Hearts are facing a change of venue if they are to play FC Zurich.
The Jambos will play either the Swiss champions or Linfield after they were set on a collision course in yesterday’s Europa League playoff round draw. The Northern Irish title winners host Zurich in Belfast this Thursday before travelling to Switzerland for the second leg next seven days later, with the winners progressing to face Hearts.
Should David Healy’s side upset the odds and go through, then the capital club will take on the Blues in the first leg at the more familiar Windsor Park on Thursday, August 18. However, FC Zurich are heavy favourites and the expectation is that Robbie Neilson' s team will have to beat Franco Foda's outfit in order to make it through to group stage. However, if that is the case, then the first leg will not be played at their traditional home ground.
FCZ play at the Stadion Letzigrund, which has a capacity of 26, 104 when hosting football matches. However, the ground is also a popular concert venue, fo which the capacity increased to 50,000 and a scheduled gig will force them to take on the Jam Tarts elsewhere.
Swiss rock and folk double act Gola and Trauffer are set to play a concert at Letzigrund on Friday, August 19, the day after the first leg of the Euro clash is due to take place. Given all the preparatory work that goes into such events, then that would make it impossible to stage a game at the same location less than 24 hours prior.
Instead, the match will be moved Kyburnpark, home of Swiss Super League rivals St Gallen. The 20,000 capacity arena is located 39 miles from Zurich and regularly hosts Swiss national team fixtures, so meets the UEFA criteria for continental matches.
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