Hypo Group Arena Stadium - Capacity: 30,000 All Seater
About the Wörthersee Hypo Arena Stadion Out of all of the stadiums constructed for Euro 2008, the new Wörthersee Stadium is the most eye-catching and innovative. It is built close to the lake of the same name, in one of the most beautiful areas of Austria. The complex will also include multi-sports facilities to include track and field arenas, fitness centre, as well as training facilities for all year round sports. It is hoped that the stadium will attract a number of high profile European clubs for their pre-season training camps, as is the fashion nowadays.
The new stadium has 32,000 seats, all offering fantastic views of the action. It has three stands with two tiers, with unusually the main stand being a lower one tier stand, although it does has a viewing gallery for VIPs. The roof is translucent, allowing plenty of light to enter into the arena. What is unique about this project is that after the tournament, parts of the stadium will be removed and transferred to other stadiums in Austria including Linz and Graz to increase their capacities. The final capacity of the stadium will be reduced to 12,000 – making it the first stadium of its kind to be built in this way. The concourse areas are wide and offer plenty of opportunities to get refreshments without missing the action. Also, unusually for a stadium all areas of the seating are accessed from this concourse, so that both the upper and lower tiers enter at the same turnstiles. The upper tiers offer a good view of the action, although the rake of the stand is very steep.
Who plays there? As of the start of October 2007 the Wörthersee Stadion became home to SK Austria Kärnten, a club basically created out of the ashes of FC Superfund who had finished 6th in last season’s Bundesliga. As it only can be in European football, the need to have a top flight team was too much for the local council, who went on a shopping spree that Abramovich would be proud of, and simply bought a club and moved them hundreds of kilometres to Klagenfurt. So, as of September the club, complete with new name, kit and history will start a new era. The original FC Kärnten (known as FC Kelag Kärnten) based at the tiny Kurandtplatz stadium currently playing in the Red Zac 1st League (the 2nd tier of Austrian football) must be rubbing their heads in amazement. Their history has been pretty uneventful since their formation in 1920. They did reach the Austrian Bundesliga in the 1960’s, after promotion in 1965. They went on to stay in the top division for five seasons.
They returned again for periods during the 1970’s and 1980’s before finding some consistency in the early part of this century. After winning the 2nd division in 2001, the club went on to win the Austrian Super cup in May 2001 thus qualifying for the UEFA Cup for the first time although a 4-0 defeat to PAOK Salonika was not the best debut they could have made. However, the following season they made it through again after a 5th place finish in the Bundesliga. This time they managed a victory, beating the Latvians Metalurgs before a 2nd round defeat to Hapoel Tel Aviv. To cap another excellent season in 2003, they reached the UEFA Cup again, losing to Feyenoord in the 2nd round. In 2004 the team were relegated back to the 2nd division where they have remained since, although their 2006 3rd place finish did give the fans hope of a return to the top division right up until the last few games of the season. If they did manage to get promotion this season then expect them also to move to the new stadium. As part of the ramp up events for Euro 2008, the stadium hosted the national team for the first time in a four team tournament featuring Switzerland, Chile and Japan in September 2007.
How to get there The stadium is located 3km from the shore of Lake Wörther, and 2km from the city centre. You can quite easily walk to the stadium, simply by following Siebenhügelstrasse out of the town centre. It should take no more than 20 minutes. Alternatively you can catch bus number 90 from platform 4 of the bus station in Heiligengeitsplatz, which run every 30 minutes and takes 10 minutes. A single ticket costs €1.70. After the game buses line up close to the stadium – however be warned – make sure you get on the right one otherwise you will end up at the park and ride close to Europark which is nowhere near the town centre.
For more details of the surrounding area go to Footiemap.com to see their Austrian map.
Getting a ticket Tickets to see games at the Hypo Arena will be easy to pick up. Over the past few seasons FC Kelag Kärnten have only managed to erage around 1,500 for their home matches, and so it should not be an issue at all turning up on the day of the game and gaining entry. If you do want to buy tickets in advance, then you can book online at http://www.fckaerten.com. Tickets will range in price from €19 for a seat in the main stand, to €16 in any other part of the stadium. At the Sportzentrum Fischl, the club charged €16 for a seat in the main stand, and €10 for a place on the terraces. Tickets for matches during Euro2008 sold out during the public ballot in March 2007.
Getting around Public transport in Klagenfurt is very poor, and the car is still seen as the best way to get around town. Therefore expect ridiculous traffic jams at some points in the day.
The tiny Klagenfurt airport is located around 2miles from the city centre in the suburb of Annabichl. Buses 42 and 45 run at regular intervals to the airport and the 15minute journey costs €2 each way. Currently the airport is served by three airlines offering nine routes, the only one from the UK being Ryanair from London Stansted.
Across the border in Slovenia, both Maribor and Ljubljana airports are both within an hour’s drive of the city, although rail links are still very poor.
