Grasshopper-Club Zürich

Grasshopper-Club Zürich

Full name	Grasshopper-Club Zürich
Nickname(s)	GC, GCZ
Founded	1886
Ground	Letzigrund, Zürich (Capacity: 26,500)
Chairman	Roger Berbig
Manager	Hanspeter Latour
League	Swiss Super League
2007-08	Swiss Super League, 4th
Home colours Away colours

Grasshopper-Club Zürich commonly referred to as simply GC, GCZ, or Grasshopper is a Swiss multisports club based in Zürich. The oldest and most well known section of Grasshopper-Club Zürich is its football team. With 27 titles, Grasshopper-Club Zürich holds the record for winning the most national championship titles and with 18 victories also the one for the most successes in the Swiss Cup tournament.

The origins of Grasshopper's name is unknown, although the most common explanation is rooted in its early players' energetic post-goal celebrations.

Contents 1 History 2 Stadium and grounds 3 Honours 4 Affiliated clubs 5 Current squad 5.1 Out on loan 5.2 Famous players 6 Coaching staff 6.1 Managers since 1925 7 Famous supporters 8 References 9 External links 9.1 Official 9.2 Unofficial

History

Grasshopper was founded on September 1, 1886 by Tom E. Griffith, an English student. With a 20 Swiss franc donation, the club was able to import an English football and blue and white colours. Its first match came in October that year against ETH and ended in a goalless draw. In 1893, Grasshopper became the first Swiss team to play in Germany, defeating RC Strasbourg 1-0.

1896 saw the formation of Fussballclub Zürich and the beginning of a storied rivalry. The following year, Grasshopper won the first Swiss Championship, beginning a collection of 27 league championships and 18 Swiss Cup wins. In 1909, Grasshopper withdrew from the football federation until the end of World War I in 1919.

In 1997, Grasshopper incorporated and as of May 2005, it is formally organized as Neue Grasshopper Fussball AG. In doing so, Grasshopper became the first Swiss sports club to go public.^[1]

After a number of high profile friendly and competitive Europe Cup and UEFA Champions League matches, Grasshopper has become Switzerland's most recognizable football club. Today, in addition to its marquee football squad, Grasshopper-Club Zürich maintains competitive professional and youth teams for rowing, ice hockey, handball, lawn tennis, court tennis, field hockey, curling, squash, and unihockey.

Stadium and grounds

• Sihlhölzli
• Stadion im Quartier Seefeld
• Stadion Hardau
• Stadion Hardturm

Grasshopper used to play its home matches at the Hardturm (Kreis 5 - Zürich). Starting on September 22nd 2007, Grasshopper-Club Zürich will play all of its home matches in the Letzigrund stadium which belongs to arch rivals FC Zürich, until the completion of Stadion Zürich Training facilities are located in Niederhasli, where the club opened comprehensive facility including five practice pitches, apartments for youth players and offices in 2005.

Honours

• Swiss Super League
  • Winners (27): 1898, 1900, 1901, 1905, 1921, 1927, 1928, 1931, 1937, 1939, 1942, 1943, 1945, 1952, 1956, 1971, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003

• Swiss Cup
  • Winners (18):1926, 1927, 1932, 1934, 1937, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1946, 1952, 1956, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994

• Swiss League Cup
  • Winners (2): 1973, 1975

• Swiss Super Cup
  • Winners (1): 1989

• UEFA Intertoto Cup
  • Winners (2): 2006, 2008

Affiliated clubs

• Manchester City F.C.
• Perth Glory
• Shanghai Shenhua
• FC Moscow
• Thanda Royal Zulu FC
• Chonburi FC

Current squad

(As of 3 July 2008)^[2][3][4]

