About The Linzer Stadion The Linzer Stadion is one of the biggest club grounds in Austria today. You can never call it a “friendly” venue, as it certainly isn’t designed for watching football in. It has an athletics track that pushed the sightlines out, as we as having one completely open end (the south end). The rest of the stadium is a single tier structure that sweeps around ¾ of the ground. The stadium has a continuous roof which does stop the rain and snow, but the wind still hits the crowds from the south open end.
Due to the presence of the athletics track, sightlines are not particularly good, but the hardcore LASK fans in the north stand do create quite a good atmosphere on matchdays.
Who plays there? LASK Linz are currently on a high in Austrian football. After promotion back to the top flight at the end of the 2006/07 season, the club have continued their excellent form and as of the end of September, they sat in 2nd place above the likes of Red Bull Salzburg and Rapid Vienna. The club can trace their roots back to the creation of a general sporting club in the city in 1899, although they only started playing football in 1908.
The club have never made an impact on the national league, although within the Upper Austrian region they were champions on 13 occasions. Their best season was in 1965 when they won the Austrian Championship for the one and only time, as well as capturing the knockout cup as well. In the following seasons they also reached the final on a couple more occasions. They have played in Europe on a number of occasions, with their biggest victory being versus Inter Milan in 1985.
How to get there The stadium is a short distance from the Hauptbahnhof, although the walk is up hill all the way and so where possible use public transport. From the station catch bus 17, 19 or 46 and alight at the Stadion stop which is around a 5 minute trip. From the city centre use bus line 45 which runs via Hessenplatz and Mozart Kreuzing. A single ticket costs €1.60. If you do want to walk from the station simply turn left out of the doors, cross the road at the major junction then walk right up the hill. Signposts show you the way and it should take less than 15 minutes.
For more details of the surrounding area go to Footiemap.com to see their Austrian football map.
Getting a ticket Tickets can be purchased in person from a number of outlets in Linz including some BP service stations (Lanwiedstrasse and Kremstalstrasse) as well as from the stadium. You can also reserve tickets from the website (http://www.lask.at). Ticket prices range from €24 in sections A, B, C and D to €15 in the standing sections of 6, 7 and 8. Tickets can be posted or collected from the portakabins on either side of the stadium on a matchday.
Linz have one of the bigger stadiums in Austrian football (in fact prior to Euro 2008 work carried out at the four host venues it was the biggest club venue), and even with the increased interest in the club generated by recent results has failed to lift the average attendances above the 10,000 mark, meaning there are plenty of tickets available on the day of the game.
Linz’s small airport is located 20km west of the city close to the Danube. It is served on a daily basis by a Ryanair flight from London Stansted. It is only an hour away by train from Vienna, which opens up further travelling opportunities.
To reach the airport you can either catch a twice hourly train from Linz Hauptbahnhof to Hoersching station where a shuttle bus meets each arrival and then transfers you to the airport in less than 5 minutes. A shuttle bus also runs to the stop outside the Hauptbahnhof 30 minutes after flight arrivals and costs £2.30 each way. A taxi costs around €30.
