1.FC NÜRNBERG
AUGUST 2023
Founded: May 4, 1900
Club Members: 27,224
Nickname: Der Club
Coach: Christian Fiél
Captain: Enrico Valentini
German Champions / Bundesliga: 9
DFB-Pokal: 4
Bundesliga.2 Champions: 4
Website: www.fcn.de
Based in the proud merchant city of Nuremberg, no club recalls the old days of German football quite like 1. FC Nürnberg or simply Der Club do. Despite having been constant underachievers for much of their history, they are one of the most traditional and respected clubs in all of Germany and draw exclusively on their glorious past to retain a huge fan base in Franconia and beyond.
The club was founded as 1. Fußball-Club Nürnberg Verein für Leibesübungen e. V. (also known as 1.FCN) in 1900 by a group of young men who gathered at a local pub called Burenhütte to play football rather than rugby which, as one of the other new 'English' games, was gaining popularity in Germany at the time.
Before the inauguration of the Bundesliga in 1963, 1.FCN, along with near neighbours Greuther Fürth, were pioneers in the development of German football when the country was otherwise more focussed on athletics and gymnastics. In 1924, for the first and only time, the German national team was made up exclusively of players from the two sides and they travelled together by train to a match against The Netherlands in Amsterdam. However, such was the rivalry between the two clubs at the time, 1.FCN players sat in the front carriage, Fürth players in the rear carriage and manager Georg B Blaschke was left sitting in the middle. During the match itself, a Fürth player opened the scoring but was congratulated only by his Fürth team mates. Things got to such a level that Hans Sutor, who was one of Fürth’s star players at the time, was forced to leave the club after he married a girl from Nuremburg.
After initially competing in the Oberliga Süd (Southern German Championship), 1.FCN won their first title in 1916 before adding their first German championship in 1920. During a period of sustained success in the early part of the 20th Century they went on win a total of 11 regional championships, including the Oberliga Süd in 1945, and were German national champions another seven times.
However, maintaining this success following the formation of the Bundesliga structure has proved beyond them and Der Club currently hold the unwanted record of being relegated from the top tier the most times. One of these relegations was the result of the worst meltdown in Bundesliga history. Going into the last game of the 1998-99 season, 1.FCN were sat comfortably in 12th place, three points and a better goal difference clear of Eintracht Frankfurt in the final relegation spot. The club had also jumped the gun by sending renewal letters to season ticket holders celebrating the fact they had 'secured' their place in the Bundesliga for another year. However, despite having much easier matches on paper than the clubs around them, 1.FCN lost their final match and because of a big win for Eintracht and results elsewhere, the season ended with them being relegated. They have however won the Bundesliga in 1968 (only to become the only reigning champions in Bundesliga history to be relegated the following season!), and lifted the DFB-Pokal on four occasions with the most recent time being in 2007 after a 3-2 victory over VfB Stuttgart in the final.
Video used with the kind permission of Stadiums From The Sky
- Drone Footage of Stadiums All Over The World
GROUND DETAILS
Ground Name: Max Morlock Stadion
Architect: Otto Ernst Schweitzer
Built: 1926 - 1928
Year Opened: 1928
Renovations: 1988 - 1991, 2002 - 2006
Capacity: 50,000 (13,229 standing)
Executive Boxes: 19
Business Seats: 1,157
Media Seats: 152
Wheelchair Spaces: 95
Construction Costs: €58.5m
Undersoil Heating: Yes
Running Track: Yes
Floodlights: 1,800 lux
LED Video Screens: 60m² x 2
Playing Surface: Natural Grass
Pitch Size: 105m x 68m
Website: www.stadion-nuernberg.de
Grounds:
Städtisches Stadion (1928 - 1945)
Victory Stadium (1945 - 1961) *
Städtisches Stadion (1961 - 1991) *
Frankenstadion (1991 - 2006) *
easyCredit Stadion (2006 - 2012) *
Stadion Nürnberg (2012 - 2013) *
Grundig Stadion (2013 - 2016) *
Stadion Nürnberg (2016 - 2017) *
Max Morlock Stadion (2017 - ) *
* Stadium Renamed
The Max Morlock Stadion has been known at various times in the past as the Städtisches Stadion, Victory Stadion, Frankenstadion, Easy Credit Stadion, Grundig Stadion and Stadion Nurnberg; and with its elongated octagonal shape and sharp contours, the ground is the only one of its kind in Germany.
