Ronhof sports park

Ronhof sports park
	Ronhof
	Exterior view of the stadium, 2019
Earlier names
	Sports field on Ronhofer Weg opposite the central cemetery (1910–1997); Stadium am Laubenweg (2014-2016);
Sponsor name (s)
	Playmobil Stadium (1997-2010); Trolli Arena (2010-2014); Sportpark Ronhof Thomas Sommer (since 2016);
Data
place	Laubenweg 60 90765 Fürth , Germany;
Coordinates	49 ° 29 '13 " N , 10 ° 59' 57" E Coordinates: 49 ° 29 '13 " N , 10 ° 59' 57" E
owner	Conny Brandstätter
operator	SpVgg Greuther Fürth GmbH & Co. KGaA
opening	September 11, 1910
surface	Natural grass
capacity	16,626 seats
Societies)
	SpVgg Greuther Fürth;

The Sportpark Ronhof ( officially Sportpark Ronhof Thomas Sommer due to a name sponsorship ) is a football stadium in Fürth , Bavaria, in Middle Franconia . The soccer club SpVgg Greuther Fürth plays its home games here. The system is located in the eponymous district of Ronhof near the A73 .

history

It started out as a sports field on Ronhofer Weg

On September 11, 1910, the stadium with the name Sportplatz on Ronhofer Weg opposite the central cemetery was inaugurated on the territory of the then still independent community of Ronhof . A small wooden grandstand and standing walls offered space for around 8,000 people. The SpVgg (Greuther) Fürth is one of those German football clubs that have been playing on their current site for a long time.

Just a year later, the grandstand was enlarged and provided with changing rooms and showers. This allowed 10,000 spectators to watch the games. In 1919 the stadium was enlarged again - higher earth walls and wider standing steps now offered space for 25,000 people.

In April 1945 the grandstand was hit in an air raid and burned out. An uncovered auxiliary stand was in operation until May 20, 1951, when the new construction of the main stand was inaugurated. It stood with few external changes until it was demolished in 2016.

The stadium had a record number of visitors shortly before the inauguration: On April 1st, 30,000 spectators came to the game of SpVgg Fürth against 1. FC Nürnberg , who broke the barriers to the field. Nevertheless, everything remained peaceful and the game ended 1-0. This record was set again on April 3, 1952, when 32,000 visitors also filled the stadium against 1. FC Nürnberg. The game ended 3: 3.

In 1983 the Sportpark Ronhof was sold to Horst Brandstätter ( Playmobil ) due to the heavy debts of the SpVgg .

In 1996, the football section of the joined TSV Vestenbergsgreuth of Fuerth SpVgg 1903 at and the club name was changed to SpVgg Greuther Fürth changed. The stadium of SpVgg Fürth - the Ronhof - was chosen as the venue. With promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga in 1997, the stadium had to meet new requirements. So far there has been no subdivision of blocks, no floodlights, an analog score display and no separation of the guest fans. After both Horst Brandstätter and the city of Fürth were convinced of the importance of the renovation work, the company could begin.

On July 19, 1997, the new Playmobil stadium was inaugurated with a game against TSV 1860 Munich. The home side won 1-0. The capacity decreased from around 2,500 seats and 24,500 standing places to 5,000 seats and 9,500 standing places. The main grandstand (2,500 seats) as well as the south grandstand (4,300 standing places) and Block 1 (700 standing places) were retained in their previous form - however, fences were built to separate the fan groups. The north stand (4,500 standing places) was built with precast concrete parts - the back straight (2,500 seats) consists of a tubular steel stand with plastic seats and a Teflon roof. In addition, a video screen was installed, the entrance area redesigned and new cash registers built.

In July 1999 the south stand was leveled and a tubular steel construction was built for seating and standing. With the completion in August, the new floodlight was inaugurated. The standing room on the south stand offers space for around 1200 guests, the seating capacity is 4,500.

In August 2003 the stadium received a new video wall. This was renewed three years later. The current scoreboard is 9.23 by 6.78 meters.

During the summer break of 2007, turf heating was relocated, new seats for the main grandstand were installed and the old block 1 was torn down. In the summer of 2008, the standing stands of the north stand were roofed over. In addition, the corners between the opposite stand and the adjoining blocks were closed with media walls. A modular VIP building for 700 spectators was built on the site of the former Block 1.

Since 2010, the entire stadium has been seated in the club colors white and green, the back straight bears the word clover leaf . The former main stand has been repainted. In 2011, the formerly colored floodlights were painted white and green and fans redesigned the breakwaters and the entrance area of the north stand.

After interim planning for the construction of a new stadium on the Main-Danube Canal in the south of the city, SpVgg Greuther Fürth extended the lease contract with the owner until 2040 in November 2012.

