VFL WOLFSBURG
JULY 2023
Founded: Sep 12, 1945
Club Members: 21,500
Nickname: Die Wölfe
Coach: Nico Kovac
Captain: Maximilian Arnold
German Champions / Bundesliga: 1
DFB-Pokal: 1
German Super Cup Winner: 1
Landespokal Niedersachsen Winner: 1
Website: www.vfl-wolfsburg.de
Emerging from the chaos of World War 2, VfL Wolfsburg were formed in 1945 by workers of 'People's Car' maker Volkswagen and adopted their club colours simply because a local coach happened to have some spare green jerseys for the club to play in.
Life started for Die Wölfe in the local amateur leagues and they initially made slow but steady progress, winning a number of championships before arriving in the top-flight Oberliga Nord in 1954. Performances up to that point hadn't been good enough however to earn an invitation to join the new Bundesliga in 1963 and so Wolfsburg settled down to life as an unspectacular lower league club. Fortunes began to improve however and they became a Bundesliga.2 club in 1993 before going on to make their first appearance in the DFB-Pokal final a couple of years later - although Borussia Mönchengladbach spoiled the party by beating the underdogs 3-0.
Promotion to the Bundesliga was achieved in 1997 and the club defied expectations of an immediate return to the second-tier to become an established mid-table performer. Building on this foundation, Wolfsburg started to make strides and under manager Felix Magath the club's high water mark was achieved in 2009 when they topped the Bundesliga to become German champions for the first (and so far only) time in their history. After a succession of coaches (including Steve McLaren) had tried to repeat Magath's success, a second -place finish under Dieter Hecking in 2015 came in the same season Wolfsburg added the DFB-Pokal to their trophy cabinet after beating Borussia Dortmund 3-1 in the final. That summer, star player Kevin de Bruyne was sold to Manchester City for a reported Bundesliga record fee of €60 million and Wolfsburg started life without the playmaker by beating Bayern München on penalties to lift the DFB Super Cup for the first time.
The following season Wolfsburg reached the last eight of the Champions League but their domestic form collapsed and they only retained their Bundesliga spot via the relegation play-off in consecutive seasons. However their fortunes have improved in over the last couple of years, securing a Europa League place in 2019 and 2020.
GROUND DETAILS
Ground Name: Volkswagen Arena
Architect: Hentrich - Petschnigg & Partner
Built: 2001 - 2002
Year Opened: 2002
Capacity: 30,000 (8,000 standing)
Executive Boxes: 31
Executive Box Seats: 332
Business Seats: 1,434
Media Seats: 200
Wheelchair Spaces: 80
Construction Costs: €53m
Undersoil Heating: Yes
Running Track: No
Floodlights: 2,220 lux
LED Video Screens: 53m² x 2
Playing Surface: Hybrid Grass
Pitch Size: 105m x 68m
Grounds:
VfL Stadion am Elsterweg (1947 - 2002)
Volkswagen Arena (2002 - )
Built to replace Wolfsburg's aging VfL Stadion am Elsterweg, the Volkswagen Arena opened in 2002 with half the €53 million cost being footed by the Volkswagen Group - thus setting it apart from those standard sponsorship deals football clubs often make with businesses.
The stadium is a double-tiered fully enclosed bowl with a band of obligatory VIP boxes separating the upper and lower tiers. It's most distinctive feature is the translucent membrane roof which is designed to let as much natural light reach the pitch as possible and given the number of times the club has received the 'Pitch of the Year' award in Germany it clearly does the job. The roof also spreads over the corners of the ground to cover the somewhat oval-shaped stadium with a rectangular roof.
In keeping with club's colours, Wolfsburg have also introduced a number of 'green' initiatives with the floodlight system being converted to energy-saving LED lighting; and single-use plastic containers and carrier bags banned from the Volkswagen Arena. It waits to be seen if Volkswagen themselves follow in the club's footsteps following the 'Emissionsgate' scandal in 2015
The North Grandstand (Blocks 1-14, 16, 62 and 64 as well as F) and the Wölfi Kurve (Blocks 37-44 and A) mark the home end, and the away following are given the lower tier of south-east corner of the ground (Blocks 29, 33 and 35), although if demand requires it they can also be given the upper tier (Blocks 32-36).
BUYING TICKETS
Ticket Office:
Website: www.shop.vfl-wolfsburg.de/tickets/
Telephone: +49 (0) 536 18903903
Email: service@vfl-wolfsburg.de
Average Attendance:
2022-2023: 25,394 (Bundesliga)
2021-2022: 12,018 (Bundesliga) *
2020-2021: N/A *
2019-2020: 18,621 (Bundesliga) *
2018-2019: 24,552 (Bundesliga)
* Season affected by COVID pandemic
Expected Ticket Availability
Wolfsburg tend to sell out about a third of their matches every season - especially those against Bayern, Dortmund and (when they're not kicking about in the second tier on one of their frequent visits) Hannover 96. You should be able to grab a ticket for most matches though if you buy early enough in advance.
