Stadion Zwickau is a

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Zwickau Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. It is used as the home stadium of

FSV Zwickau FSV Zwickau is a German association football club located in Zwickau, Saxony. Today's club claims as part of its complex heritage sides that were East Germany's first champions: 1948 Ostzone winners SG Planitz and 1950 DDR-Oberliga champions ZSG ...

and has a capacity of 10,000 seats.

History

The long-time home of FSV Zwickau was the

Westsachsenstadion Westsachsenstadion is a multi-use stadium in Zwickau, Germany. Prior to being redeveloped in 2013 it was used mostly for football matches and served as the home stadium of FSV Zwickau FSV Zwickau is a German association football club located i ...

until 2010. It was to be converted to a suitable venue for

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

matches, but this was stopped by the City of Zwickau due to high costs. In the 2011–12 season, FSV Zwickau moved its home games to the ''Sportforum „Sojus 31“'', in Eckersbach. The stadium met the minimum requirements as a

Regionalliga The Regionalliga () is the fourth tier in the German football league system. Until 1974, it was the second tier in Germany. In 1994, it was introduced as the third tier. Upon the creation of the new nationwide 3. Liga in 2008, it became the fourt ...

venue, but criticism of the steel frame stands had been expressed. In the past, opposing fans had repeatedly tried to dismantle stands or fencing. A game against

1. FC Magdeburg 1. FC Magdeburg is a German association football club based in the city of Magdeburg. The club was founded in 1965 and spent all but one season in East Germany top flight, the DDR-Oberliga, winning three championships and seven cup titles. It ...

in the 2014–15 season had to be interrupted because of such an incident. On 26 April 2012, the city council of Zwickau decided to build a new football stadium in the district of Eckersbach. A corresponding development plan was adopted on 26 September 2013. The venue would have approximately 10,000 seats, with an optional extension within 10 years, depending on the sporting success, to 15,000 seats. The cost would amount approximately 21 million Euros. In contrast, the conversion costs for the

would have approximated between 25 and 30 million Euros. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on 6 February 2015. Construction completed in August 2016. The new stadium meets both the requirements of the

German Football Association The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system ...

(DFB) for 3. Liga matches and the FIFA requirements for possible international games. The stadium rental cost for FSV Zwickau is determined by the league, costing €350,000 for competing in the 3. Liga, while only €250,000 for Regionalliga matches if Zwickau would not have been promoted. Since the new stadium was not ready in time for home matches at the start of the 2016–17 season, one match instead took place at the

DDV-Stadion Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion is a football stadium in Dresden, Saxony. It is named after German athlete Rudolf Harbig, and is the current home of Dynamo Dresden. Sports facilities have existed on the site of the stadium, the Güntzwiesen, since 1874. ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

. The first competitive game at the new stadium was a

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

first round match against

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of thr ...

on 22 August 2016.

References

External links

* Football venues in Germany Sports venues in Saxony FSV Zwickau {{Germany-sports-venue-stub