The Red Bull Arena Salzburg

The home of the Salzburg bulls

4,12 km from Salzburg Residence Palace

Salzburg has a lot of sights to offer its visitors. Besides the numerous historical buildings, the castles and palaces, the beautiful old town, the mountains and lakes in the surrounding area, up to the sports arenas of the city. The most famous stadium in Salzburg is without doubt the Red Bull Arena. The home of the most successful Austrian club of recent years - Red Bull Salzburg. A stadium that you should definitely visit once if you are interested in sports and once you are a guest in the city of Mozart.

The successor of the Lehener Stadium

The ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the arena took place on 10 October 2001 and the stadium was then opened on 8 March 2003 with the Salzburgers" match against FC Carinthia (1:1). The club was then still called SV Wüstenrot. The Red Bull Group did not yet play a role for the team at that time. Initially, the arena was known as Stadion Wals-Siezenheim for four years. It got its name from its location, the municipality of Wals-Siezenheim on the outskirts of Salzburg. The football temple is located near the famous Kleßheim Castle, which also houses the casino.  It replaced the Lehener Stadium, which was the home of the Salzburgers from 1971 to 2002 and was demolished on January 19, 2006. In the meantime, the district centre Neue Mitte Lehen has been built on the site, which houses the city library, various shops and apartments, among other things.

The Salzburgers" new arena received a name change in 2008, when the European Football Championship was held in Austria and Switzerland. Therefore the home of the Salzburgers was then called EM-Stadium Wals-Siezenheim. The three preliminary round matches of the Greeks against Sweden, Russia and Spain were played in Salzburg. The ÖFB played all its matches in Vienna. But after the preliminary round it was still over. Perhaps things will go better for the Austrians this summer: For Euro 2020, the ÖFB selection at William Hill Sports Betting is set at 101.00 as of March 3. Although this still does not mean that they are among the favourites, this time they should have more than the group stage.

More space for the euro

On the occasion of the Euro 2008 the Salzburg stadium was also extended for the first time. With this major event, capacity rose from 18,250 to 30,188 seats. This mark has so far been reached four times at Salzburg matches. In the meantime, only 29,520 spectators per game are allowed in the European Cup and the arena is regularly sold out for top-class opponents.

The stadium in Wals-Siezenheim is one of the most modern sports arenas in Austria. When it opened, it was one of the first stadiums in Europe to be equipped with artificial turf. Natural grass was only used for the Euro, but this was removed again after the event. In 2005, it was equipped with two large video walls, each 42 m² in size, and a grass heating system. At that time, the club was also renamed Red Bull Arena after the drinks manufacturer took over the club. In the process, all of the stadium"s premises and areas were also raised to international standards. Completed on 25 July 2007, the new Red Bull Arena was inaugurated in front of 30,188 spectators against FC Arsenal (1:0).

Quickly accessible by bus and train

It is recommended to use public transport to reach the stadium on match days of the Red Bulls. The arena can be reached in less than ten minutes with the city bus lines 1 and 28 from the main station and the city centre. Since summer 2006, the stadium can also be reached by the Salzburg S-Bahn (city train). Alternatively, a trip from the exhibition grounds is also possible. From there, shuttle buses run directly to the stadium. With an admission ticket for the Salzburg games, travel on public transport is even free of charge. Those who still prefer to travel to the arena by car should take the Westautobahn.


Image:
© Image from David Mark at Pixabay

Red Bull Arena Salzburg
Stadionstraße 2/3
5071 Wals-Siezenheim

T.: +43 662 433332
E.: soccerrbs.office@redbulls.com
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