Veltins-Arena, the football stadium located in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was inaugurated in the year 2001 and is the home field to the German football club FC Schalke 04.
The stadium has a retractable roof and retractable pitch and a capacity to have a seating arrangement for 54,000 people. 8,000 more people could be accommodated inside as the standing audience.
History
It is the first ever stadium in Germany which was built entirely with the private finances without any intervention of the government. The amount money spent was 191 million euros for its construction.
During its inauguration in the year 2001, it was considered as one of the most technically advanced stadium in Europe at that time. It was built after the outstanding performance of FC Schalke 04 in the UEFA Cup in the year 1997 where they were declared as the winners. It was built by the German construction firm HBM.
Major Matches
Veltins-Arena hosted the 2004 UEFA Champions League Final between Monaco and Porto, with more than 50,000 audience present to witness the play.
Five matches from the 2006 World Cup were held in this stadium, including one quarter-final match between England and Portugal. The stadium was jam-packed during the course of the FIFA World Cup.
The 100th Grand Prix motorcycle speedway World Championship in the year 2007 was held in Veltins-Arena. The 2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Germany was also hosted by the Veltins-Arena. In 2010 the 74th Ice Hockey World Championship took place here.
Controversy
In the March of 2017, a quarrel took place between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke during the 150th Revierderby due to a debatable handball claim. The clattering at the Veltins-Arena raised up.
Recent matches
In 2017, most of the Bundesliga and Europa League matches were held in Veltins-Arena where the German football club, FC Schalke 04 play against other teams in the league.
