Chelsea will continue their Europa Conference League campaign on Thursday, 28 November when they travel to Germany to face Heidenheim.
The Blues have made a perfect start to the competition and will be fully expecting to continue that this week given their opponents currently sit in 15th position in the Bundesliga table.
While Chelsea fans have travelled to Germany on countless occasions to watch their team in European action, this will be their first visit to Heidenheim and the Voith-Arena.
If you are heading to the match, then here is everything you need to know about the Heidenheim away section, the best places to drink and more.
Matchday
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A large number of Chelsea fans are expected to travel to the game by car. Some users online pointed to a handy park-and-ride system in the city. An X user had the following advice: “Due to large numbers of Chelsea fans potentially travelling by car to Heidenheim, the use of the Park & Ride possibilities is highly recommended. Their locations are: Kanalstasse 14, 89522 Heidenheim and Seewiesenbrücke 10, 89520 Heidenheim.” It has also been noted that; “Due to the tight traffic situation in Heidenheim, it is strongly recommended that you only leave the A7 motorway at exit 117 Giengen Herbrechtingen.”
For fans looking to park near the stadium, the SV Mergelstetten sports complex, which is 10-15 minutes from the ground, has plenty of spots. It is located at In der Schwende 6, 89522 Heidenheim.
For fans travelling by train, a bus often runs from platform 3 of the Heidenheim Central bus station.
Who are Heidenheim?
While the club's origins stretch all the way back to 1847, the current version of the club was only officially formed in 2007 after separating from Heidenheimer Sportbund – a large multi-sports club. This is the first time that the club have ever played in Europe and they qualified after finishing eighth in the Bundesliga last season.
Incredibly, this was the club's first-ever season in the German top flight, which made their story something of a fairytale. If it wasn't for Bayer Leverkusen winning the league without losing any games, then Heidenheim would have gained more media attention for their remarkable feat.
The club's stadium only has a modest allocation of 15,000 which makes it one of the smallest stadiums in UEFA competition this season but that doesn't mean their fans aren't capable of generating a noisy and intimidating atmosphere.
Where is the Heidenheim away section?
The Heidenhiem away section is in the south-west corner of the stadium. Away fans will enter via blocks E1, E2 and D2 with the entire section wrapping around the corner. This means some fans will be to the right of the goal while others will be on the side facing the goal.
What is the Heidenheim away section like?
The Heidenheim away section is brilliant in many ways as the club are unable to push away fans far away from the pitch like many other clubs in Europe do. As the entire stadium is just a single tier, fans in the away section are close to the pitch making the view largely very good.
The one downside is that the stadium isn't a bowl so there is a gap between the fans in sections E1 and E2 and those in D2. This not only makes it more difficult for the away fans to generate an atmosphere in unison but it also leaves those in D2 with an awkward view of the playing action.
The noisiest Heidenheim fans are located behind the opposite goal so fans in the away section generally get a brilliant view of any tifos and displays that their ultras unveil.
This club have gone from the 5th tier of German football to a 100% record in the UEFA Conference League…
We need to speak about FC Heidenheim.
A thread! 🧵📰 pic.twitter.com/3azQVXeQAX
— cenk (@eurocenk) November 8, 2024
Best pubs in Heidenheim
Heidenheim is a small town in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg in Southern Germany. It is near to Bavaria and has plenty to offer in the form of pubs, as you would expect. Three pubs to check out in Heidenheim:
- Konig Wilhelm – Hauptstraße 11, 89518 Heidenheim an der Brenz, Germany
- Kallavi – Hauptstraße 71, 89522 Heidenheim an der Brenz, Germany
- Alter Hut – Eugen-Jaekle-Platz 16, 89518 Heidenheim an der Brenz, Germany
Chelsea allocation for Heidenheim away
Chelsea have been given an allocation of 1,521 which means they will take up roughly 10% of the stadium. Unsurprisingly, this allocation sold out very quickly with fans keen to tick off one of the rarer European away days.
Those lucky enough to have obtained Heidenheim vs Chelsea tickets have been informed that there will be a ticket collection policy in place on the day of the match to ensure those who bought the tickets are the ones who are going to use them.