Opened in 1928 with a capacity of 40,000, the ground was expanded to 65,000 during the 1960s and subsequently hosted the European Cup Winners Cup Final in 1967. It was also chosen as a host stadium for both the 1974 and 2006 World Cups. In 2017, following a campaign by supporters, it was renamed after club legend Max Morlock who was part of the West German side that lifted the World Cup in 1954.
It has four stands (imaginatively named North, South, East and West) and is a two-tiered affair with the lower tier being continuous around the ground. The upper tier however isn't connected to the main stand. The construction is covered by an unusual twin cantilevered roof with one seemingly 'hung' beneath the other and a running track which sets the stands a distance back from the playing area. As a result, the stadium's unusual sightlines does mean that if you're sat high up in the lower tier, you may have a problem being able to see from one goal to the other. Nürnberg's most vocal support gather in the Nordkurve, whilst the visitors' section is made up of gates 23, 24 and 25 of the opposite stand.
The stadium underwent an extensive €56 million renovation in preparation for Germany’s hosting of the 2006 World Cup, and it currently has a capacity of 50,000. Feasibility studies have been commissioned by the club to explore the possibility of building a new stadium on the same site, although nothing has been announced officially regarding plans at this stage.
BUYING TICKETS
Ticket Office:
Website: www.fcn.de/tickets/
Telephone: +49 (0) 911 94079888
Email: ticketing@fcn.de
Average Attendance:
2022-2023: 30,341 (Bundesliga.2)
2021-2022: 20,370 (Bundesliga.2) *
2020-2021: N/A *
2019-2020: 22,649 (Bundesliga.2) *
2018-2019: 40,372 (Bundesliga)
* Season affected by COVID pandemic
Expected Ticket Availability
Having been relegated from the Bundesliga (for a record ninth time) in 2020, 1. FC Nurnberg are currently plying their trade in Bundesliga.2 so apart from potential DFB-Pokal ties against Borussia Dortmund or Bayern München (known around these parts as 'The Bavarian Derby') you shouldn't have any issues getting hold of a ticket - although, having said that, it might be worth keeping an eye on availability for the 'Franken Derby' against SpVgg Greuther Fürth.
The club website is presented in both German and English language versions which makes buying your match ticket very straightforward and the process also includes convenient Print@Home or Mobile Ticket options.
If things weren’t already easy enough, the site also offers people who may be unfamiliar with the stadium’s unusual sightlines a 360° Virtual Tour of each section of the ground so that you can see what the view from your chosen seat area is before you commit to purchasing. Using this facility, we found that the view from the seats in the second tier of the Gegentribune (East Stand - Blocks 16 and 18) gave a great view of the Nuremburg Ultras in the lower North Stand behind the goal to the right, and of the away following at the opposite end of the stadium. Tickets are also available at the ticket office a short walk from the Max Morlock Stadion at the club's training ground (Valznerweiherstraße 200, 90480 Nürnberg; 10am-6pm Mon-Fri; 10am - 30 minutes before kick-off on matchdays; tel: +44 (0) 911 94079888; email: ticketing@fcn.de)
For the 2023-24 season, FCN are adopting a three-tier (A-C) approach to pricing matches. According to the club website, the derby against SpVgg Greuther Fürth and home clashes against Hertha BSC, FC Schalke 04 and Hamburger SV are included in the 'A' category of games which sees about €5 added to the normal cost of tickets. Matches against FC St Pauli, Hannover 96, Hansa Rostock, Fortuna Düsseldorf, SC Paderborn 07, Karlsruher SC, 1. FC Magdeburg and 1.FC Kaiserslautern fall into category 'B'.
