The Stadium – The AWD Arena Hannover The AWD Arena is one of the most impressive stadiums being used for the World Cup Finals. Like the stadiums at Frankfurt and Köln it has been completely rebuilt on its existing site, whilst the team continue to play there. The result is a fantastic two tiered bowl stadium that can hold close to 50,000 spectators for Bundesliga matches, and just under 45,000 for the World Cup matches. The most impressive feature is the roof, which from a distance seems to hover above the stadium. Every seat offers an unrestricted view of the action, and there are video screens that hang down from the North and South stands to relay the action to fans.
The stadium was originally known as the Niedersachsenstadion and was built during the mid 1950’s for the team, after their previous home in Radrennbahn was deemed too small for their requirements with a capacity of less than 30,000. The new stadium was built with a capacity of over 86,000. After the ground was redeveloped with covered seating replacing the terracing, the capacity was reduced to less than 60,000. The stadium was one of the nine venues chosen for the 1974 World Cup Finals when it hosted four games, including the classic Argentina v Brazil match, and Brazil versus East Germany in front of nearly 59,000. The stadium also hosted two games during the 1988 European Championships.
One of the problems that the club have faced is the inconsistency on the pitch hasn’t met with the huge expectations of the fans. This has meant that Hannover have frequently been found playing in the lower divisions in front of crowds in excess of 30,000. In fact it was less than ten years ago that the club were playing in the Regional North league. After returning to the top league in 2002, the team has proved themselves on the pitch as being capable of holding a position in the Bundesliga. At the end of the 2002/03 season the club started demolishing the existing stands, and removing the athletics track. In its place rose the new stadium, complete with the magnificent roof. During the 2003/04 season the club played in front of sold out crowds of just over 30,000 whilst the construction was taking place. Last season the capacity rose from the start of the season when it was 35,000, to over 45,000 just after Christmas, before all of the 49,000 seats were opened up in April 2005.
The new stadium was used for the first time in the Confederations Cup in 2005 when Japan played Mexico. It then went on to host a further group game, as well as the semi final between Mexico and Argentina. The stadium will be officially opened when Hannover 96 play Bayer Leverkusen in January 2006.
Unfortunately, the club do not like fans visiting the stadium on non matchdays and therefore no tours are available. The club is also loathed to answer any requests for information as well, so it best to try and address any questions to the more than helpful Tourist Information office in the city centre. At the time of going to press the club were building a new office complex on the North East corner of the stadium which should house a club shop and possibly a museum. At present there are no such facilities for the public at the stadium.
Who Plays There? Hannover 96 were formed in 1896 (hence the name of the team) and are probably famous within German football circles for achieving very little!! The club played in the Regional Nord leagues for many years until at last they reached the Championship Finals in 1938. They met the great Schalke 04 team in one of the biggest upsets seen in German football history. Hannover took the title with a 4-3 win in a replay, after the first match ended in a 3-3 draw. It was a further 16 years before the team reached another Championship final when the met Kaiserslautern in 1954. The final took place in front of over 75,000 fans in Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion, and Hannover entered the game as major underdogs, as they did in 1938. Hannover 96 pulled off an astonishing 5-1 win, despite the Kaiserslautern team featuring the famous players Ottmar and Fritz Walter who were to go on and star in West Germany’s World Cup win just 2 months later.
In 1992, Hannover overcame Borussia Mönchengladbach on penalties to capture their first ever German Cup after the match had finished 0-0. The feat was made even more remarkable as they were in the 2nd division of the Bundesliga at the time. In their first season of European football, the club can consider themselves unlucky to have drawn holders and neighbours Werder Bremen in the first round where they lost 4-3 on aggregate. The club actually fell even lower during the late 1990’s when they slipped into the Regional Nord league. They eventually returned to the Bundesliga in 2002 after winning the 2nd division, scoring an impressive 93 goals in the process. In their first season back in the top flight the club gained an impressive 11th place finish.
