The Westfalenstadion in Dortmund can boast the rich history, not only the football one, but a history of renovations as well. Since its opening back in 1974, The Westfalenstadion hosted the matches of the 1974 World Cup and several matches of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, a number of international matches. It underwent several reconstructions, increases and reductions in the number of spectator seats. The most recent in a number of renovations to have resulted in obtaining the Elite status was accomplished in 2005.

Since December of the same year, the stadium has been officially called Signal Iduna Park under a sponsorship arrangement lasting from the specified date until June 2011, giving naming rights to the Signal Iduna Group, an insurance company. The above step secured the club’s financial stability, though caused resentment on behalf of the team’s fans. General discontent due to the stadium’s renaming was somewhat reduced since the club’s yellow and black colours prevailed over just a trace of the sponsor’s blue colour.

Due to transformation of some standing positions into the seats, the most recent renovation reduced the arena’s capacity down to 81,264. However, the largest free-standing grandstand of its kind in the whole of Europe with a staggering capacity of about 27,000 was still there – that’s the Southern Stand (Südtribüne), also known as the “Yellow Wall”.

The supporters of the BV Borussia Dortmund football team reverently call their home arena "The Sanctuary" or "The Temple". The stadium in Dortmund has another unofficial name. For its fabulous acouastics and the unique atmosphere the Westfalenstadion won another complimentary epithet – "The Opera House of German Football".

One of the distinctive features of the Signal Iduna Park is represented by eight yellow roof-supporting pilons fixed along the outside perimeter. The 62m high structures were mounted during the third renovation stage. The stadium’s spectator seats are arranged in two tiers that are tilted at steep angles: the top tier – 37 degrees, the bottom one – 28.

As a result of numerous renovations, the today’s Signal Iduna Park is the largest football stadium in Germany. By the way, the distance between the stands and the pitch is 6m being the shortest among all German arenas. The pitch lighting intensity of 2,100 lux is also top-ranking compared to other football arenas in Germany – such an important value in terms of TV production is ensured by 78 floodlights.

Besides football matches, Signal Iduna Park hosts boxing fights, concerts, events for various religious denominations.

Donbass Arena Media Centre

Photos: www.bvb.de, www.wikipedia.org, www.worldstadiums.com, www.stadiowelt.de

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