SchücoArena

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SchücoArena
Bielefelder Alm
View of the SchücoArena from the Southwest
Full name	SchücoArena
Location	Bielefeld, Germany
Built	1957
Opened	1926
Renovated	1996 - 2008
Owner	Arminia Bielefeld
Construction cost	?
Former names	Bielefelder Alm
Tenants	Arminia Bielefeld (Fußball-Bundesliga)
Capacity	28,008
Field dimensions	?

The SchücoArena (old name: Stadion Alm / Bielefelder Alm) is a football stadium in Bielefeld, Germany. The stadium, which has a capacity of 26 601, is owned by the football club Arminia Bielefeld and mostly used for the club's matches.

The football ground was opened in 1926, with land acquired from a farmer. The stadium got its former name (Alm) because it did not look like a football stadium in the first years and so one of Arminia's members said that just a few cows were missing in order to look like an Alm (German for alpine grassland). In 1957 it got its grass cover and the first grandstands were constructed.

Until 1971 the stands were all terraced, but with Arminia Bielefeld winning promotion to the Bundesliga, the first stand with seating was constructed. By 1978 3 new stands had been built and the stadiums capacity was 34,222.

By 1985 serious structural problems had reduced the capacity to 18,500, and later to 15,000.

[edit] Rebuilding

The northwest corner in the SchücoArena

In 1996 rebuilding work began, first the north stand was rebuild and then the west stand. Capacity was now 22,512. In 1999 the South Stand was rebuilt increasing capacity to 26,601. Since June 2007 the east stand was rebuilt giving a capacity of 28,008.

[edit] Transport

The stadium is well serviced by public transport. The Bielefeld Hauptbahnhof is only a few minutes away using line 4 (The red line) of the Bielefeld Stadtbahn. For fans driving to the stadium, parking is available at Bielefeld University, which is also located on line 4 of the Stadtbahn