History of Grasshopper Club Zurich

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Grasshopper Club Zürich, commonly referred to as GC, GCZ, or Grasshoppers, is a professional sports club based in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded on September 1, 1886, it is the second oldest active football club in Zurich after FC St. Gallen, based in Gallen. With 27 Swiss Super League and 19 Swiss Cup titles, Grasshoppers remains the most successful club in the country. Grasshoppers host their domestic matches at Stadion Letzigrund since the 2007/2008 season.

Early History

Foundation and first championship wins

Grasshopper was founded on 1 September 1886 by Tom E. Griffith, an English student. Using a 20 Swiss franc donation, the club acquired an English football shirt in blue and white colors (as worn by Blackburn Rovers). The English students were from Manchester Grammar School in Manchester. Arthur J. Finck was one of the students who was part of the group that founded the club. Its first-ever match was held in October of that year against ETH and ended in a goalless draw. In 1893, Grasshopper became the first Swiss team to play in (what was then) Germany, defeating Strasbourg 1–0.

The first Swiss championships (then called "Serie A") were held in 1897–98 and were won by Grasshopper, as was the first championship played using a league system in 1899–1900. After two more titles in 1901 and 1905, Grasshopper had to withdraw from the Swiss championships in 1909 because they lacked a suitable playing ground. They rejoined the Swiss League in 1916.

Two-time World Cup winning coach Vittorio Pozzo played briefly for Grasshoppers, around 1905–06, before he joined Torino.

1920s: Dori Kürschner era

After rejoining the Swiss championship in 1916, GC won their fifth championship in 1921. In 1925 started the era of the Hungarian manager Izidor "Dori" Kürschner, a former member of the coaching staff of the Swiss national team that won the silver medal at the 1924 Olympics. Under Kürschner in the 1920s, Grasshopper won the championship twice (in 1927 and 1928) and also the first two editions of the Swiss Cup in 1925–26 and in 1926–27.

1930s: Beginning of Karl Rappan era

Dori Kürschner stayed with Grasshopper until 1934, winning another championship in 1931 and two more Swiss Cups in 1932 and 1934. Austrian coach Karl Rappan, who also managed the Swiss national team for several years, soon took over. The first title under Rappan came in 1937 and the second one in 1939. They also won the Swiss Cup in 1937 and 1938.

1940s: More titles during World War II

Despite the turmoil of World War II the Swiss championships were held during the 1940s, with the Grasshoppers winning in 1942, 1943 and 1945. Until Karl Rappan left the team in 1948, the team also won another five Cups (in 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943 and 1946).

Swiss football giants

1950s: Last successes for a long time

In 1952, Grasshopper won their 14th Swiss championship title and their 12th Swiss Cup. They managed to win the double again in 1956, but it turned out to be their last silverware for a long time, as they had to wait for 15 years until their next championship and for 27 years until their next Cup win. In 1956–57 Grasshopper participated for the first time in the European Cup which was founded in the previous season. They reached the quarter-finals where they were eliminated by Fiorentina.

1960s: Trophy drought

During the 1960s, Grasshopper won no championships and no Cups. The best result was a second place in 1968, which qualified them to play in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the predecessor of the UEFA Cup. However they had no success at European level either, as they were eliminated in the first round.

1970s: Return to success and UEFA Cup semi-final

In 1971, Grasshopper finally returned to the top of the Swiss league. After the end of the season, GC and Basel were tied at the top of the table and thus a play-off match was played in Bern. In front of 51,000 spectators, GC defeated Basel 4–3 after extra time to win their 16th championship. Throughout the decade Grasshopper was among the best Swiss teams. Their next championship win came in 1978.

Thanks to their top finishes in the league, GC was able to play in European competitions almost every year. In 1978–79 they defeated Real Madrid in the second round of the European Cup, but lost the quarter-final against the eventual winner, Nottingham Forest. But their biggest European success to date came in the 1977–78 UEFA Cup where they reached the semi-final against French side Bastia. After a 3–2 win at home, they traveled to Corsica for the second leg but lost 0–1 and were eliminated due to the away goal rule.