No. Position Player 1 GK Eldin Jakupović (on loan from Lokomotiv Moscow) 2 DF Kay Voser 3 DF Scott Sutter 4 DF Guillermo Vallori 5 DF Josip Colina 6 DF Boris Smiljanić (captain) 7 FW Demba Touré 8 MF Senad Lulić 9 FW Gonzalo Zárate (on loan from SC Kriens) 10 MF Davide Callà 11 DF Yassin Mikari 15 MF Ricardo Cabanas 17 FW Matthias Lepiller 19 FW Machado

No. Position Player 21 FW Samel Šabanović 23 GK Massimo Colomba 24 DF Fabio Daprelà 25 FW Raúl Bobadilla 27 MF Bruce Lalombongo 28 DF Nzuzi Bundebele Toko 29 MF Rolf Feltscher 30 MF António 31 FW Steven Zuber 32 MF Leonel Romero 33 GK Steven Deana 34 FW Pasquale Sbarra 35 MF Veroljub Salatić 35 MF Pablo Gonzalez

Out on loan

No. Position Player — FW David Blumer (at FC Thun until summer 2009)

Famous players

Alfred "Fredy" Bickel Thomas Bickel Stéphane Chapuisat Christian Gross Alain Sutter Kubilay Türkyilmaz Hakan Yakın Murat Yakin Reto Ziegler Marcel Koller Stephan Lichtsteiner Patrick Müller Walter Schoeller Ciriaco Sforza Johann Vogel

Giovane Elber Benjani Mwaruwari Viorel Moldovan Aarón Galindo Tomasz Rząsa Ove Grahn Vittorio Pozzo Kurt Jara Papa Bouba Diop Günter Netzer Franco Navarro Wynton Rufer Gerardo Morales Richard Núñez Efan Ekoku Tosh McKinlay Avi Tikva Fernando Gamboa (1999-00)

Coaching staff

• Manager: Hanspeter Latour
• Assistant manager: Mats Gren
• Assistant manager: Walter Grüter
• Goalkeeping coach: Stefan Huber
• Goalkeeping coach: Willi Weber

Managers since 1925

Manager	Years	Record
Izidor "Dori" Kürschner	1925–1934	?-?-?
Karl Rappan	1935–1948	?-?-?
Hardy Walter	1948–1950	?-?-?
Willi Treml	1950–1955	?-?-?
Willi Hahnemann	1955–1958	?-?-?
Toni Pogacnik and Alfred "Fredy" Bickel	1958–1960	?-?-?
Branislav Vukosaljevic	1960–1963	?-?-?
Alfred "Fredy" Bickel	1963–1964	?-?-?
Albert Sing	1964–1966	?-?-?
Walter Brunner and Werner Schley	1966–1967	?-?-?
Henri Skiba	1967–1969	?-?-?
Walter Brunner and Werner Schley	1969–1970	?-?-?
René Hüssy	1970–1973	?-?-?
Erich Vogel and Istvan Szabo	1973–1976	?-?-?
Helmut Johannsen	1976–1979	?-?-?
Jürgen Sundermann	1979–1980	?-?-?
Friedhelm Konietzka	1980–1982	?-?-?
Hennes Weisweiler	1982–1983	?-?-?
Miroslav Blazevic	1983–1985	?-?-?
Friedhelm Konietzka	1985–1986	?-?-?
Kurt Jara	1986–1988	?-?-?
Ottmar Hitzfeld	1988–1991	?-?-?
Oldrich Svab	1991–1992	?-?-?
Leo Beenhakker	1992–1993	?-?-?
Christian Gross	1993–1997	?-?-?
Hanspeter Latour	1997 interim	?-?-?
Rolf Fringer	1998	?-?-?
Roger Hegi	1999	?-?-?
Roy Hodgson	1999–2000	?-?-?
Hanspeter Zaugg	2000–2001	?-?-?
Piet Hamberg	2000 interim	?-?-?
Marcel Koller	2002–2003	?-?-?
Carlos Bernegger	2003–2004	?-?-?
Alain Geiger	2004–2005	?-?-?
Hanspeter Latour	2005–2006	?-?-?
Krassimir Balakov	2006—2007	?-?-?
Hanspeter Latour	2007–	?-?-?

