Stade de Suisse Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Bern
Construction
Wankdorf

Location	Papiermühlestrasse 71 CH-3022 Bern, Switzerland
Coordinates	46°57′47.40″N 7°27′53.40″E / 46.9631667°N 7.4648333°E / 46.9631667; 7.4648333
Owner	Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Nationalstadion AG
Operator	Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Nationalstadion AG
Capacity	32,000 (Football) 45,000 (Concerts)
Surface	FIFA 2-Star Synthetic: Polytan Ligaturf 240
Broke ground	2003
Opened	July 30, 2005
Construction cost	CHF 350 million (2005)
Architect	Marazzi Generalunternehmung AG
Tenants
BSC Young Boys

The Stade de Suisse Wankdorf is a big football stadium in Bern, Switzerland. It is the home field for the Berner Sport Club Young Boys, a well-known Swiss football team. People often just call it the "Wankdorf". This stadium is currently the second largest football stadium in Switzerland. It has seats for 32,000 people. The field is 105 meters long and 68 meters wide. It has a special surface called artificial turf, which is like fake grass. The Wankdorf was also one of the places where games were played for the European Football Championship in 2008.

About the Stadium Building
European Football Championship 2008
The Special "Hot Seat"
Images for kids
See also

About the Stadium Building

The Stade de Suisse was built on the same spot where an older stadium, the Wankdorf Stadium, used to be. The old stadium was torn down in 2001. Building the new stadium cost 350 million Swiss francs, which is the money used in Switzerland.

The stadium has solar panels on its roof. These panels help to create electricity from the sun. There are also many shops inside the stadium building. The stadium is about 2 kilometers away from the main part of the city.

The Stade de Suisse officially opened its doors on July 30, 2005. However, the very first football game was played there a bit earlier, on July 16, 2005. In that first game, the BSC Young Boys played against the Olympique Marseille team. The Young Boys lost the game with a score of 2-3. About 14,000 people came to watch this first match.

Even though the building's official name is "Stade de Suisse, Berne, Wankdorf", most people simply call it the "Wankdorf". Besides football, the stadium has also hosted Hockey games and big musical concerts.

European Football Championship 2008

The Wankdorf stadium was chosen as one of the places to host games for the European Football Championship in 2008. This big tournament is often called Euro 2008. Three football games from the tournament were played at the Wankdorf.

For Euro 2008, the stadium's usual artificial turf was temporarily replaced with real grass. After the championship was over, the stadium workers removed the real grass. They put the artificial turf back in its place.

The Special "Hot Seat"

All the seats in the Stade de Suisse are either black or yellow. But there is one special red seat in a section called "Sector A". This unique seat is known as the "hot seat".

The ticket for the "hot seat" is often given to people who are very important to the BSC Young Boys team. This includes former players or famous visitors. The very first person to sit in the "hot seat" was Walter Eirich. He was a very successful goalkeeper for the BSC Young Boys team.