Groundbreaking: What the new sports club pitch will be able to do

It was high time. The old one Sports club place has recently not even met the demands of the third-class Regionalliga East. The roof of the main stand had to be removed and the cemetery stand behind the goal had been in disrepair years before.

Now the two stands have actually been torn down and the club is currently playing its home games in the training center in the 16th district. With the groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday, work on the new construction of the two stands officially began. “The sports club square is an identity-forming location in Hernals that is given a new future,” said Peter Jagsch (SPÖ), district leader of Hernals.

Next week the excavators will start rolling in and cranes will be set up. Completion is expected in 2026. Football should be played again in Dornbach from the 2026/27 season.

What the new sports club pitch will be able to do:

• With a capacity of 5,649 seats Nationally and 4,634 seats internationally and a playing field measuring 105×68 meters, the pitch corresponds to UEFA Category 2. This means that games in the 2nd league are just as possible as the implementation of Women’s internationals.
• In addition to football, the new sports facility will also have… Rugby and Football be played.
• The new roofs of the two stands will be covered in greenery. One Photovoltaic system produces a large part of the energy in combination with a heat pump. There is also one Groundwater storage including pump. There is a very high level of self-sufficiency with water and electricity.
• The plant is in colors Black-and-white branded by the WSC, one of the two old floodlight masts remains as a landmark of Hernals (and as a cell phone mast), and the cemetery grandstand will be a big one again Graffiti give. An LED video wall will be set up on the Kainzgasse side.

What the new sports club pitch will not be able to do:

• “We would be happy if we could celebrate one or two promotions on this pitch in the future,” said David Krapf Gunthervice president of the WSC on Wednesday. However, more than promotion to the second league will not be possible at the facility (for the time being). An approval for the 1. Bundesliga From today’s perspective, it does not appear to be preserved. George Heinrich from WIP (Vienna Infrastructure Project GmbH) explains: “It’s extremely tight all around here. For the first league you would need more space for blue light organizations. You would need parking spaces for TV productions and for the press.” None of this will be possible without extensive adaptations.
• Die Kainzgasse grandstand will no longer be built for reasons of space, as a safety distance of four meters is required next to the wider playing field. “Discussions are currently underway about what this area will look like,” says Heinrich.