Friendship Stadium (Cottbus)
| Friendship Stadium | |
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| View from the south stand into the stadium | |
| Data | |
| place | Am Eliaspark 1 03042 Cottbus , Germany
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| Coordinates | 51 ° 45 '5 " N , 14 ° 20' 44" E |
| owner | Energy Cottbus |
| operator | Energy Cottbus |
| opening | 1930 |
| Renovations | 1930, 1983-1985, 1988, 1997-1998, 2003-2004, 2007-2009 |
| surface | Natural grass with lawn heating |
| capacity | 22,528 seats |
| playing area | 105 m × 68 m |
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| Events | |
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The Stadium of Friendship ( Lower Sorbian Stadion pśijaśelstwa ) is a football stadium in the Brandenburg city of Cottbus , where Energie Cottbus plays its home games. The stadium is about two kilometers from the city center and is located directly on the Spree . In addition to the FC Energie Cottbus office, the stadium grounds also include a gym and a training ground with turf heating in the nearby Eliaspark. Another space is located in Parzellenstraße.
history
The Friendship Stadium was inaugurated in the spring of 1930. As early as August 1930 improvements were made with the construction of new changing rooms. The sporting inauguration followed in September 1930. It was not until the late 1960s that the venue became home to BSG Energie Cottbus. Until then, the team had played their home games in the railway workers' stadium and in the Max Reimann stadium . The Stadium of Friendship held 15,000 spectators at that time. The conversion of the standing crossbars began in 1983 and by 1985 it already offered 18,000 people. In August 1988 the new main grandstand could be used for the first time.
On 15 April 1997, the 1800 was Lux strong floodlights inaugurated. After promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga , the DFB standards for Bundesliga football had to be met. The trusses were fixed, the fences renewed, a telescopic tunnel installed and a video surveillance system installed. In April 1998, the modernization of the stadium continued with the construction of a video display board in the south curve.
At the beginning of the 2003/04 season, the largest construction project to date, the two-storey east stand, went into operation. It offered 2,760 seats in the upper tier, 4,500 standing places in the lower tier, 50 wheelchair spaces and is completely covered.
In the summer of 2007, the traverses of the north curve were filled and a covered tubular steel grandstand with a capacity of 8,000 fans was built by the start of the 2007/08 season. In return, the lower tier of the east stand was converted into a seating area, so that 9,102 covered seats have been available in the stadium since then. This increased the capacity slightly to 22,746 places. The west stand received new seats.
For the first time since the renovation, the stadium was sold out on March 15, 2008 when Energie Cottbus played against FC Bayern Munich (2-0).
At the beginning of 2008, the VIP area on the west stand was expanded by an extension of 140 m².
Between the end of the 2007/08 season and the start of the 2008/09 season, the stadium's south stand was rebuilt. As with the expansion of the north stand, it is a tubular steel construction. This also closed the last corner in the Stadium of Friendship. Standing and seating space for a total of 5,559 spectators was created on the new grandstand. Due to the increase in seats, the total capacity decreased by 218 to 22,528 spectators.
On July 1, 2011, FC Energie Cottbus acquired the ownership rights to the stadium, for which the club paid the City of Cottbus 1.95 million euros and also guaranteed a percentage share in any sale of the naming rights.
International matches
The Stadium of Friendship has hosted several international football matches of the German Football Association and the GDR Football Association . The first international match was played on April 21, 1976 between the GDR and Algeria, which ended with a 5-0 for the GDR. On September 21, 1988 the game between the GDR and Poland was played in the Stadium of Friendship. The later Bundesliga players Ulf Kirsten , Andreas Thom , Thomas Doll and Matthias Sammer played for the GDR national team , but the game ended with a 1: 2.
On November 16, 2004 an all-German team played for the first time in Cottbus with the U21 national team. The game against Poland (final score 1: 1) was overshadowed by the serious injury of Christian Müller , who had broken a tibia and fibula. On May 11, 2006, the women's national soccer team met Ireland's selection in their final home game of qualifying for the World Cup. The game ended 1-0 for Germany.
On March 24, 2011, the U20 national teams of Germany and Poland competed against each other in the Stadium of Friendship. The game ended 1-1 in front of 2898 spectators.
On September 21, 2013, the German women's national team played against Russia as part of the World Cup qualification and won 9-0 in front of 10,031 spectators.
DFV Supercup
On August 5, 1989, the stadium was the first and last venue for the DFV Supercup . In this competition, the GDR champions met the FDGB cup winner . The game between BFC Dynamo and Dynamo Dresden was played in front of over 22,000 spectators and ended 4: 1 for BFC Dynamo. Goal scorers were u. a. the later Bundesliga professionals and coaches Thomas Doll and Matthias Sammer .
Audience capacity
The stadium currently has a capacity of 22,528 spectators. It offers 10,949 covered seats, 7,795 covered and 3,630 uncovered standing places as well as 154 places in the wheelchair handicap area.
The guest fans have covered and uncovered standing room in blocks N and O (1,557 standing room) as well as seats in block S1 (740 seats).
The following table shows the audience figures in recent years.
| season | total | cut | Share of annual tickets |
league |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998/99 | 129,080 | 7,593 | 799 | 2nd Bundesliga |
| 1999/00 | 180.246 | 10,603 | 877 | 2nd Bundesliga |
| 2000/01 | 280,564 | 16,504 | 7,440 | 1st National League |
| 2001/02 | 282.812 | 16,636 | 4,563 | 1st National League |
| 2002/03 | 223,669 | 13,157 | 6,987 | 1st National League |
| 2003/04 | 191.760 | 11,985 | 2,600 | 2nd Bundesliga |
| 2004/05 | 171,950 | 10.115 | 3,172 | 2nd Bundesliga |
| 2005/06 | 188,765 | 11,104 | not known | 2nd Bundesliga |
| 2006/07 | 270.496 | 15,912 | not known | 1st National League |
| 2007/08 | 279,427 | 16,437 | 6,250 | 1st National League |
| 2008/09 | 284.105 | 16,712 | 6,750 | 1st National League |
| 2009/10 | 183,355 | 10,786 | approx. 4,000 | 2nd Bundesliga |
| 2010/11 | 193.932 | 11,408 | not known | 2nd Bundesliga |
| 2011/12 | 191,627 | 11,272 | not known | 2nd Bundesliga |
| 2012/13 | 176,895 | 10,406 | not known | 2nd Bundesliga |
| 2013/14 | 164,666 | 9,686 | not known | 2nd Bundesliga |
| 2014/15 | 143.161 | 7,535 | not known | 3rd league |
| 2015/16 | 147.915 | 7,785 | not known | 3rd league |
| 2016/17 | 92,415 | 5,436 | not known | Regionalliga Northeast |
| 2017/18 | 89,478 | 5,263 | not known | Regionalliga Northeast |
| 2018/19 | 139.966 | 7,367 | 2500 | 3rd league |
gallery
Main entrance to the stadium before the north wall was built (2003)
View of the east stand from what was then the north curve (2004)
panorama
See also
Web links
- fcenergie.de: Information on the Stadium of Friendship on the club's website
- stadionwelt.de: Stadium guide
- stadiumdb.com: Data on the stadium (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Picture gallery: Stadium of friendship through the ages, lr-online.de
- ↑ focus.de
- ↑ The season ticket table for the 2018/19 season. Retrieved July 8, 2019 (German).