It has been a season of several magical storylines in German football with Bayer Leverkusen on the verge of winning an historic invincible treble. Xabi Alonso's men went the entire Bundesliga season unbeaten and now have two more matches – the DFB-Pokal final and the Europa League final – to win to complete the triumph.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga, Stuttgart enjoyed a resurgent campaign and pipped Bayern Munich to 2nd place in the league table on the final day of the season. Meanwhile, in 2. Bundesliga, Holstein Kiel are the team everyone has been talking about.
The club, based in the North of Germany, have never played in the Bundesliga but that will all change next season after they pipped the likes of Hamburger SV and Dusseldorf to automatic promotion.
🇩🇪 Holstein Kiel have become the first side from Schleswig-Holstein (Germany’s most northern state) to be promoted to the Bundesliga!
In doing so they will be the most northern side to have ever played in the Bundesliga, taking that title away from Hansa Rostock. pic.twitter.com/GXnmNRGnMM
— The European Football Express (@TheEuroFE) May 14, 2024
The fairytale, however, is at risk of falling apart due to the current state of Holstein Kiel's stadium. Due to Bundesliga regulations, the club need to work fast this summer to renovate the Holstein-Stadion before the 2024/25 season begins in the middle of August.
Holstein Kiel's stadium renovation: What needs to happen
The Holstein Kiel needs to undergo urgent work this summer in preparation for the Bundesliga but it isn't the first time that work has been needed on it. In fact, it's a miracle that the club still play at the Holstein-Stadion at all when you consider what it has been through.
Back in 1922, a tornado ripped the stadium apart before it was then fixed and expanded to an 18,000 capacity. Then, during World War Two, it was damaged during a bombing but was once again saved by renovation and redevelopment.
This time around, there is no damage that needs fixing but it does need expanding, and quick. The current version of the stadium has a capacity of 15,000 but there are only 5,000 seats inside it but Bundesliga regulations state that all the stadiums must have at least 8,000 seats.
While that will be the biggest change needed over the summer, it isn't the only one to get it Bundesliga-ready. The current press and media area only contains 65 seats but that will need to be nearly doubled to 112 to accommodate the larger press interest in the top flight.
Additionally, the stadium currently doesn't have enough parking spaces to reach the minimum Bundesliga requirement. Incredibly, there are only 40 car parking spaces at the Holstein-Stadion and this needs figure needs to at least double.