Tickets can be secured through the online shop, from the Service Centre in the Fanhaus at the north-east corner of the ground or, if you want to practice your German, over the phone. You can choose from post or Print@Home delivery options and if you like queuing, you can also collect them from two hours before kick-off on a matchday from Checkout 10 at the ground. The VfL FanWelt on the ground floor of the City-Galerie Shopping Centre in the centre of Wolfsburg will also sell you a ticket, and if the likes of Augsburg, Mainz, Freiburg etc are coming to the Volkswagen Arena then tickets will be available at the ticket offices which open about three hours before kick-off.
Wolfsburg operate a Ticket Exchange which is geared towards season ticket holders who can't make it to a particular match and want to offer up their ticket for re-sale through the official channels. Tickets are then fed through to anyone who has been caught out because they didn't follow our advice of buying well in advance.
For the 2023-24 season, Wolfsburg are operating a three-tier pricing structure:
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Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund
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Union Berlin, RB Leipzig, B. Mönchengladbach, Eintracht Frankfurt, Werder Bremen
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1. FC Heidenheim, SV Darmstadt 98, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, VfB Stuttgart, TSG Hoffenheim, FSV Mainz 05, FC Augsburg, 1. FC Köln, VfL Bochum, SC Freiburg
Depending on the quality of opposition up against the 'Wolfmen' and where you want to watch the action from, full-payers should expect to pay anywhere between €21-75 for a seat. Working out the damage if you want to stand on the terraces is more straightforward however with all tickets costing €15. Discounts apply for children, students, seniors etc and the full breakdown of ticket prices at Wolfsburg can be found here.
GETTING THERE & AWAY
Stadium Address:
In den Allerwiesen 1
38446 Wolfsburg
BY CAR:
If you're driving along the A2 autobahn, come off at exit 58 (Kreuz Wolfsburg/Königslutter) or exit 64 (Dreieck Salzgitter) if you're on the A7; and join the A39 autobahn towards Wolfsburg/Flechtorf. Turn off at exit 3 (Wolfsburg West) and head towards Wolfsburg (L321/Heinrich-Nordhoff-Straße) before turning on to Berliner Brücke/L322. There's plenty of free parking (2,600 spaces) at the Allerpark (Car Park P3 to P6; Allerpark 4, 38448 Wolfsburg) if you approach Wolfsburg along the B188.
Free shuttle buses also run between the stadium and the Kästorf Park + Ride car park where there's 3,200 free spaces (Sat-Nav: VW-Tor-Nord 38440 Wolfsburg) or it's just a 15 minute walk if you prefer to stretch the legs. After the match, the Park + Ride buses leave from the Berliner Brücke bus stop, departing as soon as they are full, and the last one leaves approximately 45 minutes after the final whistle.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT:
With a match ticket you can travel on the Wolfsburger Verkehrsgesellschaft (WVG) buses from three hours before kick-off up to two hours after the end of the game. Note that only season ticket holders can use the wider Verbundtarif Region Braunschweig (VRB) transport network !
WALKING DIRECTIONS:
The ground is only half-a-mile or so from the central station and signposted, so there's no need to hang around waiting for buses to take you there. Come out of the station, turn left, cross the Mittelland Canal on the Stadtbrücke (city bridge) and you'll see the stadium.
BIKE:
If you're using pedal-power to get to the match, there are a number of bike stands near the stadium at Trainingsgelände West.
FAN SHOP, MUSEUM & STADIUM TOURS
FAN SHOP:
Fan Shop im Fanhaus (Volkswagen Arena, In den Allerwiesen 1a; 10am-6pm, Mon-Fri; 10am-4pm, Sat; open matchdays from three-and-a-half hours before kick-off and for one hour after full-time)
VfL FanWelt (City-Galerie Wolfsburg, Porschestraße 45; 10am-5pm, Mon-Sat)
There are also three mobile fan shops around the stadium (North, South and West) on a matchday which open a couple of hours before kick-off.
STADIUM TOURS:
Go behind the scenes at the arena with a whole range of tours in German, English and Spanish. Head to Wolfsburg's website for info about all the tours, schedules, prices etc here.
FOOD & DRINK OPTIONS
With the Volkswagen Arena being only a corner kick from the city centre, many people head there in search of somewhere to combine the need for pre-match pub grub and beer.
At the stadium the usual fast food kiosks do a roaring trade feeding the crowds with typical German football fayre of frikadellen, pretzel, pommes ("chips" to me and you) and a whole array of different types of wurst. Many fans also head over to the Club45 and Halle09 bars on the east side of the stadium for a bite to eat and a few drinks overlooking the Allersee Lake.
Inside the stadium, there's no surprises about the menu options and we're afraid Wolfsburg are one of those clubs that insist you pay for your half-time beer and bratwurst pairing with plastic money in the hope that you can't be bothered claiming back any unspent credit. The Wolfsburg version of the stadium card scheme is called VfL-Karte although the good news is that you can also use 'contactless' with your debit and credit cards, mobile phone etc.
OTHER CLUBS IN THE AREA
BUNDESLIGA: SV Werder Bremen
BUNDESLIGA 2: 1.FC Magdeburg, Eintracht Braunschweig, FC St. Pauli, Hamburger SV, Hannover 96
