ÖFB campus in Vienna-Aspern: New home for football from 2024!

ÖFB campus in Vienna-Aspern: New home for football from 2024!

The ÖFB campus in Vienna-Aspern officially began its development with a groundbreaking ceremony in March 2024. The ambitious project, which will house the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) and its national teams, covers a total area of ​​an impressive 55,000 square meters. The implementation is carried out under the management of STRABAG as general contractor, in close cooperation with the federal government and the city of Vienna. The ÖFB campus will not only offer a sporting home, but also a modern training and administrative infrastructure for Austrian football, reported kurier.at.

For the ÖFB, this campus represents the largest infrastructure project in its history, with projected costs of around 75 million euros. A third of the financing share is borne by the federal government, the city of Vienna and the ÖFB itself. Vice Chancellor and Sports Minister Werner Kogler emphasized the importance of the project and its influence on the further development of Austrian football. Finance Minister Magnus Brunner also pointed out the financial support from the federal government, which is making a decisive contribution to implementation.

What awaits us on the ÖFB campus?

The ÖFB campus will include a small stadium with almost 1,000 spectator seats, three grass pitches and an artificial turf pitch. State-of-the-art cabins and functional rooms as well as accommodation and offices for around 100 ÖFB employees are also part of the plan. The overall project also takes sustainable aspects into account, such as geothermal heating and greenery, which takes into account the trend of sustainable construction, as can be read in the Austrian government's transparency portal.

The grand opening of the campus is scheduled for October or November 2024, which fits in well with the final World Cup qualifying home games for the 2026 finals. A highlight could be the decisive qualifying game on November 18, 2024 against Bosnia in the Prater. The move of the ÖFB offices should be completed as early as October 2024 and operations could begin on October 20, 2024, announced ÖFB spokeswoman Iris Stöckelmayr.

Sporting aspects and challenges

However, the men's national team will not prepare for its international missions in Aspern until March 2026 at the earliest. The first sporting endurance test is scheduled to take place in autumn 2024, when the U15 national team will hold its camp there. This phase will be of crucial importance for the organization of the ÖFB, as it sets the course for the coming years. In the meantime, important press conferences and preparations for international matches had to be outsourced due to a lack of infrastructure.

The construction of the campus will not only take into account sporting aspects, but also social aspects. As part of a comprehensive sports facility development program, which is anchored in the government program 2020-2024, the focus is on improving the utilization and year-round use of publicly owned sports areas.

The project not only reflects the ambitions of Austrian football, but also the desire to create sustainable and modern sports infrastructure that is intended to promote both top-class sport and popular sport. Expectations are high and anticipation is growing – both among those responsible and among the fans of Austrian football.