Situated in Sandhausen, Germany, and home to the major football team in the area SV Sandhausen, the BWT-Stadion am Hardtwald is a 15,000-capacity arena which is fully owned by the football club.
The ground sits just five miles from the town of Heidelberg and 60 miles south of Frankfurt. It was first opened back in 1951 and at the time didn’t even have a grass pitch, though it’s come a long way since then.
After many expansions and renovations, the BWT-Stadion finally received floodlights in 2001 and in 2008 the addition of VIP areas.
Both in 2008 (3. Liga) and 2012 (2. Liga) modernisations here were achieved out of necessity due to SV Sandhausen’s promotions. These days the ground is a compact but noisy home ground, one in which the club has achieved some memorable results.
Important Stadium Facts and Stats
The BWT-Stadion am Hardtwald is comprised of the following stats and figures:
- Opened: 1951
- Renovated: 2002, 2008
- Expanded: 1988, 2012, 2014, 2016
- Current Capacity: 15,414 – 9,800 safe standing, the rest seated
- Pitch: the playing surface here is a pure grass pitch, sized at the modern standard 105 metres by 68 metres
- Stands: pretty standard for German domestic football, the BWT-Stadion am Hardtwald is essentially made up of the Nordtribüne, Südtribüne, Osttribüne and Westtribüne, in other words, the North, South, East and West Banks.
Important and Memorable Games at the BWT-Stadion am Hardtwald
While this stadium has been a fixture in Germany for quite some time, it has been modernised and with SV Sandhausen achieving second-tier football it has been games in more modern times that have caught the eye. These four matches are among the best in contemporary times.
SV Sandhausen 2-0 VfR Aalen
In late July 2011, Sandhausen played what they believed to be one of their closest rivals for the 3. Liga title in the shape of VfR Aalen at the BTW-Stadion.
A header from Daniel Schulz in the first half and a left-footed finish from Frank Löning on the hour were enough for the home side to take all three points, beginning the campaign as they wished it to go on.
SV Sandhausen 4-0 SV Babelsberg 03
Having hit the top of the table in the 2011-2012 3. Liga season, Sandhausen was on a roll. When Babelsburg came to down their performance level hit a high watermark as the visitors were destroyed at the BWT-Stadion.
A 4-0 win for Sandhausen was achieved via a second-half blitz, Marco Piscorn, Nico Klotz, David Ulm and Jan Fiesser all finding the net within 24 minutes to complete the 4-0 rout. The home side did eventually win the league and was promoted to the 2. Bundesliga thanks largely to their home form.
SV Sandhausen 4-1 St Pauli
Having been promoted to the 2. Bundesliga for the 2012-13 season, Sandhausen were woefully underprepared and were very lucky to avoid relegation.
In among all the doom and gloom, however, they did hammer Kult sensations FC St Pauli 4-1 at the DWT in February that season with a seasonal highlight performance.
The popular Frank Löning notched twice, his goals coming to either side of a strike from David Ulm as the home side took a rare 3-0 lead into the half-time break. After the interval, Juho Makela made it 4-0 and despite a late consolation goal from the penalty spot, the day belonged to Sandhausen.
SV Sandhausen 3-2 Paderborn
During a much more settled second season in the 2. Bundesliga, SV Sandhausen put in a few good performances at this stadium.
The most entertaining, end-to-end game of them all, however, was the club’s 3-2 home win against Paderborn in November.
A familiar name to English football fans, Elias Kachunga, was first on the scoresheet with a 12th-minute opener for the away side, though Sandhausen were level within 13 minutes thanks to a strike from Ranisav Jovanovic.
An Alban Meha goal just after half-time put Paderborn back into the lead, something they held until 18 minutes from the end, and just two minutes later the game was completely turned on its head.
Having been given a penalty Sandhausen’s home supports were roused, David Ulm sending it home to level things up and just moments later, Nicky Adler rattled home what proved to be the winner.
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