From our football correspondent
Steady
Match3 Oct 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 5‑0 against Young Boys, and it could have been more.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.18 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A brace, and Óscar Clemente takes the afternoon — 8.14
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Óscar Clemente provided it, and the 8.14 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match5 Oct 2026
17 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Match3 Oct 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 10 matches without defeat is a foundation Grasshopper did not have in the autumn.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grasshopper this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Óscar Clemente was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Nikolas Muci has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Michaël Frey gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.10, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match26 Sep 2026
Still nobody has beaten Grasshopper
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Justin Hammel was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Michaël Frey falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match26 Sep 2026
A 2‑1 win over Vaduz, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Match28 Sep 2026
Halfway: Grasshopper sit in position 4
14 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Sep 2026
Still nobody has beaten Grasshopper
The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Grasshopper
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Grasshopper are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Justin Hammel and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a goal for Grasshopper
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Óscar Clemente was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Nikolas Muci gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Michaël Frey
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Market21 Sep 2026
Rico Strieder is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Grasshopper has been clear about where Rico Strieder stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
The window shuts on the Tanguy Zoukrou deal
Grasshopper ran out of time with Young Boys. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Match12 Sep 2026
Still nobody has beaten Grasshopper
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Óscar Clemente was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match12 Sep 2026
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Maksym Zaderaka was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Granit Mvogo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Fabian Comert has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market7 Sep 2026
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Grasshopper close the window on a squad of their own making
28 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The clock did what Thun would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Grasshopper asked and Young Boys said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match5 Sep 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Grasshopper did not have in the autumn.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Michaël Frey falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Maksym Zaderaka and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Fabian Frei gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sion waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Grasshopper is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market31 Aug 2026
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Grasshopper have gone to Thun with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. St. Gallen have kept their man, and Grasshopper go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Grasshopper have gone to Young Boys with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Market31 Aug 2026
Vaduz come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Grasshopper did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Grasshopper had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Olimpia, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Justin Hammel was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Grasshopper training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Óscar Clemente is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Aug 2026
1‑1 against Vaduz, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Justin Hammel decides it from twelve yards
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Grasshopper asked and DC United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market24 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Grasshopper, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer from Lokomotiva Zagreb for Lee Young-Jun was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market24 Aug 2026
The paperwork is done: Ashvin Balaruban joins from Thun in a deal worth $860.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Carrarese is saying, and nobody at Grasshopper is enjoying the guessing.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Justin Hammel and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Market24 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Sion have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Samuel Marques. The answer from Grasshopper has not changed — yet.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Lee Young-Jun had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market17 Aug 2026
Grasshopper spend $1.3M to raise the standard
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $1.3M has been paid because Sandro Lauper is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The offer went to Thun this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Grasshopper had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Estudiantes, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Justin Hammel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
The town asked, and Grasshopper paid $1.3M
Sandro Lauper was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $1.3M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Aug 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Nikolas Muci had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Grasshopper and Young Boys have settled on $1.3M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Grasshopper have done the hard part with Estudiantes, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Michaël Frey and Grasshopper agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Justin Hammel was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Grasshopper training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Óscar Clemente is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match8 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Michaël Frey. 2‑1 against St. Gallen, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Aug 2026
NK Osijek come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Grasshopper did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Maksym Zaderaka arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Maksym Zaderaka has, at Grasshopper, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Óscar Clemente commits to Grasshopper for another 4 years.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Grasshopper asked and Young Boys said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grasshopper this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Market3 Aug 2026
The shirt still fits. Nassim Ben Khalifa is back at Grasshopper, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Óscar Clemente falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match1 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.