Stadiums of football have always been a heaven for their fans. They treasure their favourite club’s stadium and consider it a home. Among the top stadiums that have become an icon all over the world, Borussia Dortmund’s stadium is also seen as heaven not only just by their fans but also by the fans of other clubs because of its beauty and environment. Here are 10 interesting facts about Signal Iduna Park.
1. Construction
The construction of Signal Iduna Park started in 1971 and was completely built in 1974. The construction cost was €45million.
2. Location and its other name
Signal Iduna Park is also known as Westfalenstadion which translates as Westphalia Stadium. It is located in North Rhine-Westphalia which is a German state in western Germany. The reason why Westphalia stadium is officially known as Signal Iduna Park is due to a sponsorship deal.
3. Capacity
Signal Iduna Park is one of the most famous stadiums and is known worldwide because of the energetic environment created by the fans. It has a total capacity of 81,365.
4. World’s 10th Largest Stadium
It is the world’s 10th largest football stadium and Europe’s second biggest stadium that is owned by the club, only behind FC Barcelona’s Camp Nou. At the international level, the standing capacity is removed and the stadium’s capacity becomes 65,829.
5. Record of most attendance
It holds the European record of having the most fan attendance by any club. In the season 2011-12, the clubs recorded 1.37 million fans over 17 games which makes an 80,588 fan average per game.
6. The Famous Yellow Wall
The south terrace which is called “The Yellow Wall” is the biggest standing terrace in Europe with a capacity of 24,454. It is so popular because of the energetic environment it produces in every game.
7. Matches
Apart from the matches at the domestic level, this stadium has also hosted many matches at the international level like the 1974 and 2006 FIFA World Cups. Signal Iduna Park also hosted the 2001 UEFA Euro Cup Final. Many qualification matches and International friendlies for European and International tournaments have also been played there.
8. How it was built
In 1966, after Borussia Dortmund became the first German side to win the European cup winners’ cup, the club realized that they need to increase the capacity of their stadium which was at that time called Stadion Rote Erde. This stadium had a capacity of just 42,000 and when their fans increased after winning the European cup, the club asked for funds to increase the capacity of their stadium, but the government was not willing to help. When the city of Cologne was forced to withdraw its plans of hosting the 1974 FIFA World Cup, Dortmund was selected as the host. Then the government invested and built the new Westfalenstadion.
9. Ownership
The property of Westfalenstadion belonged to the city of Dortmund and then was sold to Club Borussia Dortmund. When the club faced financial problems they sold it to a real estate trust in 2002. Borussia Dortmund repurchased their stadium in 2006 with the help of a loan from Morgan Stanley which is an investment banking company.
10. Naming Rights
The reason Westfalenstadion is now called Signal Iduna Park is because Borussia sold the naming rights of their stadium to an insurance company called Signal Iduna in 2005. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the stadium was called “FIFA World Cup Stadium, Dortmund” .