1980s: Golden Era

The 1980s were a successful decade for Grasshopper. In the years 1982, 1983 and 1984, GC won the championship three times in a row, achieving the "title hat-trick". In all three seasons, Servette from Geneva was their strongest rival, and in 1984 a championship-deciding game had to be staged in Bern because the two teams were equal on points after the regular season. GC won that match 1–0 by a converted penalty kick by Andy Egli in the 104th minute.

Grasshopper were also successful in the Cup competition: after winning in 1983 they also achieved a hat-trick in the Cup, winning in 1988, 1989 and 1990. The last two of those wins were achieved with German manager Ottmar Hitzfeld. A notable success in European competitions came in 1980–81 UEFA Cup when GC reached the quarter-finals, but then were eliminated by French side Sochaux.

1990s: Champions League

In 1995–96 Grasshoppers became the first Swiss team to play in the UEFA Champions League. After defeating Maccabi Tel Aviv to qualify, they played in Group D against Ajax, Real Madrid and Ferencváros. They won no matches but achieved two draws, one against Ajax and one against Ferencváros.

In the following year, Grasshoppers qualified a second time for the Champions League, this time after defeating Slavia Prague. In Group A with opponents Auxerre, Rangers and again Ajax, a more positive result was achieved. After home wins over Rangers and Auxerre and an away win at Ajax, a draw in the last game at home against Ajax would have secured qualification for the quarter finals. However, they lost the game 0–1 and Ajax advanced instead.

New Era: Incorporation

With title wins in 2000–01 and 2002–03, the first decade of the 21st century started well, but since then no further successes were achieved. In 1997, Grasshopper was 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. However, the club entered a period of decline after their last championship in 2003, with two third-place finishes in 2005 and 2010 being their best results. In 2012, they narrowly avoided being relegated thanks to Sion's 36-point deduction and Neuchatel Xamax's expulsion from the league in January 2012. Then coach Ciriaco Sforza resigned in April 2012.

19th Cup Title

For the 2012/13 season, Ulrich Forte took over coaching. On 20 May 2013, Grasshopper ended a ten-year trophy drought with a penalty shoot-out victory over Basel in the Swiss Cup final at the Stade de Suisse in Bern. With a second-place finish in the 2012–13 Swiss Super League campaign, Grasshopper qualified for the Champions League for the first time in a decade, entering the competition at the third qualifying round. Following Forte's departure after the 2012/13 season, former Germany national team coach Michael Skibbe took over coaching duty. Under Skibbe, the team managed a second-place finish in 2013. They were also runners-up in 2014.

The 19th cup title would be the last trophy won for over a decade.

Decline

The team's positive results were soon on the decline again. In the following five years, they managed to only once finish in the upper half of the table and finally, in 2019, Grasshopper were relegated to the second division for the first time in 68 years. They spend the entire 2018/19 season in the bottom three of the league, ending their season with two abandoned matches due to misbehavior by Grasshopper fans.

Recent History: Foreign ownership

Chinese Owners and Promotion

The first season in the second league did not go as planned. For one, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the second half of the season was delayed until late spring 2020. Furthermore, GC failed to even achieve a second-place finish, which would have qualified them for a playoff game for promotion, after losing the final game of the season 0–6 against Winterthur. During this time, in April 2020, it was revealed that the Hong Kong-based Champion Union HK Holding Limited had acquired 90% of GC shares. The new ownership appointed Sky Sun as the president of the club. In April 2021, Seyi Olofinjana was signed as sporting director.

For the following season, João Carlos Pereira took over coaching duties at GC. Despite a strong season, and spending a majority of the time at first place, the team began to struggle at the close of the season. After a seven-point lead on challenger Thun had melted away in three games, club leadership took drastic measures by removing Pereira and reinstating Zoltán Kádár (who had been interim coach at the end of the previous season) as interim coach for the final two games of the season. The changes would pay off, as GC secured Challenge League championship and promotion in a 2–1 victory over Kriens in the final game.

