Luzern

Ground: Swissporarena

Visits: 1

Date: 10th August 2014

Match: Luzern - Grasshoppers 1-1 (Super League)

Attendance: 11 391

On Sunday afternoon I had three matches in the Swiss Super League to choose from. I decided to skip Young Boys vs Thun and went to Luzern for Luzern vs Grasshopper Club Zürich (GCZ) instead. Kick-off was 13.45 and 10.04 my Interregio train left Basel SBB. An hour later I was in Luzern and since I was travelling onwards to my hotel in Zürich after the match I put my bag in a luggage locker. Swissporarena, the home of FC Luzern, is situated in the Allmend/Messe part of Luzern. Since that is only 6 minutes by train from the main train station Swissporarena is quite easy to reach by public transport. Swissporarena was opened in 2011 and has a capacity of 16 800. The new ground replaced Stadion Allmend which was situated on the same site. Since ticket prices were a bit steep for this match I decided to buy a ticket for the South Stand (behind the goal), next to the GCZ-fans. At 43 CHF (36 Euros) it was still quite expensive though. As in common in some newer stadiums in Germany Swissporarena use Arenacards. That means you have to get a card and the upload money to the card before you buy something to eat and drink. At Swissporarena it was not possible to get unused money left (which you normally can in Germany). Modern football....

GCZ had their fans in the southeast corner which was right next to me. No pyros at this match but a good vocal support from the visiting fans throughout the 90 minutes. In the 13th minute they could celebrate when GCZ scored the first goal of the match. Luzern then created some chances and managed to equalize six minutes later. Their goal was a strange one, a clearance from a GCZ player hit a Luzern player in the face. The ball then deflected to a Luzern player who ended up one to one with the goalkeeper, 1-1 at half-time. The second half was a bit scrappy, towards the end both teams had some chances but the match finished 1-1. 11 391 in attendance at Swissporarena this afternoon could go home quite pleased though. A valuable point for both clubs. After the match things went smoothly and I was back at Luzern train station before 16.00. As I was to pick my bag I noticed that part of the train station was closed and police in riot gear were making sure no-one entered that part of the station. The train back to Zürich for the GCZ fans was waiting at the platform nearest to the storage lockers. I showed the police my key and asked, in English, if I could pass to pick up my bag. They said yes but it felt a bit strange to walk in an otherwise empty (the away fans hadn´t arrived yet) part of the station. My train to Zürich then departed at 16.10 and shortly before 5pm I was in Zürich. Tomorrow I fly back home and on Tuesday I go back to work.

swissporarena