Letzigrund () is a

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Switzerland, the home of the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

clubs

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a professional football club based in Zurich, Switzerland. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League thirteen times and the Swiss Cup ten times. ...

and

Grasshopper Club Zürich Grasshopper Club Zurich (GCZ), commonly referred to as Grasshopper Club or simply just GC, is a professional sports club, multisports club based in Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland. They are nicknamed the ''Grasshoppers'' or sometimes just ''Hopper ...

, as well as the

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

club . The original stadium was constructed by members of FC Zürich in 1925. Grasshopper Club has been using it as their home stadium since 2007, shortly after construction of the new stadium was completed. The annual

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

meet

Weltklasse Zürich Weltklasse Zürich () is an annual, invitation-only, world-class track and field meeting at the Letzigrund in Zürich, Switzerland, generally held at the end of August or beginning of September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it ...

, part of the

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

, has taken place at the Letzigrund since 1928, as have frequent open-air concerts. On the Letzigrund track on 21 June 1960,

Armin Hary Armin Hary (; (born 22 March 1937) is a retired German sprinter who won the 1960 Olympic 100 meters dash. He was the first non-American to win the event since Percy Williams of Canada took the gold medal in 1928, the only German to ever win t ...

was the first human to run the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

in 10.0 seconds.

Old stadium (1925–2006)

The old Letzigrund stadium was opened on 22 November 1925 and was owned by

. In 1937, during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, ownership was transferred to the city of Zurich, which has operated the Letzigrund ever since. It underwent extensive remodeling in 1947, 1958, 1973, and 1984. Lighting was added in 1973. The first open-air concert there was held in 1996. The capacity of the stadium was 25,000 and the main pitch was , with athletics facilities. There were also three other playing fields: two lawns, an

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

, and a small packed sand field. The old Letzigrund also contained a bar and a restaurant within the stadium.

New stadium (2007–present)

In the 1990s, the athletics club Zürich pushed for a modernisation of the facilities at Letzigrund, in order to even better accommodate the athletes of Weltklasse Zürich. In 1997, the city parliament decided favourably on an upgrade of the stadium, whereas the city administration was simultaneously working on a reconstruction plan. At the same time, the owners of the

Hardturm The Hardturm was a football stadium located in Zürich's Kreis 5. Opened in 1929, it was the home of the Grasshopper Club Zürich until it closed in 2007. It was a host stadium for the 1954 FIFA World Cup. The land for the stadium was bought by ...

football stadium were also planning to reconstruct their stadium. In 2003, the new Hardturm stadium was approved by the city population in a public vote, but subsequently, legal objections by neighbourhood and environmental groups put the timely realisation for the

EURO 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

tournament, for which it was chosen by

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

in 2002 as one of eight venues, in jeopardy. As a result, the planning process for the new Letzigrund stadium was accelerated. In 2005, the city population approved the reconstruction of the public stadium and the costs of temporarily adjusting the stadium to the requirements of EURO 2008 in two separate referendums. Originally planned for 2009, the new Letzigrund stadium was opened on August 30, 2007. The first sports event there was the annual

on September 7 with 26,500 spectators. The first football game was

vs.

on September 23. It hosted three games during the 2008 European championships, with a capacity of up to 30,000. The current capacity is 25,000 for football events, 26,000 for athletics and 50,000 for concerts. On 2 October 2011, the

Swiss Football League The Swiss Football League is the organization that controls and directs the professional football in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Founded in 1933 as the National League (in German ''Nationalliga'', in French ''Ligue Nationale''), it assumed it ...

game between FC Zürich and Grasshopper Club Zürich held at the stadium saw a major incident of

football hooliganism Football hooliganism, also known as soccer hooliganism, football rioting or soccer rioting, constitutes violence and other destructive behaviors perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism typically involves ...

. During the 74th minute of the match, with Grasshopper Club Zürich leading 2–1, a masked FC Zürich fan threw a lit flare into the Grasshopper Club Zürich fan section. This incited a violent reaction from the Grasshopper Club Zürich fans, several dozen of whom rushed towards the fence separating the two groups and attempted to fight back with flagpoles. The referee abandoned the match due to safety concerns. Six people were injured in the riot that ensued. The game had to be abandoned with approximately 15 minutes of regular time to go. Also dubbed the "Disgrace of Zürich" () by Swiss media, this incident represented a second major episode of hooligan violence in Switzerland within five years, after a hooligan incident of similar significance occurred in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

in 2006.

Matches

UEFA Euro 2008

The stadium was one of the venues for the

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

. Three games were played at the stadium during the tournament.

International matches

UEFA Women's Euro 2025

The stadium will be one of the venues for the

UEFA Women's Euro 2025 The 2025 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2025 or simply Euro 2025, will be the 14th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the wome ...

. Five games will be played at the stadium during the tournament.

Gallery

File:Old Letzigrund Stadium by Raymond Lafourchette.jpg, The old stadium, viewed from the

Uetliberg __NOTOC__ The Uetliberg (also known as Üetliberg) is a mountain in the Swiss plateau, part of the Albis chain, rising to . The mountain offers a panoramic view of the entire city of Zürich (to the northeast of its summit), Zürichberg and ...

File:Démolition Ancien Letzigrund par Raymond Lafourchette.jpg, Demolition of the old stadium File:New Letzigrund by Raymond Lafourchette.jpg, Building of the new stadium File:Letzigrund 2007ii.jpg, Opening ceremony (30 August 2007) File:Zurich Letzigrund by Raymond Lafourchette.jpg, Interior view of the new Letzigrund File:Letzigrund 2007 1.jpg, The new stadium

Public transport

Letzigrund can be reached via tram lines 2, 3, 4, 13, 14 and 17.

References

External links

Official Website

* {{Authority control FC Zürich Football venues in Switzerland Athletics (track and field) venues in Switzerland Diamond League venues Sports venues in Zurich Tourist attractions in Zurich Sports venues completed in 2007 2007 establishments in Switzerland 21st-century architecture in Switzerland Grasshopper Club Zurich