Stockhorn Arena (formerly known as Arena Thun) is a football stadium in

Thun Thun () is a List of towns in Switzerland, town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the administrative district of Thun (administrative district), Thun in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Bern, Bern in Switzerland. ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It has a capacity of 10,000 spectators and opened in 2011. It is the home of

FC Thun Fussballclub Thun 1898 is a Swiss association football, football team from the Bernese Oberland town of Thun. The club plays in the Swiss Super League from 2025–26, the top tier of the Swiss football league system, following promotion from the ...

of the

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

History

From 1954 until 2011,

Stadion Lachen Stadion Lachen is a multi-use stadium in Thun, Switzerland. It is currently used mostly for American Football matches of the Thun Tigers. The stadium served as the home ground of FC Thun from 1954 to 2011 until the Swiss Football League The Swis ...

was the home ground of Swiss side FC Thun. In the early 2000s, however, the

Swiss Football League The Swiss Football League is the organization that controls and directs the professional football in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Founded in 1933 as the National League (in German ''Nationalliga'', in French ''Ligue Nationale''), it assumed it ...

claimed that the old stadium did not meet the minimal stadium requirements and that it was no longer fit for football in the highest division. The club received an exemption to play at the Lachen for a few more years, but was asked either to renovate extensively or to build a new stadium. In 2006, the citizens of Thun refused to finance a new stadium with

public funds Government spending or expenditure includes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. In national income accounting, the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual o ...

, leaving FC Thun in a bind: without a new stadium the club would be ineligible to play professionally. General contractor HRS offered to finance a new stadium, with a shopping center on the same area (the Panorama Center), located 1.8 km northwest of Stadion Lachen. In 2007 the contracts were signed, and the construction work began in spring 2010. The new stadium - at that time called Arena Thun - was officially inaugurated on 9 July 2011, with a friendly match between

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

and FC Thun. Köln's striker

Milivoje Novaković Milivoje Novaković (; sr-Cyrl, Миливоје Новаковић, ; born 18 May 1979) is a Slovenian retired footballer who played as a forward. Club career Novaković spent his youth career at Olimpija where he remained until the age o ...

was the first player to score in the new arena (5'), and the game ended in a tie (2:2). In February 2014, the Arena Thun AG (operator of the stadium) sold the

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...

to a new main sponsor/partner: Stockhornbahn AG (which runs an aerial cableway to the Stockhorn). The stadium was renamed Stockhorn Arena at that time, with an official ceremony held on 12 April 2014, on the occasion of the match between

FC Aarau FC Aarau is a Swiss professional football club based in Aarau. Founded in 1902, the club competes in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football after being relegated from the Swiss Super League. History FC Aarau was form ...

and FC Thun. The Stockhorn Arena in 2019

Structure

The stadium is located near the A6 motorway, close to the exit ''Thun Süd'', approximately 2 km west from downtown Thun and the railway station. The Stockhorn Arena, with a capacity of 10,000, is equipped with artificial turf (KR FIFA-2-Star-certified). The pitch is long by wide.

International matches

Men's national teams

Women's national teams

Other teams

From time to time matches of the

Switzerland national under-21 football team The Switzerland national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Switzerland and is controlled by the Swiss Football Association. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which is held every two ...

are also held at the Stockhorn Arena.

Gallery

Arena.thun.night.jpg, Interior Panorama Center Arena Thun.jpg, Panorama

References

Football venues in the Canton of Bern FC Thun Sports venues in the Canton of Bern Sports venues completed in 2011 21st-century architecture in Switzerland Sport in Thun 2011 establishments in Switzerland {{Switzerland-sports-venue-stub