The 2004/05 season started poorly for Hannover 96. After 6 games they sat at the bottom of the league with just 5 points from a possible 18. Then the team went on a remarkable run when they took 18 points from their next 7 games, scoring 17 goals in the process. However a run of just 1 win in 9 games after Christmas led to the club having to take drastic action. In March 2004 Hannover sacked Ralf Rangnick as the team slid towards the relegation zone, to be replaced by Ewald Lienen. Lienen brought some much welcomed stability and some vital wins to the team. Their eventual 10th place finish was their highest league spot for over 10 years, and crowds were impressive at close to 36,000 despite the rebuilding work taking place at the AWD Arena.
The new season has started soundly for the team, with three draws in their first three games. The club will be looking to the crowd to act as their 12th man to inspire them at home this season. Find out more about the club at http://www.hannover96.de. There is a small English section which can be found at http://www.96soccer.com. How to get to the AWD Arena The AWD Arena is set amongst acres of parkland just to the south of the city centre. In the summer the area is alive with people cycling, rollerblading and just enjoying the sunshine and the vast Maschsee. To the south of the stadium is the SportPark area, where Hannover 96 train, and there are a number of public facilities including tennis and swimming pools.
The stadium is a 10 minute walk from the city centre, through the woodland to the south of the ring road. If you are walking from the bars and cafes of Markt and Kramerstrasse then cross the River Leine at Schloss Brücke and then cross the main road, past the fountain, and walk down Calenberger Strasse. Take the first left into Archivstrasse and then carry on into the subway under the road. Follow this road (Waterloo Strasse) with the Waterloo tower on your right. This road becomes Bruchmeisterallee and then eventually comes to an end opposite the North East corner of the Arena. The stadium also has a regular bus service (lines 131 and 132) that runs from Hauptbahnhof every 10 minutes. The closest tram stop to the stadium is at Stadionbrücke that is on the U-Bahn lines 3, 7 and 9 from the city centre. Journey time is around 5 minutes from Hauptbahnhof. A single ticket for any public transport journey in the city centre is €1.80, or a day ticket is just €3.30.
The easiest way to reach the stadium from the airport is to catch the S-Bahn line 5 from the main terminal to the Hauptbahnhof, and then either continue on foot or catch bus 131 or 132 or U-Bahn 3, 7 or 9. A taxi from the airport to the ground will take around 30 minutes and cost approximately €35.
For a more detailed view on who plays where in Germany, go to Footiemap.com.
Hannover Langenhagen airport is located six miles north of the city centre. The small airport has three terminals and offers connections to a number of cities in Europe as well as connections to London (Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted) and Manchester. The airport is linked to the city centre by the S-Bahn S5 line which runs every 30 minutes from the terminal building to the Hauptbahnhof in just 12 minutes. A single ticket costs €2.40. There is also a public bus (#471) that runs approximately every 20 minutes to Langenhagen Zentrum station where you can then catch U-Bahn line 1 to the city centre.
There are also private transport options to the city centre, with a shuttle buses running every 20 minutes to the Hauptbahnhof which costs €5, as well as a taxi that should take around 25 minutes and cost €25. The airport is served by BA from Gatwick and Manchester three times a day, Hapag Lloyd Express from Newcastle as well the best budget airline bet, Air Berlin from London Stansted daily.
Alternative airports to Hannover are:-
Bremen – Now served on a daily basis by Easyjet out of London Luton .To get to Hannover catch one of the two trains per hour from Bremen Hauptbahnhof. The journey takes just over an hour to cover the 60 miles.
Münster – Located to the north of the Ruhr Valley and linked to the major cities by a number of trains per hour. The airport is currently only served by Air Berlin directly from the UK. Located around 87 miles North West of Hannover, the city can be reached by an hourly service with a change at Hamm. The whole journey takes less than 2 hours.
Paderborn – Located around 74 miles to the west of Hamburg, Paderborn is served by Air Berlin from London Stansted on a daily basis. From the city centre a train to takes around 100 minutes to reach Hannover on a direct train.
You can also fly into Hamburg and then get one of the 5 trains per hour from the Hauptbahnhof to Hannover. See the chapter on Hamburg for more details of the airport there
The Stadium – The AWD Arena Hannover