around which club owns ‘derby day’.
The answer to that comes on the field of play with Grasshoppers sweeping aside a poor FC Zurich team.
Grasshopper take an early lead through the Dane Lucas Andersen and they could have added a few more before the half-time whistle such was the dominance.
At the resumption of the second period, a second goal is added by the Bajrami before a penalty by Djuricin. By now it is a procession and becoming all too much for many FC Zurich fans in attendance.
Eventually, the scoring is completed to make it 4-0 to a powerful and fluent looking Grasshoppers team.
There are countless things to do on a crisp autumn day in Zurich.
This is a city that has numerous areas of green interest through which to explore the city in all its yellow and orange glory. Such is the cleanliness of its surroundings it’s difficult to think of many better places than a peaceful stroll along the lakeside between Bellevue and Zurich horn.
The Zurich football derby, in contrast, is not a fixture filled with many of the middle-class pleasantries we have come to expect in this upmarket city.
Rather than being littered with the sold-out intensity we see in many other European inner city derby games it is a passionate event full of spectacular color and noise. But the empty seats would indicate a city that is far from in love with its football team or the event.
Still, both sets of fans in attendance contributed greatly to one of the few city derbies that exist in this part of the world.
FT: FCZ 0-4 GCZ
FCZ: Vanins, Nef, Bangura, Thelander, Brunner, Ruegg, Palsson, Voser, Dwamena, Frey, Rodriguez (Subs used: Winter, Kone, Jagne)
GCZ: Lindner, Bergstrom, Pnishi, Zesiger, Lavanchy, Bajrami, Basic, Souleyman, Saurez, Djuricin, Andersen (Subs used: Bahoui, Pusic, Qollaku)
