which city for the Ireland Swiss game

From the Swiss FA's site (French version):

11.10.03 Match de qualification CE 2004 Suisse - Irlande, lieu du match pas encore fixé

You do remember some of your Leaving Cert. French?

Irlande is French for 'Ireland'

 

The Swiss have'nt decided Where the game will be. I was onto the fai today and all i got was an answering machine.

They ussually play their big games in berne "i think" But their recent friendly against italy was in Geneva.

I Know of some lads who are flying into geneva for the game. Im flying into zurich and will travel by rail to were ever the game is on.

 

Berne,
Basel,
Zurich,
Geneva.

Take your pick.

 

Bern is not a likley choice because Wankdorf stadium is under renovations. YBC Bern is playing at Neufield stadium which only seats 12k.

The Swiss-Albania match is in Geneva, and the Swiss-Russia match is in Basel. It would seem that the Ireland match would be played in Zurich.

The Georgia game was in Basel.

My suggestion would be to fly to Any of the three cities are served by the discout carrier that is painted orange. I can't remember the name right now, sorry. From Geneva the trip to Zurich by rail is about 2.5 hours. From Geneva to Basel it is about 2 hrs. Basel to Zurich is about 1.5 hrs. All three airports have train stations in them where you can connect to the three cities.

As the game approaches, come discuss it in the Swiss forum. We would love to hear the Irish perspective on the match. Hopefully the game will be simply acedemic and both teams will have already qualified.

 

With Ireland winning the group and Switzerland heading into the playoffs against Turkey or somesuch?

 

By the way Ryanair fly to Friedrichshafen from Stansted, which is in Germany by Lake Constance. Both Zurich and Basel are easily reachable from here.

 

One more thing:
Stade de Geneve seats 30k
St. jacobs Park in Basel seats 31k
Hardturm only seats 20k.

 

I spoke to the Swiss FA about a month ago and they told me that the venue would not be decided until the middle of the summer. I asked them could they narrow it down for me and the girl said to me she couldnt quote officially but thinks that the game will be in either Basel or Geneva.

I have a feeling there is not going to be enough tickets for Irish supporters for this game. A lot of people seem very interested in travelling.

 

I would guess Basel, the larger capacity will alow for more money in the Federations pocket. When the new stadium in Zurich is built, and Stade de Suisse-Wankdorf in Bern is finished, there will be 4 stadiums over 30k in the country. Wankdorf is planned for 40k, and St. Jacobs Park is rumored to be expanding to 41k, in attempts to host later stages of Euro 2008.

 

Ryanair flys to Strasbourg. If the game is in Basel, that is a short trip over the border to Basel.

 

The Star reports venue

The Star daily newspaper, last week, reported “exclusively” that the game will be played in Basle.

They claim to have this info from the Swiss FA although I have not seen this confirmed anywhere.

The thinking is that no Swiss team has lost at St. Jakob Park which is not strictly true although their record there is impressive.
Celtic, Liverpool and Villa found it difficult there.

They play Russia there in June

 

Just have a question.

Is it safe to book a flight ticket now to Switzerland...??

I think I will get there from Ireland, so.