Return to the Super League

For the first season back in the top Swiss league, former Lausanne coach Giorgio Contini was signed as head coach. Despite a decent first half of the season, following the winter break, the team struggled to win points and came dangerously close to the bottom of the league. Improving results in spring 2022 allowed the team to narrowly avoid the relegation playoff, ending the season in eighth place thanks to a better goal difference over Luzern.

During preparation for the new season, sporting director Olofinjana and CEO Shqiprim Berisha were removed from management. President Sun would take over CEO duties in the interim. On 1 July 2022, Grasshopper veteran Bernt Haas was appointed as new sporting director. On 13 February 2023, Sun stepped down from his positions as president and CEO, with vice-president András Gurovits taking up the mantle in the interim.

On 19 March 2023, Swiss online news site nau.ch reported that coach Contini had handed in his resignation in mid February, which would see him leaving the club in the summer, following a six-month notice period. On the same day, the club confirmed the news and stating their intention of continuing their cooperation for the duration of the season. On 9 June 2023, following the conclusion of the season, Bruno Berner was announced as the new head coach for the 2023–24 season. He signed a two-year contract with GC. Berner had graduated from the Grasshoppers academy in 1997 and played for the first team until 2002, winning two Swiss championships in that time (1998 and 2001).

On 30 June, former Premier League player Matt Jackson was appointed as the new president of GC. Jackson had most recently acted as "strategic player marketing manager" at partner club Wolverhampton Wanderers. He had completed his coaching license together with Berner and had known Haas from their time playing against each other in the Premier League.

New Owners and Relegation Scare

On 17 January 2024, a long-term partnership with MLS side Los Angeles FC was announced, with LAFC acquiring over 90% of the shares from the previous owners, Champion Union. In a press conference at the historic Grasshoppers rowing club, Gurovits presented the new interim president Stacy Johns, who is also the COO and CFO of LAFC. LAFC's Larry Freedman was also in attendance, as was their new managing director of Europe, Harald Gärtner. Gärtner will take up an advisory role in the club. On 27 March 2024, Haas was replaced as sporting director by Stephan Schwarz.

Following the takeover, the clubs results declined sharply. Of the first 13 games in 2024, only two wins were achieved (both of these were against fierce rivals, FC Zurich and Basel). As a result, Berner was dismissed as coach on 9 April 2024, after nearly two months without a win. A day later, Marco Schällibaum was confirmed as new head coach. "Schälli" was not able to immediately turn around the results and at the start of the Relegation Group, Grasshoppers were sitting firmly on the relegation play-off spot, with last-placed FC Stade Lausanne Ouchy only mere seven points behind.

In the final games of the season, Grasshoppers managed two wins and two draws, losing only one game to Basel after a conceding in the final minutes of the game. Despite being the second best team in the relegation group, the team were unable to catch up to their competitors and thus advanced to the Relegation Play-off, where FC Thun awaited them. This would be the first time in Grasshopper history that the club would compete in a relegation play-off, since their introduction in 2003.

In the first leg of the play-off at home, the team showed a dominant performance but were unable to find the back of the net. After conceding at the start of the second half, they spent the rest of the game chasing an equalizer. Finally, after 19 corners won and nearly 70% possession, they were awarded a penalty by the VAR in overtime. This penalty was confidently converted by Giotto Morandi, meaning that they would go into the away fixture with a 1–1 aggregate score. In the second leg, they showed a similarly dominant start, with Morandi scoring mere two minutes into the game. However, in the following, they allowed Thun to come back into the game and conceded from the penalty spot just before half-time. The second half saw mostly Grasshoppers play and once again they managed to score in overtime, with Asumah Abubakar poking the ball over the line in the 92nd minute (ironically, after a corner). Grasshoppers thus won their first relegation play-off with an aggregate score of 3–2 and avoided relegation.

Further reading

• Grasshopper Club Zurich
• Grasshopper Club Zurich in European football
• Zurich Derby
• Hardturm and Letzigrund