The Vonovia Ruhrstadion is a soccer stadium located in Bochum in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is the home of VfL Bochum. The stadium has a capacity of 29,299 covered seats of which 16,174 are seated and 13,125 are standing.
Capacity
29.299
Opened in
July 1979
About the Building
In 1911, Spiel und Sport Bochum rented a meadow from a local farmer to make it their new playground. The club played the first match at the new venue against VfB Hamm in front of 500 spectators. TuS Bochum did not build a stadium until after World War I until 1921. This stadium had an initial capacity of over 50,000 people. Capacity which was reduced by numerous modifications.
The stadium was enlarged between March 1976 and July 1979, and the first match took place on July 21, 1979 between VfL Bochum and SG Wattenscheid 09. This extension could technically be considered a complete reconstruction.
In 2006, a five-year naming rights agreement was concluded with Stadtwerke Bochum to rename the stadium rewirpowerSTADION . In 2016, the stadium’s name was officially changed to Vonovia Ruhrstadion , with the first part of the name being its new sponsor, the German housing association Vonovia, located in Bochum.
The stadium hosted a UEFA Champions League match between CSKA Moscow and Rangers in December 1992, as the teams were unable to play in Moscow for weather reasons.
Photo Gallery
© Simon Bierwald / Vonovia
© VfL Bochum 1848 / Vonovia
