The Drusus Stadium is to be expanded to include two more stands. © DLife

Expansion of the Drusus Stadium: The FCS waits and hopes

In the past Serie B season, FC Südtirol had the smallest stadium in the entire league, and towards the end it was bursting at the seams. That should change now.

July 10, 2023

From: fop

During its debut season in Serie B, FC Südtirol recorded an average attendance of around 4500 fans per game, and in the playoffs the Drusus Stadium was completely sold out against Reggina and Bari. This currently offers space for 5500 football fans - clearly not enough for Serie B.

Although the FCS barely meets the league's minimum requirements with this stadium capacity, twice the number of tickets could have been sold, especially for top games. The word “sold out” kept coming days before the game. Since its complete renovation, the Drusus Stadium has offered the highest standards, but with only two stands along the sidelines for millions of TV viewers, it is anything but worthy of the second division. That should change now.

Especially at the end of the season, long queues of people formed in front of the stadium, as shown here. © DLife

The Drusus Stadium is to be completed with two mobile tubular steel stands behind the two goals and at the same time the capacity is to be increased to around 10.000 seats. The money for this comes from the municipality of Bolzano, which wants to finance two sports infrastructure projects from its budget surplus of almost 60 million euros: firstly, the construction of a second ice surface at the Eiswelle (4 million euros) and the construction of the back goal stands in the football stadium (2 million euros). Mayor Renzo Caramaschi has recently repeatedly reinforced these intentions.

The money would be there

This financing project also pleases the main user of the sports facility, FC Südtirol, which, according to managing director Dietmar Pfeifer, has already expressed the desire to expand the stadium several times. “De facto we have the smallest stadium in Serie B, from the end of February we were always sold out,” says Pfeifer, who emphatically reminds us: “We have grown enormously as a club and so have the structures. But now we have to continue on this path, we have to adapt to the requirements.” FC Südtirol is also waiting for the tender for the stadium management in order to finally be able to use the box area to its full extent.

“The municipality owns the stadium and we have absolutely no say in that.” FCS managing director Dietmar Pfeifer

So all sides agree: The Drusus Stadium must grow! However, to date there is neither a motion for a resolution nor a clear expansion concept nor a time frame plan. In addition, entrances and security precautions must be created for the two stands, each with around 2500 seats. It is currently unclear how and when the municipality of Bolzano is planning the next steps. “The municipality owns the stadium, we have absolutely no say in that,” says Pfeifer, who will have to continue to be patient for the time being.

Regardless of developments around its own venue, FC Südtirol has launched its subscription campaign. So far, season ticket holders from the previous season have been able to use their access rights, and free sales have started this Monday. It is expected that the number of 800 subscriptions sold from last year will be topped - even though the prices have been increased. “The tickets will be on average two to three euros more expensive next season, which is why we also had to adjust the subscription prices. In return, we also give our most loyal fans new benefits, such as their own stadium entrance,” explains Pfeifer. In anticipation of the stadium expansion, he and the FCS are trying to make the best possible out of the current situation.