EM Stadion Wals-Siezenheim Stadium – UEFA Euro2008

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The EM Stadion Wals-Siezenheim ( EM is the abbreviation for Europameisterschaft, European Championship) is a football stadium in Wals-Siezenheim in Austria’s Northern Alps. It was officially opened on March 8, 2003 and is the home ground of Red Bull Salzburg.Stadion Wals-Siezenheim is unique because it is the only ground in the Austrian Bundesliga that has an artifical pitch. Polytan’s FIFA 2-Star Recommended 40mm surface Ligaturf with a 25mm elastic layer was installed in 2005. However, this will be removed and replaced by grass for the European Championships. The stadium originally seated 18,200, but was just recently expanded to 30,000 so it will be able to accommodate the 2008 European Football Championship. This venue will host Group D matches between Greece, Sweden, Russia and Spain:

10 th June 20:45 – Greece vs Sweden
14 th June 20:45 – Greece vs Russia
18 th June 20:45 – Greece vs Spain

Construction to enlarge the stadium in Salzburg started in May 6, 2006. On of the main task was the hydraulic roof-lifting operation at the end of June 2006. The 17,000 m2 roof, weighing over 2,150 tons, was raised by 10.5 meters, requiring 12 large and 56 smaller temporary supports. Due to the favorable weather, the roof-raising operation, which took all of two days, was carried out at the end of June under ideal weather conditions with no wind. A total of 25 people were involved in the spectacular operation, which went smoothly.

The stadium, formerly named Bullen-Arena, was first built in 2003 to be the home of SV Wüstenrot Salzburg. The team was formed in 1933 as SV Austria Salzburg, a name which was changed to SV Casino Salzburg in 1978. The club was taken over by Red Bull in 2005. The first football match played on the pitch was a fixture between FC Red Bull Salzburg and FC Karnten. Big names such as Oliver Bierhoff and Niko Kovac have played for the team. The first match to be played post-extension was fought on the 25 th of July 2007 between Red Bull Salzburg and Arsenal. The friendly resulted in a 1:0 win for Red Bull Salzburg in front of a packed-out stadium.

EM-Stadion is in Wals-Siezenheim, a suburb of Salzburg, Austria, located just 3km from the airport and 10km from the city centre, which is the city of Mozart. It has a direct link to the motorway and is due have its own stop on the Salzburg-Munich railway line. The stadium site is planned to include a fully-fledged recreational park, with a variety of leisure facilities such as fitness trails, recreation zones, playgrounds, various restaurants. The stadium will also play host to the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2014 Winter Olympics if Salzburg’s bid to host the games is successful.