Grasshoppers or FC Zurich?
Hi guys,
I've recently relocated to Zurich and now must decide which team to support, Grasshoppers or FC Zurich?  I was somewhat surprised to see how...
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Ok, here it goes...

GCZ vs. FCZ head-to-head comparison.

Grasshopper Club Zürich

Founded: 1886

Stadium: Hardturm (Capacity - 17,666)

Championships: 26 (Record in Switzerland)

Cuptitles: 18 (Record in Switzerland)

International Success: 1978 Uefa Cup Semi-final.

2002/03 Budget: 20 mio. CHF

Website: www.gcz.ch

Grasshoppers are the Bayern Munich of Switzerland. Nobody comes even close in matching the success of GC (Servette is 2nd with 17 Championships and 7 Cuptitles.) However, there have been dark clouds brewing up north where FC Basel has set itself up to be a fierce rival in the coming future. With their new stadium, their numerous rabid fans (25,000 on average) and qualification for the Champions League, they have been able to raise a budget for this season un-preceded in Swiss sports (30 mio. CHF.) Basel won last year's double with GC finishing second both times. It is safe to say that GC and FCB are the big two in the NLA. Speaking of FCB (the German one this time), the most famous current player that had his start with GC is probably Giovanne Elber. GC is currently in the 2nd round of the Uefa Cup and will face Greek club PAOK Thessaloniki.

Fussball Club Zürich

Founded: 1896

Stadium: Letzigrund (Capacity - 19,400)

Championships: 9

Cuptitles: 6

International Success: Champions League Semi-final in 1964 & 1977.

2002/03 Budget: 8,5 mio. CHF

Website: www.fcz.ch

FCZ has its golden ages behind it. They hope for a Uefa Cup spot this season - an ambitious goal in my eyes. Always being the #2 club in the city has made their fans a frustrated bunch..hahahah.

The whole club is very dependent on one man - their president/investor Sven Hotz. God knows where they would be without him. Speaking of FCZ legends, Hans Gamper (FCZ's first captain ever) was the founder of the world famous FC Barcelona.

Avg. attendance is about the same for both teams, in the 7000-8000 range. It really depends on the opponent. A matchup with FC Basel will draw about 14,000 while a game with FC Thun will draw 4,000.

Grasshoppers

OK Gents, I'm with Grasshoppers. Nice 4-0 effort Sunday against Xamax who were clearly outclassed. GCZ took advantage of a Xamax back line which was unorganized for all but a few minutes and made too many ill advised and oft missed challenges. I think Xamax has some new players so this could explain it. This looked like a match between a 1st Bundesliga team against a mid table team from MLS' first season. The folks at the Hardturm stadium were classy and the team showed good respect for their own fans.

Hejduk played the second half of a match where FC Basel too St. Gallen behind the woodshed for a 6-0 butt whipping. I need to get over to Basel to check those guys out.

Good Choice Chris

Grasshoppers are back to #1 after that victory. Are you familiar with the Swiss League system? If not, I can shed some light on that as well. Did you take the tram to the game?

About Xamax, they haven't been good for a few years now - but to their credit they've always somehow managed to stay up in the NLA. They were really good in the early 90's however, as AFCA has already pointed out.

So how do you like Zurich in general?

Are you having difficulties with our dialect? I would show you around, but I'm currently in the middle of a semester here in Texas.