Red Bull Arena (Salzburg)

Red Bull Arena
	Interior of the stadium in July 2008
Former names	EM-Stadion Wals-Siezenheim, Bullen-Arena
Location	Stadionstraße, Wals-Siezenheim, Austria
Coordinates	47°48′59″N 12°59′54″E / 47.8163°N 12.9982°E
Owner	SWS Stadion Salzburg Planungs- und Errichtungsgesellschaft m.b.H
Capacity	30,188 (17,218 Bundesliga) (29,520 UEFA matches) (31,895 UEFA Euro 2008)
Field size	105 m × 68 m (115 yd × 74 yd)
Surface	Lawn
Construction
Built	2003
Opened	8 March 2003
Renovated	Summer 2005; 6 May 2006 – 25 July 2007
Construction cost	€45 million
Architect	Schuster Architekten, Atelier Albert Wimmer
Tenants
	Red Bull Salzburg; FC Liefering; Austria national football team

Red Bull Arena (German: [ɹɛt ˈbʊl ʔaˌʁeːnaː]), known during the UEFA Euro 2008 as the EM-Stadion Wals-Siezenheim [eːˈʔɛmˌʃtaːdi̯ɔn ˌvalsˈsiːtsn̩haɪm] and during UEFA club football events as Stadion Salzburg,^[1] is a football stadium in Wals-Siezenheim, a municipality in the suburbs of Salzburg, Austria. It was officially opened in March 2003 and is the home ground of FC Red Bull Salzburg. Previously, the club played at Stadion Lehen.

History

In 2011 the stadium hosted a friendly tournament known as the Salzburgerland Cup of four clubs. It features four teams: FK Austria Wien, FC Rapid București, Maccabi Haifa F.C. and FC Shakhtar Donetsk. To which Shaktar was declared the champions.^[2]

Overview

Its current seating capacity is 30,188.^[3] The stadium's original capacity was 18,200, but it was heavily expanded to over 30,000 so as to accommodate the 2008 European Football Championships.

The "EM Stadion Wals-Siezenheim" was the only stadium in the Austrian Bundesliga which used artificial turf. Polytan's FIFA 2-Star Recommended 40mm surface Ligaturf with a 25mm elastic layer was installed in 2005, but since summer 2008 natural lawn has been used.

From the 2018-19 Austrian Football Bundesliga season onwards, the majority of the upper stand remains closed, therefore limiting capacity to 17,218. This was done in order to improve the atmosphere, which was often considered as “weak“ during Salzburg‘s national home games. This reduction in capacity only applies for Bundesliga matches.