Stockhorn Arena (formerly known as Arena Thun) is a

football stadium Football stadium may refer to: * A stadium used in gridiron football, association football or Australian rules football * A soccer-specific stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sp ...

Thun , neighboring_municipalities= Amsoldingen, Heiligenschwendi, Heimberg, Hilterfingen, Homberg, Schwendibach, Spiez, Steffisburg, Thierachern, Uetendorf, Zwieselberg , twintown = , website = www.thun.ch Thun (french: Thoune) ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It has a capacity of 10,000 spectators and opened in 2011. It is the home of

FC Thun Fussballclub Thun 1898 is a Swiss football team from the Bernese Oberland town of Thun. The club plays in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of the Swiss football league system, following relegation from the Swiss Super League in the ...

of the

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

History

From 1954 until 2011,

Stadion Lachen Stadion Lachen is a multi-use stadium in Thun, Switzerland. It is currently used mostly for American Football matches of the Thun Tigers. The stadium was the home ground of FC Thun from 1954 until 2011. The stadium holds 10,350 and was built in ...

was the home ground of Swiss side FC Thun. In the early 2000s, however, the

Swiss Football League The Swiss football league system, is a series of interconnected leagues for association football clubs in Switzerland, with seven teams from Liechtenstein, and one each from exclaves of Germany and Italy, also competing. The system has a hierarchi ...

claimed that the old stadium did not meet the minimal stadium requirements and that it was no longer fit for football in the highest division. The club received an exemption to play at the Lachen for a few more years, but was asked either to renovate extensively or to build a new stadium. In 2006, the citizens of Thun refused to finance a new stadium with

public funds Government spending or expenditure includes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. In national income accounting, the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual o ...

, leaving FC Thun in a bind: without a new stadium the club would be ineligible to play professionally. General contractor HRS offered to finance a new stadium, with a shopping center on the same area (the Panorama Center), located 1.8 km northwest of Stadion Lachen. In 2007 the contracts were signed, and the construction work began in spring 2010. The new stadium - at that time called Arena Thun - was officially inaugurated on 9 July 2011, with a friendly match between 1. FC Köln and FC Thun. Köln's striker

Milivoje Novaković Milivoje Novaković (; sr-Cyrl, Миливоје Новаковић, ; born 18 May 1979) is a Slovenian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Club career Novaković spent his youth career at Olimpija where he remained unti ...

was the first player to score in the new arena (5'), and the game ended in a tie (2:2). In February 2014, the Arena Thun AG (operator of the stadium) sold the

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

to a new main sponsor/partner: Stockhornbahn AG (which runs an

aerial cableway An aerial tramway, sky tram, cable car, ropeway, aerial tram, telepherique, or seilbahn is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion. With this form of lift, the grip ...

to the

Stockhorn The Stockhorn is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking the region of Lake Thun in the Bernese Oberland. It is located north of the town of Erlenbach im Simmental. The Stockhorn is high and is accessible via cable car from Erlenbach. It ...

). The stadium was renamed Stockhorn Arena at that time, with an official ceremony held on 12 April 2014, on the occasion of the match between

FC Aarau FC Aarau is a Swiss football club based in Aarau. They play in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football after being relegated from Swiss Super League. History FC Aarau was formed on 26 May 1902 by workers from a local ...

and FC Thun. The Stockhorn Arena in 2019

Structure

The stadium is located near the A6 motorway, close to the exit ''Thun Süd'', approximately 2 km west from downtown Thun and the railway station. The Stockhorn Arena, with a capacity of 10,000, is equipped with artificial turf (KR FIFA-2-Star-certified). The pitch is long by wide.

International matches

Men's national teams

Women's national teams

Other teams

From time to time matches of the

Switzerland national under-21 football team The Switzerland national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Switzerland and is controlled by the Swiss Football Association. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two ...

are also held at the Stockhorn Arena.

Gallery

Arena.thun.night.jpg, Interior Panorama Center Arena Thun.jpg, Panorama

References

Football venues in the Canton of Bern FC Thun Sports venues in the Canton of Bern Sports venues completed in 2011 {{Switzerland-sports-venue-stub