FC WINTERTHUR (Stadion Schützenwiese)

SWISS CHALLENGE LEAGUE, FC WINTERTHUR 1-1 SC KRIENS,
ATTENDANCE: 3,600

Hello and welcome back. After what seems a relatively short summer break, here we go with another season of groundhopping!

My latest groundhopping adventure was an extra long weekend away in Europe which ended up with me taking in four games, in four countries, in four days. As you do!

There was no logic to this trip as such but it all seemed to come together organically. My starting point was the desire to visit a country for the first time, in this case Liechtenstein. From there the rest just seemed to fall into place.

When the fixtures were announced early in July and FC Vaduz, due to Europa League commitments, we're home at on the Sunday, I decided that was my destination of choice. What is the best way to get to Liechtenstein? Fly into Zürich of course.

After booking a flight it was then a case of looking at the fixtures in and around Zurich. FC Winterthur had a Saturday evening game which fitted the bill perfectly.

Winterthur is a city in the Canton (a Swiss state) of Zürich and it has the sixth largest population in the country. After a flight from the UK via Dusseldorf, the train journey from Zürich airport station to Winterthur took around 25 minutes. The ground is around a 15 minute walk from the main train station.

The old grandstand

Stadion Schützenwiese has been home to FC Winterthur since their formation in 1896. The ground, in order to be brought up to league standards, has undergone major renovation in the last few years with the building of a new stand opposite the old grandstand, which was erected in 1958, replacing the previous wooden stand.

The new stand is in the shadow Sulzer skyscraper, which was the tallest skyscraper in Switzerland until the completion of the Messeturm Basel in 2003. Behind each goal there are open terraces, of which one is the away end. On the home terrace there is the 'sirupkurve' which is for junior fans with the aim of "giving the children a positive fan culture and to show that violence and discrimination is stupid. Football has to be fun." There were certainly plenty of younger fans banging the drum for Winti!

 

There is also the 'bierkurve' where the Winterthur Ultras congregate. The club is modelled on St Pauli and is against fascism, racism, sexism and homophobia in any form. At the game this evening there was an Antifa demonstration after local Councillor Nicolas Galladé equated anti-fascism with jihadism and right-wing extremism, and referencing the fan curve of FC Winterthur in a city brochure.

Like St Pauli, FC Winterthur enter the field of play to the sound of AC/DC's 'Hell's Bells' and this evening they were hosting newly promoted SC Kriens. The game was good to watch, both teams had their chances but in the end they had to settle for a point a piece. 

After a goalless first half, in which both teams hit the woodwork, the deadlock was broken just after half time when Luka Sliskovic (53) was played through to slot home under the advancing Sebastian Osigwe

The celebrations had barely subsided when Kriens were awarded a free kick on the edge of the Winterthur box. Nico Siegriest (56) stepped up to fire the ball into the top corner of the goal, giving Winti 'keeper Raphael Mirror no chance (pictured below).

 

After heading into the city after the game, there was a music festival (Musikfestwochen) happening but the sounds emanating from the main stage weren't my particular bag. 

A Plan B was needed and that was the aptly named bar I ended up in as it had 4 local beers on tap. That provided the perfect end to the first day of my trip...

SERVETTE FC (Stade de Genève)

SWISS CHALLENGE LEAGUE, SERVETTE FC 0-0 FC WINTERTHUR, ATTENDANCE: 2,432

For my summer holiday this year I decided on a little trek across two countries that would involve taking in six games over the course of five days. My European tour began in the Swiss city of Geneva (please don't ask for my thought process of why Geneva) ending in Neubrandenburg on Sunday. 

The predominantly French speaking city of Geneva is the home of Servette FC. Founded in 1890, and with 17 titles to their name, they are currently members of the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football, having been relegated (for on the pitch results) for the first time in its history in 2013. 

One of the 'Wall of Solidarity'
Approximately 5,000 bricks were
purchased by supporters when the
club had financial problems

The club were 'relegated' to the third division in 2005 due to bankruptcy. Servette had run up debts of over 10 million Swiss francs and, having not paid the players since the previous November, the club suffered a mass exodus of players. 

The club continued by taking the place of their U21 team, who were playing two divisions below the first team in 1.Liga Classic. The club achieved promotion to the Swiss Challenge League the following year and remained there until the club won promotion back to the top flight in 2011.

The club finished fourth in its first season back in the top flight to earn a spot in the Europa League. However after being eliminated by Rosenburg the season went downhill and the club finished bottom of the Super League.

Servette's home is the Stade de Genève, which was opened in 2003, and which hosted three group matches in the 2008 European Championships. The capacity of the stadium is 30,000 but the average home crowd is about a tenth of that. Getting a ticket for tonight's game with FC Winterthur was therefore rather straightforward as it was just a case of turning up at the ticket office and buying one!

The ground is about 2 miles out of town. I got tram 15 from the main railway station and got off at stop P+R Étoile. From there it was about a 10 to 15 minute walk to the ground.

This season Servette have appointed ex-Stockport, Wimbledon and Wolves winger Kevin Cooper as their new sporting director/coach.

It was a slow burner of a game but once it got going it was a decent watch. The spark that lit proceedings was Servette hitting the upright after 30 minutes. Ironically though it was Winterthur who went on to have the best opportunties before and after the break but they couldn't hit the target.

Servette had a couple of moments, most notably Alexandre Pasche missing from two inches out after a header had come back off the post. No goals but a fair result.

All that was left was to head back into town on the tram and find a bar (which I did - Les Brasseurs) to reflect on another European nil-nil.

The FC Winterthur following