Famous supporters

• Maximilian Schell, Oscar winning actor
• Friedrich Dürrenmatt, author of German literature
• Michelle Hunziker, model and entertainer on Italian and German television

References

External links

Official

• gcz.ch - Official website of GCZ in German

Unofficial

• GCZForum - Bulletin Board (Forum) for Fans of GCZ (German)
• GCZone - Fansite of GCZ (German)
• Zone Romande - Fansite of GCZ (French)
• Grassmokers - Oldest unofficial fanclub of GCZ (German)
• Blue-Side - Unofficial fanclub of GCZ (German)
• Grasshoppers Online - Fansite of GCZ (German)
• GC Fanclub Ostschweiz - Official Fanclub of GCZ (German)

Swiss Super League 2008-09
FC Aarau • FC Basel • AC Bellinzona  • BSC Young Boys • FC Lucerne  Neuchâtel Xamax • FC Sion • FC Vaduz • FC Zürich • Grasshopper-Club Zürich
Swiss Super League seasons
1880-81 | 1881-82 | 1882-83 | 1883-84 | 1884-85 | 1885-86 | 1886-87 | 1897-98 | 1898-99 | 1899-00 1900-01 | 1901-02 | 1902-03 | 1903-04 | 1904-05 | 1905-06 | 1906-07 | 1907-08 | 1908-09 | 1909-10 1910-11 | 1911-12 | 1912-13 | 1913-14 | 1914-15 | 1915-16 | 1916-17 | 1917-18 | 1918-19 | 1919-20 1920-21 | 1921-22 | 1922-23 | 1923-24 | 1924-25 | 1925-26 | 1926-27 | 1927-28 | 1928-29 | 1929-30 1930-31 | 1931-32 | 1932-33 | 1933-34 | 1934-35 | 1935-36 | 1936-37 | 1937-38 | 1938-39 | 1939-40 1940-41 | 1941-42 | 1942-43 | 1943-44 | 1944-45 | 1945-46 | 1946-47 | 1947-48 | 1948-49 | 1949-50 1950-51 | 1951-52 | 1952-53 | 1953-54 | 1954-55 | 1955-56 | 1956-57 | 1957-58 | 1958-59 | 1959-60 1960-61 | 1961-62 | 1962-63 | 1963-64 | 1964-65 | 1965-66 | 1966-67 | 1967-68 | 1968-69 | 1969-70 1970-71 | 1971-72 | 1972-73 | 1973-74 | 1974-75 | 1975-76 | 1976-77 | 1977-78 | 1978-79 | 1979-80 1980-81 | 1981-82 | 1982-83 | 1983-84 | 1984-85 | 1985-86 | 1986-87 | 1987-88 | 1988-89 | 1989-90 1990-91 | 1991-92 | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-00 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10
UEFA Intertoto Cup 2008
Winners Aston Villa • Deportivo La Coruña • Elfsborg • Grasshopper Zürich • Napoli • Rennes • Rosenborg • Sporting Braga • Sturm Graz • Stuttgart • Vaslui Eliminated in Third Round Bnei Sakhnin • Budapest Honvéd • Chernomorets Burgas • NAC Breda • Neftchi Baku • OB •Panionios •Rīga • Saturn Moscow Oblast • Sivasspor • Tavriya Simferopol Eliminated in Second Round Besa Kavaje • Bohemians • Ekranas • Etzella Ettelbruck • Germinal Beerschot • Gorica • Grbalj • Hibernian • OFK Beograd • Renova • Shakhtyor Soligorsk • Teplice • Tiraspol • TPS Turku Eliminated in First Round Čelik Zenica • Cracovia • Ethnikos Achnas • Fylkir • HB Tórshavn • Hibernians • Lisburn Distillery • Lokomotivi Tbilisi • MIKA • Narva Trans • Nitra • Rhyl • Rijeka • Zhetysu