Stade de Suisse

Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Bern
Wankdorf
Location Papiermühlestrasse 71
CH-3022 Bern, Switzerland
Coordinates 46°57′47.40″N 7°27′53.40″E / 46.9631667°N 7.4648333°E / 46.9631667; 7.4648333Coordinates: 46°57′47.40″N 7°27′53.40″E / 46.9631667°N 7.4648333°E / 46.9631667; 7.4648333
Owner Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Nationalstadion AG
Operator Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Nationalstadion AG
Capacity 32,000 (Football)
45,000 (Concerts)
Surface Artificial grass (Polytan LigaTurf RS Pro CoolPlus)[1]
Construction
Broke ground 2003
Opened 30 July 2005
Construction cost CHF 350 million (2005)
Architect Marazzi Generalunternehmung AG[2]
Tenants
BSC Young Boys (2005–present)

The Stade de Suisse Wankdorf is a football stadium in Bern, Switzerland.

It is the home ground of the Swiss football team BSC Young Boys, and is currently the second biggest all-seater football stadium in Switzerland.

The Wankdorf was one of the venues for Euro 2008.

History

Exterior view, 2011

The Stade de Suisse was built on the grounds of the former Wankdorf Stadium, which was demolished in 2001. The new stadium has a capacity of 32,000 spectators, all covered seats. Integrated into the roof are solar panels with a yearly production of 1,200,000 kWh. The stadium was officially opened on 30 July 2005, although the first match in the new stadium had already taken place on 16 July 2005. Young Boys played against Olympique Marseille and lost 2–3 with 14,000 spectators watching. The match was considered an "infrastructure test", which is why no more than 14,000 tickets were sold.

The stadium was used by FC Thun for three Champions League home matches in 2005, and for one home match in the UEFA Cup Round of 32 in 2006.[3]

Concerts

Bruce Springsteen performed at the stadium on June 30, 2009 as part of the Working on a Dream Tour in front of a sold out crowd of 36,538 people.

AC/DC performed at the stadium on June 8, 2010 as part of their Black Ice World Tour

P!nk performed at the stadium on July 10, 2010 during The Funhouse Summer Carnival.

Muse performed a sold-out show at the stadium on June, 15 2013 as part of their The 2nd Law World Tour.

Bon Jovi performed at the stadium on May 31, 2006 during their Have a Nice Day Tour, in front of a sold out crowd of 38,762 people. The band performed at the stadium for the second time on June 30, 2013 during their Because We Can, in front of a sold out crowd of 28,868 people.

Depeche Mode performed at the stadium on June 7, 2013 during their Delta Machine Tour, in front of a sold out crowd of 39,241 people.

One Direction performed at the stadium on July 4, 2014 during their Where We Are Tour.

On July 15, 2017, Celine Dion will bring her Celine Dion Live 2017 tour here. This will be the first tour since Taking Chances Tour, 2008.

The Hot Seat

A peculiar feature of the Stade de Suisse is the presence of a single, red seat (the other seats are black and yellow). This was the first seat installed at the stadium, on 20 January 2005, and the honour of unveiling it was given to former Young Boys player and manager Walter Eich. There are no tickets available for this seat; every game the seat is occupied by a notable personality, often with ties to Young Boys.

Ice hockey attendance record

Ice hockey at the Wankdorf

The Stade de Suisse with its artificial turf surface was an ideal candidate to provide Europe its first "new era" outdoor attendance record for ice hockey.[4] On 14 January 2007, the massive local rivalry of SC Bern and SC Langnau managed to fill the Stade de Suisse with 30,076 fans, an event which was sold out within 53 hours of tickets going on sale. These two rivals regularly fill SC Bern's home venue Bern Arena with over 17,000 spectators.

See also

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ Marazzi Generalunternehmung AG (in French)
  3. ↑ 2005/06 UEFA Cup Thun-Hamburg Archived 2016-01-12 at the Wayback Machine. UEFA.com
  4. ↑ Joeri Loonen Unique occasion sets new European visitor record EuroHockey.Net, 15 January 2007
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