Zug, 29.04.2021

Subdued mood among EVZ fans

Reto Graf from the "The 7th Man Herti-Nordkurve" fan club talks about the emotional situation among the Zug supporters before the all-important forthcoming semi-final games.

The championship title is within reach for the EVZ – and this at a time when exuberant celebration is impossible due to the pandemic. How are the supporters dealing with this particular situation? Reto Graf, president of the "The 7th Man Herti-Nordkurve" fan club, describes his impressions.

Reto Graf, how would you describe the current emotional situation among the members of your fan club?
Reto Graf: The EVZ is currently very strong in away matches, so there is a certain euphoria, but a subdued euphoria. The fact that we can't be there live when the championship title is won is certainly a damper on the spirits. Champions again after 23 years, and that in front of an empty stadium – it’s hard to imagine.

50 people are currently allowed to attend the matches. What does it feel like in the stadium when there is so few people there?
It's a bit like an away game, when there's only a small group of fans present. Half of the 50 available tickets go to the Herti North Curve, which in turn allocates the tickets to the individual fans. I think the fans who could physically attend the games have been in a very good mood in the last few matches.

Photo 1: Only a small group of fans are allowed to attend the games. Here, the Zug team celebrate the victory after the first semi-final game against the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers.
Photo 2: The elaborate ‘choreo’ of the EVZ fans shows figures from "Star Wars" and the slogan "Zäme d'Sterne erobere".

Photo: Urs Flüeler (Zug, 13 April 2021)


A part of this is an elaborate ‘choreo’ (banner) with the slogan "Zäme d'Sterne erobere” (Conquer the stars together) and huge "Star Wars" figures. So the fans give full throttle, despite everything.
Yes, the Choreo Group has actually put a lot of effort into this. About 300 hours were invested. The huge transparent picture consists of more than 150 square metres of fleece that have been fixed together with 450 metres of tape. The challenge was to mount the banner for a long time. Normally, such choreos are only planned for a few minutes.

Is your fan club currently organising smaller, corona-compliant events to watch the playoff games?

No, club life is almost at a standstill at the moment. There are, of course, individual fans who watch the games together, but only privately. We at the club don't officially do anything. It’s not the same if we can’t be in a larger group.

A video is circulating on Zug showing fans greeting the team bus with Pyros (fireworks) after returning from Bern last Friday. What do you think of such actions?
Pyros are forbidden of course, as EVZ supporters know, but for many they are still part of it. I also find it understandable that emotions have to eventually released. As far as I know, the fans who were there tried to keep the social distance, and the vast majority wore a mask.

If the EVZ actually wins the championship: how will the EVZ fans react?
There will be no way to prevent the Arena Square from filling up with people. The emotions and euphoria would be enormous. As the Herti-Nordkurve fan club, we would, of course, be concerned that everything should take place in a reasonably orderly fashion. If the EVZ continues to be as successful as before, we’ll still think about it, and perhaps also launch an appeal asking people to comply with the mask and distance obligation.

Do you dare to make a  prediction?
I don't usually do that. But what I  can say is: I’m  confident.