Basel

Ground: St. Jakob Park

Visits: 1

Date: 9th August 2014

Match: Basel - Zürich 4-1 (Super League)

Attendance: 33 372

The main reason for choosing a trip to Switzerland this weekend was the chance to attend FC Basel vs FC Zürich, one of the biggest matches in Swiss football. The match at Stadion Rankhof finished around 16.50 and after a short rest at my hotel I set off for St. Jakob Park. From Basel SBB station you take a tram to Aeschenplatz, from where you change to tram #14. As expected the tram was packed by fans and by 18.15 I was the outside St. Jakob Park. Normally there is a train shuttle from Basel SBB to St. Jakob Park but with tonight´s opponents being FC Zürich the train station by the ground was closed for home fans. The street behind the away section was completely closed off as well and the police present seemed prepared for war. Apparently the away fans arrived by train and was then escorted to the away section. Outside St. Jakob Park you got the feeling this was as high-risk as a match can be in Switzerland. Anyway, after a few exterior pictures I entered the ground. My seat was in the middle tier of the North Stand and from there I had an excellent view of the action. St Jakob Park is the largest football ground in Switzerland, and was originally built with a capacity of 33 433 seats. The capacity was increased to 42,500 for Euro 2008. After the Euro 2008 a number of seats were removed and the capacity was reduced to 38 512 for Swiss Super League matches.

80 minutes before kick-off most of the Basel fans standing behind the goal arrived and there was a lot of singing from that end. After a while the singing died down though but as kick-off approached the stands filled up and the singing and chanting was louder and louder. As the player entered the pitch loads of pyros were set off by the Zürich fans. Basel had a few pyros as well but also three different colours of smoke. St. Jakob Park was buzzing and I was pleased to be present. This was a great night of football and in the first half it was FC Basel who dominated. Despite missing a penalty Basel were 2-0 up at half-time. In the 55th minute FC Zürich pulled a goal back and the away end exploded, with joy but also with many more pyros/smoke grenades. If St. Jakob Park was buzzing earlier it was by now a cracking atmosphere with both sets of fans going wild. Basel made it 3-1 in the 74th minute before scoring the last goal of the match in the 87th minute. 4-1 to Basel, 33 400 in attendance and a great match experience for me. After the match I hurried to the tram stop and managed to board one straight away. At 22.15 I was then back at my hotel, excellent organisation! Tomorrow I leave Basel for Luzern. Luzern vs Grasshopper Club Zürich for me then on Sunday afternoon.

west stand, rearpano2