Foundation

Tom Griffith lived in a house on Gerechtigkeitsgasse, next to the grocery store of a certain Mr. Pfister, of whom he seemed to have been a good customer. On a Saturday evening in August 1886, "Young Griffith" looked out of his window into the Gerechtigkeitsgasse and thought about all sorts of things.

Maybe he was reflecting on the course of life, on the past summer day, but he was most likely thinking about England. What Englishman could manage to live abroad for 24 hours without thinking about his homeland, without making comparisons with his country? And "Young Griffith" must have thought about his homeland too, about everything that his country had offered him and that he would miss in Zurich. One of the things that came to his mind was playing football and how much he suffered from not being able to play his beloved "soccer" in Switzerland. 

"Too bad, really too bad!" And as he was leaning on his windowsill, leaning into the evening with the window open, he suddenly became aware that another window had been opened in Pfister's grocery store and that Mr. Pfister junior was also preparing to hold his evening contemplations with the window open. No wonder the two young people struck up a conversation a few seconds later.

It was quite a loud conversation, from window to window and over the noise of Gerechtigkeitsgasse. But the topic of the conversation justified the speakers in adopting a somewhat loud tone, even at such an evening hour, as they were talking about nothing less than football. "Young Griffith" tried hard to explain the attractions of the game to young Pfister, who immediately caught fire and thought the project was very possible.

As the conversation became more and more eager and enthusiastic and both speakers agreed that it would be less difficult to talk on the street than to shout their throats dry from window to window over the noise of Gerechtigkeitsgasse, especially as their necks ached considerably from leaning out, they decided to continue the "pourparlers" in the alley. Said and done.

They strolled down Gerechtigkeitsgasse, discussing the matter fiercely, turned into Selnaustrasse and felt such a strong need to communicate their ideas to a third party that they decided to go straight to their friend Hermann Nabholz. Herman Nabholz was immediately on board, and so all three of them set off that very evening to win over more friends for the sport of football: G. Hubacher, H. Geyelin, Hasler, Severin and Goldschmid.

In the days that followed, other young people were recruited for the quest, namely: Hans Wunderly, Max Hirzel, R. Vogel, S. Hirzel and Robinson. And then came the great, eagerly awaited day when the first meeting was to be held and the club was to be given a name.

On an evening in the last days of August 1886, this founding meeting took place in the Cafe Stäubli in Flössergasse. This small pub was located two houses away from Pfister's grocery store and overlooked the back of the old courthouse. Thanks to the youthful optimism and unstoppable drive of sports enthusiasts in the student years, our club was founded not in a luxurious establishment, but within humble four walls.

With an entrance fee of three francs, this inaugural meeting took place, at which the first GC honorary member was also appointed. To the stunned founders, Colonel Nabholz seemed like a very early Santa Claus. His donation of 20 francs (a considerable sum in those days) enabled the GC pioneers to import a leather football as well as jerseys and caps in the colors blue and white from England. The basic protocol (statutes) of the Hoppers, which was drawn up for the founding, was finally given the founding date of September 1, 1886.

The enthusiasm of the young sports lovers is evident from the fact that the first membership cards were already signed and dated at the beginning of August 1886 (around four weeks before the club was officially founded).

Extracts from the jubilee books «50 Jahre Grasshopper-Club Zürich (1886-1936)» and «100 Jahre Grasshopper-Club Zürich».

Team photo from the early days, taken at the Sihlhözli shooting range; standing with ball: Thomas Edward Griffith. _{GC-Archiv, Fussball-Sektion, zVg. von Autoren des Buch 'Grasshoppers - Fussball in Zürich seit 1886 (www.gc-buch.ch)'}

The wave of enthusiasm following the founding of Grasshopper Club Zurich led to regular GC matches being played on the old "Sihlhölzli" pitch just a few weeks later. The first match was played in October 1886, a goalless draw against a diverse international Polytechnic team on a sticky clay surface. This rough fight left three injured (one with a broken ankle) and a badly battered goalpost.

The muddy "terrain" quickly made the players unrecognizable. The scathing mockery of many onlookers was inevitable. One newspaper article even criticized "the pointless undertaking of running after a dirty leather ball instead of using your free time more usefully".

^{Extract from the jubilee book «100 Jahre Grasshopper-Club Zürich»}

Grasshopper Club Zürich was founded by the following eight friends:

• Thomas Edward Griffith (Captain)

• Max Goldschmid (Aktuar)

• Hermann Nabholz (Quästor)

• Gust Hubacher

• Pfister

• Huldreich Geyelin

• Hans Hasler

• Karl Severin

They were all between 15 and 20 years old and had completed an apprenticeship or were attending grammar school.

A few days later, five more people were recruited:

• Hans Wunderly-Volkart
• Max Hirzel
• Salomon Hirzel
• Richard Vogel
• Robinson

_{Extract from the book «Grasshoppers - Fussball in Zürich seit 1886 (www.gc-buch.ch)»}

Team photo from the early years (ca. 1888) at Sihlhölzli. In the center with ball: Thomas E. Griffith. _{GC-Archiv, Fussball-Sektion, zVg. von Autoren des Buch 'Grasshoppers - Fussball in Zürich seit 1886 (www.gc-buch.ch)'}