Grasshopper Club Zürich v West Ham United
Pre-Season Match, GC/Campus Training Complex, Saturday 19 July 2025, 3pm CEST (2pm BST)
West Ham United start this summer’s pre-season match action with an exciting clash against Grasshopper Club Zürich on Saturday afternoon.
The Hammers have stepped up their preparations for the Premier League kick-off in a month's time by travelling to the Black Forest of southern Germany for a week-long training camp.
And just as we did a year ago, against Hungarian side Ferencváros, West Ham will take on European top-flight opposition in the form of Swiss Super League side Grasshopper in friendly action, a club that holds a special place in their nation’s footballing history.
Head Coach Graham Potter, his staff and his players will make the short journey from the German town of Donaueschingen, starting an exciting pre-season schedule that will also see the Irons cross the Atlantic Ocean to the United States to take on Premier League rivals Manchester United, Everton and AFC Bournemouth in three exciting fixtures as part of the Premier League Summer Series, as well as taking on LOSC Lille at home in the BOYLE Sports Cup.
After an intense week of training, which has included plenty of running, ball work and strength and conditioning work, the players will now be looking to deliver a strong performance at GC/Campus training complex, against a team who are set to conclude their pre-season programme, having already played two fixtures against FC Vaduz and FC Sion, ahead of their Swiss Super League curtain-raiser against FC Luzern on Saturday 26 July.
As the build-up to our first matchday of 2025/26 continues, scroll down below to find all the information you need ahead of kick-off...
Tickets…
With the match to be played at a 1,500 capacity stadium at Grasshopper's training complex, the Hammers have been allocated 150 tickets - 100 standing and 50 seated - priced at CHF 40 and CHF 20 respectively.
Tickets remain available to purchase now, on a first come, first served basis, direct from Grasshopper, by clicking HERE.
Travel…
It is likely that many of the West Ham fans in attendance on Saturday will be based in Switzerland or Germany.
GC/Campus is situated about ten miles north-west of Zürich city centre, between the small towns of Dielsdorf and Niederhasli, near to the international airport.
As such, it should come as no surprise that the address is Dielsdorferstrasse 165, 8155 Niederhasli, Switzerland!
If you don’t have a car or want to take a taxi, catch a train from Zurich HB to Dielsdorf, from where it is an 18-minute walk along Niederhaslistrasse to the entrance to GC/Campus.
How To Follow…
The Hammers' pre-season match against Grasshopper Club Zürich will be streamed live and for free on the Club's YouTube channel and on our website and app.
All the action from Switzerland can be followed via our live blog on whufc.com on Saturday, which will commence 60 minutes before kick-off.
We will also have a match report, highlights and exclusive reaction for you after the final whistle across our website, app and social media.
Team News…
The 29 players who have been involved in the week-long training camp in southern Germany could all be involved in Saturday’s match at GC/Campus training complex.
The likes of captain Jarrod Bowen, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Lucas Paquetá and Maximilian Kilman will be itching for vital minutes in Zürich, as will new summer recruit El Hadji Malick Diouf and several members of the Academy of Football.
Freddie Potts and Callum Marshall enjoyed extremely fruitful loan spells across the English football pyramid last season, while Lewis Orford and Ollie Scarles were among the names to make Premier League debuts during 2024/25, and each will be aiming to impress Potter and his backroom staff in the coming weeks.
Grasshopper have confirmed six signings so far this summer: defenders Allan Arigoni and Florian Hoxha, midfielders Hassane Imourane, Salifou Diarrassouba and Jonathan Asp Jensen, on loan from FC Bayern Munich, and Argentinian winger Tomás Verón Lupi.
Opposition...
Formed in 1886 by an English student, Tom E. Griffith, Grasshopper Club Zürich currently ply their trade in the top tier of Swiss football. A major force before the creation of the Swiss Super League in 2003, they have won 27 top-tier titles and 19 Swiss Cups - including eight between 1982 and 1998 - making them the most successful team from Switzerland.
In the earlier part of their history, Grasshopper won the league in 1978, gaining entry to the 1978/79 European Cup, which saw them reach the quarter-finals before succumbing to eventual winners Nottingham Forest. The following season saw a run to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, while they were also UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finalists in 1989/90.
Since their last title in 2003, there hasn’t been much for the Grasshopper fans to cheer about in what has been the worst two decades in the club’s history, with the penalty shoot-out victory over FC Basel to win the Swiss Cup in 2013 a rare moment to savour.
Basel and BSC Young Boys have dominated the country’s footballing landscape over recent times, winning 18 of the last 22 Swiss Super League titles, with cross-city rivals FC Zürich winning the other four.
In 2007, their ground (Hardturm Stadium) was demolished and replaced with Letzigrund Stadium, which they share with FC Zürich, while they were relegated to the second tier for the first time in seven decades amid financial difficulties in 2019.
Having won promotion back to the top-flight at the second attempt in 2021, Grasshopper have regularly flirted with Swiss Super League relegation, surviving back-to-back relegation play-offs against FC Thun and FC Aarau respectively.
Now under the guidance of Austrian Gerald Scheiblehner, who was unveiled as the new head coach ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, fans will be hoping he can return them to their former glory.
Previous Meetings…
West Ham United visited Zürich as part of a three-match summer tour in June 1967, having played in the Finnish capital Helsinki, as part of HJK’s 60th anniversary celebrations, two days previously.
The match against Grasshopper, played on Thursday 8 June, saw teenager Trevor Brooking make his first senior appearance in a 1-0 win for the visiting Hammers, secured by a late goal scored by winger Harry Redknapp.
West Ham have visited Switzerland for tour matches on numerous occasions since 1924, facing Bern, Lucerne, FC Zürich, Basel, Kreuzlingen, St. Gallen, Aarau, Lausanne, Grenchen, Neuchâtel, Schaffhausen, Zug, Lugano, Servette (Geneva), Young Boys and Winterthur.
The Irons even took on the Switzerland national team twice, in 1934 and 1936, and knocked Lausanne out in the second round on the way to winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1964/65.
Other West Ham United Links…
There are five players who have played for both West Ham United and Grasshopper Club Zürich, and, quite ironically, three of them played together during Grasshopper’s title-winning season in 2000/01.
Mladen Petrić, Papa Bouba Diop and Henri Camara were all part of the squad that delivered the Nationalliga title for Grasshopper, as each of them contributed important goals throughout the campaign for then manager Hans-Peter Zaugg.
Elsewhere, our former defender Fabio Daprelà spent 2009/10 in east London, having progressed through the youth ranks at Grasshopper, and it was there he began his senior career in the 2007/08 season at the age of just 16.
Meanwhile, Raphael Spiegel, who came through the ranks at Grasshopper - for whom he never made a first-team appearance - moved to the Hammers as a 19-year-old in July 2012 and spent five years in Claret and Blue as a back-up goalkeeper.
He was part of the West Ham U23 team that won promotion to the Premier League 2 Division 1 via the 2016/17 Play Offs, starting the final at St James’ Park against Newcastle United U23s alongside Academy of Football graduate Declan Rice.