In August 2015, the lease was renewed once more, currently until 2050. At the same time, it was decided to build the main grandstand. The renovation took place in two phases: Phase 1, which included the demolition of the now 60-year-old main grandstand and a subsequent new construction with VIP gangs, started in January 2016 and was completed by July 2017. In addition to the renovation of the grandstand, the infrastructure around the stadium was also expanded. The previous training grounds behind the stadium have been replaced by car parking spaces, for which a circular road has been drawn around the stadium. During the new building, temporary containers were used for changing rooms and media rooms, which were set up behind the back straight. The players entered the stadium interior through the open corner between the north stand and the back straight. In the second construction phase, which should have lasted until December 2017, but was delayed by several changes of architects and was only completed at the beginning of the 2017/18 season, the interior of the new main grandstand was set up. In addition to the infrastructure for the football events, this also received meeting and conference rooms. These replace the previous VIP north building, which has already been dismantled and sold. In its place, the main stand was extended to the north. The gap to the north stand was closed before the 2018/19 season. It is also planned to extend the main stand to the south, which will replace blocks A and B.

The German women's national soccer team has so far used the stadium for three international matches. The meetings took place on September 23, 1999 against Ukraine , on March 4, 2004 against China and on April 8, 2015 against Brazil .

capacity

After SpVgg Greuther Fürth's promotion to the Bundesliga in 2012, the south stand was rebuilt, increasing the capacity of the stadium by 3,000 to 18,000. The south stand, where the guest area is located, was completely covered. With the completion of the new main grandstand, the capacity was reduced to 16,626 seats, since in the adjoining blocks A and B in the south no more tickets are sold for reasons of visibility. The capacity is divided as follows:

Main grandstand: the main grandstand, which was completed in summer 2018, offers space for almost 2,700 spectators. It is completely covered and also contains VIP gangs as well as meeting and conference rooms.
North stand: It was built in 1997 as a stand-alone stand and, during renovation work in 2008, it was roofed over together with the anteroom of the stand, making it weatherproof. There is space for 4,200 people in four blocks on the north stand, with the Fürth ultra groups having found their home in block 12, which was set up as part of the renovation in 2008 and is located between blocks 3 and 4.
Back straight: The back straight was also built in 1997 in place of the old back straight with the legendary poplars, which fell victim to the renovation. It is purely a seating grandstand, offers space for around 2,500 people and is the lowest grandstand in the stadium. A beer garden has been located behind it since 2018. In addition, the family block was moved from the south stand to the area of the back straight adjacent to the north stand.
South curve: The new south curve was also built after the ascent in 2012 in place of the old south stand. The new grandstand was completely roofed over and provided with its own floodlights, as the roof restricts the light field of the floodlights. In front of blocks A and B there is a raised and covered platform with a ramp for wheelchair users. The only built-up curve in the stadium is occupied by the standing grandstand "Der Lohner", which is named after the late former club president Edgar Burkart , known as Lohner. Behind the gate there is a grandstand with seats, which is built a little lower in the area of the display board. Adjacent to this is the guest block, the standing area of which was taken over from times before the ascent without any changes. In total, the south stand offers space for around 8,300 people.

The corners of the stadium - with the exception of the southern corner on the side of the main stand - are currently not built with grandstands. While there are two large billboards and the floodlight masts on the side of the back straight, a view from the entrance area of the north stand between the north and main stands is possible on the north side of the main stand. There is also a floodlight pole here. There is also a passage between the main stand and the south curve, so that theoretically you can see a few square meters of the playing field from the street without a ticket. With 8,500 seats, there is a little more seating than standing (8,126). All places are covered.

System for visually impaired fans

Under the motto “Hear what others see”, a headphone system was tested for the first time in 2005, which enables visually impaired fans to get commentary on the game directly in the stadium. Fans / Ultras of SpVgg Greuther Fürth collected donations for this purpose (around 3,000 euros), and so the project was implemented in 2006.

Name sponsorship

From 1997 to 2010 the Ronhof was officially called the Playmobil Stadium . At that time, Horst Brandstätter , inventor and owner of Playmobil , owned the stadium.

At the beginning of the 2010/11 season, Mederer Süßwarenvertriebs GmbH (now Trolli GmbH) bought the naming rights to the stadium. Between July 2010 and June 2014 the stadium was called Trolli Arena .

From the expiry of the sponsorship agreement on July 1, 2014 to February 1, 2016, the Ronhof was temporarily used as the official name of Stadion am Laubenweg .

In February 2016, it was renamed Sportpark Ronhof Thomas Sommer . The new name is made up of the traditional name of the stadium and that of the real estate agent Thomas Sommer , who was born in Fürth and who became the name sponsor until summer 2021. In August 2019, Sommer confirmed the extension of the sponsorship contract beyond 2021, regardless of the league. The SpVgg's contract brings in half a million euros a year. In November 2019 it was announced that the sponsorship agreement was extended until 2025.