Depending on the opposition facing FCN therefore and where you want to watch the action from, full-paying adults will pay between €32 - €56 for seats and €17-19 to stand on the terraces. Discounts are available for seniors, students, disabled people; and children (aged 6-14). Even smaller people are allowed in free of charge on a 'lap ticket' which, as the name implies, doesn't entitle them to a seat of their own but requires them instead to sit on their parent's lap. Prices for the ESW Familienblock Haupttribüne (Family Stand) are €27 - €34 for adults and €9.5 - €12 per child (aged 6-14); and €25 - €31 per adult and €9 - €11 for the ESW Familienblock in the Gegengerade.
Information about visiting the Max Morlock Stadion for fans with disabilities can be found at:
www.bundesliga-reisefuehrer.de
GETTING THERE & AWAY
Stadium Address:
Max-Morlock-Platz
1 90471 Nuremberg, Deutschland
BY CAR:
Approaching Nuremberg from the A9, take the exit marked Fischbach; from the A6, take the exit marked Nürnberg-Langwasser and if coming from the southwest along the A73 take the exit at Nürnberg-Zollhaus or Nürnberg-Zentrum. Then as you enter the city limits you'll start picking up signs to the stadium via Europe's most extensive Dynamic Traffic Guidance system! There are 12,000 car parking spaces available at the ground itself and disabled parking pass holders can park free of charge at car park S5 which can be accessed from Regensburger Straße.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT:
From the city centre, a 10 minute ride on S-Bahn lines S2 or S3 (S3 operates on matchdays only) will take you to Frankenstadion and it’s no more than a five minute walk from here to the Max Morlock Stadion.
You can also jump on trams 6 or 8 to either the Dutzendteich or Doku-Zentrum stops and walk 10 minutes through parkland to the ground.
Bus lines 44, 45 and 65 also run to the Doku-Zentrum and Duzenteich stops. Bus 55 stops at Frankenstadion (at major events in the Max Morlock Stadium the line only runs Langwasser Mitte – Max -Grundig-Platz). Your match ticket is valid from five hours prior to kick-off until 3am the following day throughout the whole VGN network. However, to use a Print@Home ticket as a transport ticket you must remember to click on the option to ‘personalise’ your ticket when buying online.
WALKING DIRECTIONS:
The Max Morlock stadium is around three miles from the centre of Nuremburg and your match ticket includes the cost of public transport. If you fancy the walk however, Google Maps will be able to plan the route for you.
FAN SHOP, MUSEUM & STADIUM TOURS
FAN SHOP:
There is a club shop (Service-Center am Stadion; 10am-6pm, Mon-Fri); 90 minutes before kick-off and 30 minutes afterwards; tel: +44 (0) 911 94079777; email: fanshop@fcn.de) at the northwest corner of the stadium for all your dark red and black 1.FC Nürnberg regalia. It's also the point of contact for all ticket enquiries and the stadium tour.
To save you trekking out to the Max Morlock Stadion, there's also a conveniently located fan shop in the centre of Nuremberg at:
Clubhouse (Josephsplatz 4, 90403 Nürnberg; 10am-6pm, Mon-Sat)
MUSEUM:
A museum dedicated to all things 1.FC Nürnberg has recently opened at Valznerweiher Straße 200, 90480 Nürnberg. Information about opening hours and ticket prices can be found here.
STADIUM TOURS:
75-90 minute guided tours are conducted around the Max Morlock Stadion on non-matchdays. Information about prices and how to book can be found here.
FOOD & DRINK OPTIONS
The centre of Nuremburg is great for pre-match food and drink, and a few recommended places are Finnegan's Harp (www.finnegansirishpub.de),
Hausbrauerei Altstadhof (www.hausbrauerei-altstadthof.de) and Landbierparadies (www.landbierparadies.com). Both inside and outside the ground, a number of outlets serve up the usual German football fayre e.g beer, bratwurst, currywurst etc and payment can be made by cash or contactless payment.
OTHER CLUBS IN THE AREA
BUNDESLIGA: FC Augsburg, FC Bayern München
BUNDESLIGA 2: SpVgg Greuther Fürth
3.LIGA: FC Ingolstadt 04, SpVgg Unterhaching, SSV Jahn Regensburg, TSV 1860 München
