SpVgg Greuther Fürth hopes that its recent successes will translate in the construction of a new stadium. The current leader of the 2. Bundesliga and semi-finalist of the DFB-Pokal has for years expressed the wish to move to a new stadium, but it now finally seems to be coming off the ground.
Greuther Fürth currently plays its home matches at the Trolli Stadion, previously called Palymobil-Stadion, which though it underwent various renovations in the last 15 years, has by no means the facilities of the new generation of newly built German arenas.
The Trolli Stadion has a capacity of 15,200 places, which would make it by far the smallest stadium in the Bundesliga may the club get promoted, which is still far from sure though. That said, even with the current successes Greuther Fürth generally isn’t able to completely fill the stadium, with the club facing stiff competition of neighbour 1. FC Nürnberg (Fürth is a suburb of Nürnberg).
A site has already been selected for the new stadium, which will be built in the south of Fürth along the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal. The rest of the plans however still remain vague.
The club does have a vision though of what the stadium should look like. According to Holger Schwiewagner, vice-president of SpVgg, the new stadium will have an English character, with steep stands close to the pitch and relatively many standing places. It will also be a “green” stadium, that is, environmentally friendly.
The vice-president furthermore lauded Mainz’s new Coface Arena, a pure football stadium, which according to Schwiewagner would match better with the club culture than a multifunctional arena.
But despite the vague plans, the timeline is ambitious. If it is up to the city and club there will be a brand new stadium for Greuther Fürth at the start of the 2014/2015 season.
Photo: © Wikipedia user Crossy.