Veltins Arena

Gelsenkirchen Stadium Overview

On 13 August 2001 a new era began for FC Schalke 04. At an inauguration ceremony the German club had built itself a new home, the Veltins Arena. This stadium leads the world in terms of functionality and modernity in comparison with its predecessor, the Park Stadium, and all other stadiums. With its retractable pitch, closable roof, movable South Stand and videocube, the Veltins Arena assumed the crown of Europe's most modern stadium. Football matches can be staged in front of 61,481 fans (and more than 70,000 for pop concerts) 365 days a year.

The Veltins Arena is considered one of the most modern stadiums in the world. Originally named the Arena AufSchalke, it opened in 2001 as the new home ground for the Bundesliga football club FC Schalke 04. It hosted the 2004 UEFA Champions League final and 5 matches in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, including a quarter-final. The naming rights to the stadium were sold on July 1, 2005 to the German brewery Veltins.

Stadium History

Notable matches

• Poland 0-2 Ecuador (Group Stage)
• United States 0-3 Czech Republic (Group Stage)
• Argentina 6-0 Serbia and Montenegro (Group Stage)
• Portugal 2-1 Mexico (Group Stage)
• England 0-0 (1-3 PEN) Portugal (Quarterfinals)

In its first two years of operation the Arena AufSchalke exceeded even the most optimistic expectations. Schalke calculated that an annual attendance of 1.5 million at 30 events, some 4.1 million visitors have already passed through its doors at the 76 events held to date.

The Veltins Arena is infinitely flexible and in May 2003 the Arena staged a pop concert, a Bundesliga match and a game played by the Rhein Fire American football team in the NFL Europe within the space of just 96 hours. During this time the organisers had to dismantle and remove the musicians' equipment, reconfigure the South Stand, move the pitch inside the stadium for the football and then, after the final whistle, add the turf markings required by the American footballers. All this is made possible by the advanced infrastructure at this venue.

The opportunity to host the qualifiers for most important football matches before the 2006 FIFA World Cup was granted by a delegation from UEFA, the European football governing body. In their concluding report the members of UEFA's stadium and security committee recommended that the Veltin Arena be given a five-star rating. The actual wording goes even further: "This venue fulfils more than all the requirements and can be qualified as a 'six-star venue'."

The delegates from FIFA approved the Veltins arena one of the twelve venues for the 2006 World Cup. "The Arena will be a pearl of the World Cup", said FIFA spokesman Markus Siegler after the detailed inspection. Five World Cup matches, including one quarter-final as the highlight, took place in Gelsenkirchen in 2006.

The security technology at this magnificent venue also came in for high praise. "I have only ever seen two stadia in the whole world that match the Arena in this respect - the Sapporo Dome and the stadium in Detroit", said Walter Gagg, FIFA's stadium security director. The Arena therefore merited an excellent testimonial simply for the planning that had gone into it, added Siegler, and set standards that had few equals anywhere in the world.

Seating Chart

Getting There

Map

Address: Ernst-Kuzorra-Weg 1, 45891 Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Gelsenkirchen City Information

Area Pubs

Travel Tips

Important Links

References