Zürich Letzigrund EURO 2008

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Switzerland’s largest city, Zurich is located on the Limmat River in the north-east of the country. Letzigrund is a stadium in Zürich and the home of the football club FC Zürich. This stadium will host Group C matches between Romania, France and Italy. It is also temporarily home to the football club Grasshopper-Club Zürich while their stadium ( Stadion Zürich ) is under construction. The annual athletics meet Weltklasse Zürich —part of the IAAF Golden League —takes place at the Letzigrund, as well as frequent open air concerts.

The Lezigrund, also called Zurich Stadium, was built on the site of the old Letzigrund which was opened on February 22 , 1925 and was first owned by FC Zurich football club. During the Great Depression in 1937, ownership changed to the city of Zurich in 1937 which has operated it since. It underwent extensive remodelling in 1947, 1958, 1973, and 1984. Lighting was added in 1973.The first open air concert was in 1996.

Of the 23,605 places, 11,605 have seats (9,167 covered) and 12,000 are covered standing area. The main pitch is 105 by 68 metres with athletics facilities. There are also three other playing fields: 2 lawns, 1 artificial turf and a small packed sand field. A bar and a restaurant are within the stadium.

The stadium has a running track and had been used for many athletic meets and events over the years, including Sebastian Coe’s then record time mile run in 1981 and also hosts pop concerts. Tina Turner performed 2 sold-out performances at the stadium during her highly successful Twenty Four Seven Tour. Demolition of the stadium was approved in January 2005 and it re-opened on August 30th 2007. The first football match was taking place in the new stadium on September 23rd between FC Zurich and Grasshopper Club Zurich. The new multi-purpose stadium has indoor training facilities and many other modern conveniences and the roof will even be covered with vegetation as an eco-friendly measure, with the stadium rising only 16m above street level at its highest point. Home side FC Zurich are one of two main Zurich based clubs, the other being Grasshopper Club Zurich.

Traditionally FCZ has been the club of the lower-middle class while Grasshoppers have been the club of the upper-classes, leading to a bitter rivalry. FCZ have been very successful since their formation in 1896, winning 11 Swiss Championships, including in 2007, seven Swiss Cups and have reached the European Champions Cup Semi-final on two occasions in 1964 and 1977.

In January 2005, UEFA approved plans to rebuild the stadium for use as a EURO 2008 venue. It is set to host 3 matches in the 2008 European Football Championship.

The new stadium was opened on August 30th 2007. The first sport event there was the annual Weltklasse Zürich on September 7th with 26500 spectators, the first football game was FC Zürich vs. Grasshopper Club Zürich on September 23rd. It will be host to three games during the 2008 European championships, with a capacity of up to 30,000.