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 either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, and the home of the athletics club LC Zürich, and the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

clubs

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

and

Grasshopper Club Zürich Grasshopper Club Zürich, commonly referred to as simply GC, GCZ, or Grasshoppers, is a multisports club based in Zürich, Switzerland. The oldest and best known department of the club is its football team. With 27 titles, Grasshopper holds the ...

. LC Zürich is a spin-off of FC Zürich whose members constructed the stadium in 1925. Grasshopper-Club has been using it as their home stadium since 2007. The annual

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

meet

Weltklasse Zürich Weltklasse Zürich ( en, World Class Zurich) 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 G ...

—part of the

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

—takes place at the Letzigrund since 1928, as well as 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-North American to win the event since Percy Williams of Canada took the gold medal in 1928, the first man to run 10 ...

was the first human being to run the 100 metres in 10,0 seconds.

Old stadium

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

. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, ownership changed to the city of Zurich in 1937 which has operated it 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 was 25,000 and the main pitch was 105 by 68 meters with athletics facilities. There were also three other playing fields: 2 lawns, 1 artificial turf and a small packed sand field. The old Letzigrund also contained a bar and a restaurant within the stadium.

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 football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

. The following games were played at the stadium during the tournament

International matches

New stadium

In the Nineties, the athletics club Zürich was pushing 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 simultaneously, the city administration was 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 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

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 in a vote the reconstruction of the public stadium, plus in a separate vote, the costs of temporarily adjusting the stadium to the requirements of EURO 2008. 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.

Concerts

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) and the Lake of Zur ...

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 (August 30, 2007) File:Zurich Letzigrund by Raymond Lafourchette.jpg, Interior view of the new Letzigrund File:Letzigrund 2007 1.jpg, The new stadium

References

External links

Official Website

{{Authority control FC Zürich Football venues in Switzerland Athletics (track and field) venues in Switzerland Diamond League venues UEFA Euro 2008 stadiums in Switzerland Sports venues in Zürich Tourist attractions in Zürich Sports venues completed in 2007 2007 establishments in Switzerland