The Wankdorf Stadium (; between 2005 and 2020 known as Stade de Suisse) is a football stadium in Bern, Switzerland. The second largest all-seater football stadium in Switzerland, it currently serves as the home ground of the Swiss football team BSC Young Boys. It was also one of the venues used during the

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

History

The present-day Stadion Wankdorf was built on the grounds of the former

Wankdorf Stadium The Wankdorf Stadium (german: Wankdorfstadion, ) was a football stadium in the Wankdorf quarter of Bern, Switzerland, and the former home of Swiss club BSC Young Boys. It was built in 1925, and as well as serving as a club stadium, it hosted se ...

, which hosted the 1954 FIFA World Cup Final (''The Miracle of Bern''), and was then demolished in 2001. The new stadium has a capacity of 32,000 spectators, all seated. Integrated into the roof are solar panels with a yearly production of 1,200,000 kWh. The stadium was officially opened on 30 July 2005, although the first match in the new stadium had already taken place on 16 July 2005. Young Boys played against

Olympique Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

and lost 2–3 with 14,000 spectators watching. The match was considered an "infrastructure test", which is why no more than 14,000 tickets were sold. The stadium was used by

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 ...

for three Champions League home matches in 2005, and for one home match in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

round of 32 in 2006. Fifteen years after the new stadium opened in 2005 (back then called ''Stade de Suisse''), it was renamed ''Stadion Wankdorf'' in June 2020, in an effort to return to the stadium's roots.Bern hat wieder ein Wankdorfstadion
''bernerzeitung.ch'', 29 June 2020 (in German) The Wankdorf stadium before a match between Young Boys and Red Star Belgrade

The Wankdorf stadium before a match between Young Boys and Red Star Belgrade

The Wankdorf Stadium before a Champions League Match (2021)

Concerts

Bruce Springsteen performed at the stadium on 30 June 2009 as part of the

Working on a Dream Tour The Working on a Dream Tour was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which began in April 2009 and ended in November 2009. It followed the late January 2009 release of the album '' Working on a Dream''. This was the first ...

in front of a sold out crowd of 36,538 people. AC/DC performed at the stadium on 8 June 2010 as part of their

Black Ice World Tour The Black Ice World Tour was a 2008–2010 concert tour by Australian rock band AC/DC, in support of their fifteenth studio album ''Black Ice'', which was released on 20 October 2008. This tour had 8 legs around the world lasting more than 20 m ...

and on 29 May 2016 during the

Rock or Bust World Tour Rock or Bust World Tour was a 2015–2016 concert tour by Australian rock band AC/DC, in support of their sixteenth studio album ''Rock or Bust'', which was released on 28 November 2014. This tour had 7 legs around the world lasting more than ...

with

Axl Rose W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose Jr.; born February 6, 1962) is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its incep ...

as lead singer.

P!nk Alecia Beth Moore Hart (born September 8, 1979), known professionally as Pink (stylized as P!nk), is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She was originally a member of the girl group Choice. In 1995, LaFace Records saw potential ...

performed at the stadium on 10 July 2010 during The Funhouse Summer Carnival.

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

performed a sold-out show at the stadium on 15 June 2013 as part of their

The 2nd Law World Tour The 2nd Law World Tour was a worldwide concert tour by English alternative rock band Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of lit ...

. Bon Jovi performed at the stadium on 31 May 2006 during their

Have a Nice Day Tour The Have a Nice Day Tour was a worldwide concert tour by American rock band Bon Jovi. It took place between November 2005 and July 2006. The tour supported their ninth studio album '' Have a Nice Day''. The tour was a significant commercial suc ...

, in front of a sold out crowd of 38,762 people. The band performed at the stadium for the second time on 30 June 2013 during their Because We Can, in front of a sold out crowd of 28,868 people. Depeche Mode performed at the stadium on 7 June 2013 during their Delta Machine Tour, in front of a sold out crowd of 39,241 people.

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the g ...

performed at the stadium on 4 July 2014 during their Where We Are Tour. On 15 July 2017,

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

brought her Celine Dion Live 2017 tour to the stadium. She performed her sold out show to 23,143 people, with a mixed set list of English and French. On 5 June 2019

Rammstein Rammstein (, "ramming stone") is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band formed in Berlin in 1994. The band's lineup—consisting of lead vocalist Till Lindemann, lead guitarist Richard Kruspe, rhythm guitarist Paul Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel, ...

performed in Bern during their

Europe Stadium Tour 2019 The Rammstein Stadium Tour is the seventh concert tour by German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein, originally in support of their 2019 untitled studio album, but then '' Zeit'' as well in 2022 and 2023, with a total of 58 shows in 2019. It ...

. The concert was sold out in several hours.

The Hot Seat

A peculiar feature of the Wankdorf Stadium is the presence of a single, red seat (the other seats are black and yellow). This was the first seat installed at the stadium, on 20 January 2005, and the honour of unveiling it was given to former Young Boys player and manager

Walter Eich Walter Eich (27 May 1925 – 1 June 2018) was a Swiss football goalkeeper who played for Switzerland in the 1954 FIFA World Cup. He also played for FC Winterthur FC Winterthur is a Swiss football club based in Winterthur, Canton of Zürich. ...

. There are no tickets available for this seat; every game the seat is occupied by a notable personality, often with ties to Young Boys.

Ice hockey attendance record

The Wankdorf Stadium with its artificial turf surface was an ideal candidate to provide Europe its first "new era" outdoor attendance record for ice hockey.Joeri Loone
Unique occasion sets new European visitor record
EuroHockey.Net, 15 January 2007 On 14 January 2007, the massive local rivalry of

SC Bern Schlittschuh Club Bern ('' Ice-skating Club Bern'' in English) is an ice hockey team based in Bern, Switzerland. They play in the National League (NL), the top tier of the Swiss hockey league system. For the 18th year in a row, the club is the mos ...

and SC Langnau managed to fill the Stade de Suisse with 30,076 fans, an event which was sold out within 53 hours of tickets going on sale. These two rivals regularly fill SC Bern's home venue

Bern Arena The PostFinance-Arena (originally known as Eisstadion Allmend and Bern Arena) is an indoor arena in Bern, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of SC Bern. It was opened in October 1967 and currently accommodates 1 ...

with over 17,000 spectators.

Matches

UEFA Euro 2008

The stadium was one of the venues for the

. The

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played all three games at the stadium during the tournament:

International matches

References

External links

Stadion Wankdorf
bscyb.ch (in German)
Events
bscyb.ch (in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stadion Wankdorf UEFA Euro 2008 stadiums in Switzerland Football venues in the Canton of Bern Switzerland Outdoor ice hockey venues in Switzerland Buildings and structures in Bern Sports venues in the Canton of Bern Sports venues completed in 2005 2005 establishments in Switzerland