Simmeringer Had is a stadium in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

with a capacity of 5,000 people. There have been three stadiums with the name, all of which have hosted the

1. Simmeringer SC 1. Simmeringer SC is an Football in Austria, Austrian association football club from Vienna. The club was founded in 1901. it played in the Wiener Stadtliga. __TOC__ History 1. Simmeringer SC was founded in 1901 and played a role in the early Aus ...

Austrian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club since 1900. The largest and most important of these stadiums also hosted the Austria national team during the 1920s. The current stadium dates to the 1970s. The name derives from the Simmeringer Haide, a low-lying region of Vienna where the Had was originally geographically located.

History

After the First World War, Austria had no large stadiums but had a growing interest in football. The second Simmeringer Had, which replaced an older stadium built in 1900, was built in a natural amphitheater next to the Sankt Marxer Friedhof. The stadium housed the Austria national team and 1. Simmeringer SC. The original stadium had a capacity of about 40,000 spectators and was the largest stadium in Austria in 1920. 1. Simmeringer SC opened the stadium on 30 May 1920 with a 1:0 win over Wiener Amateure SV. The first international match in the stadium was played 26 September 1920, a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

between Austria and Germany was played in this stadium which ended 3:2 in favour of Austria in front of 30,000 spectators. Austria played seven international matches as host in this stadium during 1920-1926 and never lost, finishing with a record of five wins and two draws. At this time, the Had also hosted larger games such as the

Austrian Cup The Austrian Cup (german: ÖFB-Cup), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB. During the 2008–09 season, Austria Wien won the tournament for 27th t ...

final games in 1920 and 1924. The stadium was also used for international matches and for important games of other clubs such as

SC Hakoah Vienna SC Hakoah Vienna (german: Sport Club Hakoah Wien; ' means "the strength" in Hebrew) is a Jewish sports club in Vienna, Austria. Prior to World War II, it produced several Olympic athletes and was notable for fielding an entirely Jewish associati ...

. The

Bulgaria national football team The Bulgaria national football team ( bg, Български национален отбор по футбол, Bǎlgarski natsionalen otbor po futbol) represents Bulgaria in men's international Association football, football and is administere ...

played their first-ever international in the stadium in 1924 against Austria, which finished 6:0 to the hosts.

hosted Wiener Sport-Club at the Simmeringer Had on 6 June 1925 in front of 25,000 spectators, where they won the

1924–25 Austrian football championship Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

title after their goalkeeper scored the winning goal. The Hohe Warte stadium was built after Simmeringer Sportplatz and took its title of largest stadium, but both were replaced in 1931 by the

Praterstadion Ernst-Happel-Stadion (), known as Praterstadion until 1992, sometimes also called Wiener-Stadion, is a football stadium in Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district of Austria's capital Vienna. With 50,865 seats, it is the largest stadium in Austria. It wa ...

. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, 1. Simmeringer SC could not afford to maintain the stadium. The club moved into a new stadium, also called Simmeringer Had, in the vicinity of the

St. Marx cemetery St. Marx Cemetery (Sankt Marxer Friedhof) is a cemetery in the Landstraße district of Vienna, used from 1784 until 1874. It contains the unmarked grave of the famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. History The cemetery was named after a nearb ...

(the "Wanko-Gstättn") in the early 1970s at the Simmeringer Hauptstraße 213, 1110 Vienna. The original stadium was demolished around this time. The

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commer ...

pitch built in the 1990s was completely refurbished in spring 2010.

References

{{reflist Football venues in Austria Sports venues in Vienna Sports venues completed in 1920 Sports venues completed in 1970 Sports venues demolished in 1970 1920 establishments in Austria 1970 disestablishments in Austria 20th-century architecture in Austria