Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Bern

Modest, neat, and compact with a very good atmosphere that punches above its weight.

The stadium rebuild was completed in time for Euro 2008, which Switzerland co-hosted with Austria. During the tournament, this venue hosted three matches.

It is known to be a modern stadium, with powerful solar panels on the roof but despite the grass surface that was laid for Euro 2008, this has since been replaced with a hybrid artificial pitch. That decision has prevented Young Boys from hosting the senior national team on many occasions with FC Basel providing the de-facto preferred stadium.

Over the last few years, the Wankdorf Stadium has provided the backdrop for a steady stream of success for the yellow-backs with Swiss league titles won in 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2022-23, in addition to Swiss Cup glory in 2019-20 and 2022-23.

The tight stadium gives good views of the action with the stands quite close to the pitch.

The east end of the ground is the fan section, home of the organised, active vocal and visual support led by the Ultras 1898 group. In line with the commendable Swiss ultras scene, they bring plenty of noise and life to the stadium, even more for the bigger games.

The home stadium of Young Boys has a capacity of 32,000 for football games which can be increased to 45,000 for music events. It is the second biggest stadium in Switzerland, behind FC Basel’s St Jakob Park (38,500 capacity), which as stated above tends to be where the senior national team play all their games. If it wasn’t for the artificial surface at the Wankdorf, that would very likely be a different story.

The next similar-sized elite venue in the county is Servette’s Stade de Geneve which holds just over 30,000. 

Stadium tours are available, which last approximately 45 minutes but they do need to be booked in advance, with no individual admission prices listed. The tour costs a flat rate of 100.00 Swiss Francs (€105.00) for groups between 1-10 and 200.00 Swiss Francs (€210.00) for larger groups.

To book, send an email to [email protected].

The designated meeting point is at the Wankdorf Clock, just outside restaurant Eleven.

Legend has it that the club name emanates from watching another game of football with a Basel-based club involved. This was not FC Basel but the Old Boys.

YB would then be next, named as a nod to the team they had watched as well as the fact that the lads were all in their youth. The club was founded in Bern on 14 March 1898, thanks to its pioneers, high school students Hermann Bauer, Franz Kehrli and brothers, Max and Oskar Schwab.

The club was named as FC Young Boys but in 1932, the current title of Berner Sport Club (BSC) Young Boys was adopted.

In the modern age, the only rivalry to speak of as far as Young Boys is concerned is the one, on and off the pitch with FC Basel. These two sides battle it out for supremacy in the Swiss game.

Tickets are available from the club website for most regular games and at the time of writing, that includes briefs for the upcoming fixture against Luzern.

In the West end of the ground behind the next, tickets are available for around CHF 17.50 – 35.00 (€19-37), whilst a Main Stand vantage point will set you back around CHF 35.00 – 70.00 (€38.00 – 74.00)

Concessions are available including club memberships, whilst the price structure for their Champions League campaign and three-game ticket package can be found here.

Once in the city of Bern, the best and recommended way to get to the Wankdorf Stadium is by there is via public transport on the following lines:

– Tram No. 9 to Wankdorf Center

– Various trains to the Wankdorf S-Bahn stop

– RBS line 40 to Wankdorf Center

Match ticket transport at Wankdorf Stadium

Your match ticket also serves as your ticket for local and city travel on matchday.

Away fans are located in the north-west corner of the stadium, with a good view of the pitch.

Depending on the demand and numbers of the travelling support, the section can be extended into both tiers, with B12 and B14 in the lower tier as well as B13 and B15 above.

This season, Manchester City will occupy that area whilst Manchester United and Rangers have been other British clubs to meet Young Boys in European competitions.

Some would describe this stadium as mid-range. It is not in an isolated location with plenty of amenities around, but nor is is state of the art.

With its location in the Wankdorf district, there are enough services nearby, with options to eat and drink. On-site, just beside the stadium, there is a McDonald’s as well as a handful of other restaurants. Restaurant Eleven adjoins the stadium as well as a couple of bars in the area.

Beer is available at the football for most games.