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Constructed across a two year period starting in 2003, Stade de Suisse officially opened on the 30th July 2005 with the inaugural match held two weeks prior in what the organisers called “an infrastructure test”. Limited to just 14,000 tickets, Young Boys entertained Olympique Marseilles in an entertaining 3-2 defeat in preparation for the upcoming 2005/2006 season. Constructed in order to be one of the Swiss venues of Euro 2008 which was co-hosted with Austria, the 32,000 capacity ground staged three Group C Matches including three Netherlands matches against Italy, France and Romania. Before the tournament Stade de Suisse gained experience of hosting big matches when FC Thun used the venue for their home matches during the 2005/2006 Champions League and subsequent match in the UEFA Cup. During the group stages Stade de Suisse Wankdorf welcomed the likes of Ajax, Sparta Prague and eventual tournament finalists Arsenal. As Thun finished 3rd they qualified for the knock-out stages of the UEFA Cup and this time Stade de Suisse hosted another European match against German side Hamburg. Young Boys failed to progress to the group stages of this competition during this period after failing to win their qualification matches during for consecutive seasons. Today, Stade de Suisse remains the second largest stadium Switzerland ahead of FC Basel’s St. Jakob Park and continues to be regarded as one of the best mid-sized venues in Europe. Intended to be used as the Swiss national stadium, the use of artificial turf has prohibited the team’s regular usage of the stadium with natural grass laid to meet UEFA regulations during the 2008 tournament. It is also famous for being environmentally friendly, as the roofs are covered in Solar Panels.

TRAIN The main railway station of Bern is located a few kilometres away from Stade de Suisse which means Bern Wankdorf station is the closest. Situated five minutes north of the stadium, it forms part of the S-Bahn lines with services running a few times an hour. TRAM Bern Tramway Network offers far greater coverage than the S-Bahn trainline, and thus is way more popular with football fans and local residents. The nearest stop is Bern, Wankdorf Center along the Papiermuhlestrasse which runs adjacent to the stadium. BUS As the nearest bus stop is located next to the Wankdorf Center tram stop it isn’t quite as popular, however the number 40 could be a decent back up if you’re stranded. DRIVING The stadium’s address is as follows: Papiermuehle Street 71, 3000 Bern, Switzerland Car Parks Parking is severely limited at Stade de Suisse, and it’s recommended that you instead take some form of public transport. AIRPORT AND FLYING Bern is served by a small international airport known as Bern-Belp (BRN) which is situated 6.8km south-east of the traditional city centre. You can catch direct flights from London, Paris, Barcelona and Munich to name but four European destinations.