Derby chaos? The fan camp hopes to meet at the same venue on Saturday

The next Zurich derby will be held on Saturday. Picture: www.imago-images.de

Many fans still have fond memories of the last Zurich derby. The sporting aspect sometimes becomes secondary. Fans of FC Zurich and Grasshoppers in particular made headlines – right next to the stadium: S-Bahn rammed into Harder Bridge, banners stolen and more. Police remain vigilant.

Among other things, the last derby was the reason for a public relations offensive by the head of the football club. On Tuesday, three newspapers (“Tagesanzeiger”, “NZZ” and “Blick”) conducted interviews with FCZ president Ancillo Canepa and security chief Luca Maggi on the topic of the derby violence .

On the same night it was revealed that the two fan camps wanted to meet at the Josef Weissstadion ahead of the derby and march from there to the stadium. The GC's website shows the meeting point as 4pm and the FCZ's meeting point as 4:30pm. Südkurve first announced its plans on its website, and GC fans soon followed suit.

Josefwiese is actually GC Terrain

Surprisingly, Josefwiese is not actually the domain of FCZ fans. Before a game you will usually meet near the Letzigrund tram stop, before a derby you will usually have a good time in a bakery or a Fritschiwiese and then you can go to the stadium without having to cross the tracks.

Josefwiese, on the other hand, is traditionally one of the meeting points for GC fans (located next to the Hardturm Stadium); the Hoppers cross the railway tracks to Letzigrund via the Duttweiler Bridge.

There are still some unanswered and unclear questions regarding the choice of locations for the two fan camps:

If FCZ fans do meet up at Josefwiese, they will have to cross the Hardbrücke on their way to the stadium. If this happens, will the entire hard bridge have to be closed to public transport?
Is this a provocation from FCZ fans? Do you want to show GC fans that Zurich is “their” city, so they can “meet” at Josefwiese, knowing they are in the majority? How did GC fans react to this?
Or is this basically a provocation from two fan camps? Do you just want to keep the police on their toes?

What is the purpose of this event?

It's unclear what the intent behind the action was. There are several possible scenarios:

Scenario 1: FCZ fans get together the day before the derby to discuss and then announce different places to set the mood before the game, such as a bakery. This will ensure as much chaos as possible before the game.

Scenario 2: It is a deliberate provocation to both fan camps. Just like in January this year, fan camps across Switzerland announced that they would hold a rally in Bern to protest against collective punishment. This move put the police on alert at the time, but it turned out that they were just trying to cause chaos and had no real intention of staging a joint protest.

Scene 3: FCZ fans deliberately provoke. Watching the show before the game at the traditional meeting point for GC fans will mark the fact that Zone 5 is now “in the hands of FCZ”. However, this also increases the risk of another riot if GC fans react to provocation. This scenario is supported by the fact that the GC fans only announced the meeting point when the Southern Curve had already announced that they would meet on Josefwiese. Usually the gathering place for GC fans is not announced so early. Therefore, scenario 3 is the most likely.

Zurich city police also responded on Wednesday afternoon. She wrote in a media release:

“During the football match between the Chinese Super League teams FC Zurich and Grasshoppers Zurich, the two fan camps traditionally called together in advance, gathered in a dispersed manner, and marched collectively to the Letzgrund Stadium. This usually happens In the city's 4th district (FC Zurich) and 5th district (GC The two fan camps, separated by railway tracks in Zurich, called on them to gather almost simultaneously at Josefwiese in the 5th district on Saturday. The two fan groups are enemies and have been involved in physical clashes on several occasions in the past. During the derby on October 19, 2024. This situation poses a huge security risk. The Zurich City Police have decided not to tolerate the Joseph Weiss rally and fan parade, and she therefore advises all match spectators to go directly to the Letzigrund Stadium.”

Zurich City Police

Marc Surber of the Zurich City Police added to Watson: “The Zurich City Police are well prepared and working hard for the upcoming derby. “We are working closely with both clubs. Keep in touch with your security officer.

It remains to be seen whether both fan camps will comply with police instructions. In addition to the city police, units from the Zurich cantonal police and traffic police will also take action on Saturday, according to Suber.

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25 world records in Letzigrund, Zurich

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25 world records in Letzigrund, Zurich

August 28, 2009: Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia), pole vault, 5.06 meters.

Source: keystone / Walter Biery