The team introduces itself
Grasshopper Club Zurich (GC), founded on 1 September 1886 by the Englishman Tom E. Griffith, is the oldest football club in the city of Zurich. It has grown to become the nation’s most traditional and successful sports club and an institution. GC owes its emblem and name to the green grasshopper. Known as a multi-sport club, GC has shaped Swiss football for decades, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s under managers such as Hennes Weisweiler, Ottmar Hitzfeld and Christian Gross. GC celebrated its greatest international success in the 1977/78 season, when the club reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, where it was eliminated by the French club SEC Bastia. In 2005, the professional division was converted into Neue Grasshopper Fussball AG. Following several changes of ownership, GC has been part of the LAFC Group since 2024.
The club, which comprises ten other sports sections in addition to the football division, is renowned for its sustainable youth programme. The foundation for this is the modern campus in Niederhasli/Dielsdorf, which opened in 2005. The facility includes an education, training and coaching centre. Players from the various junior teams are selected for the national team of their respective age group. In the U-19 youth division, GC reached the cup final of the 24/25 season and finished second in the Red & Gold Tournament.