SKN St. Pölten

History

One of the newest venues in the Austrian Bundesliga, the NV Arena opened its doors in 2012 and is the envy (get it?) of many clubs in the division. A well-designed, contemporary, wooden, modern UFO-like stadium on the outskirts of the pleasant mid-sized city of St. Pölten - it is one of the finest spots to watch top-level football in the country.
Located in the Ratzersdorf district of the city, the stadium is actually based on the grounds of the Niederösterreichischen Landessportschule (Lower Austrian State Sports School) meaning you'll often see a variety of sports going on around the ground before games. The arena is quite a fair distance from the city centre with a gentle 30 minute walk through the suburbs and countryside before spotting the distinctive outer shell of the stadium in the distance.
The stadium was built to replace the mythical Voithplatz which had been the city's stadium since 1951 (and is now an overgrowing sorry sight in the south of the city unfortunately...). The SKN St. Pölten club were actually only formed in 2000 after the disbandment of former Bundesliga side VSE St. Pölten in 1998, thus making them the youngest club currently playing in the Austrian Bundesliga.

The NV Arena was constructed at a cost of €25.7m, with help from the Lower Austrian state parliament and St. Pölten council. It was worth the outlay, as the beautiful stadium is in heavy use with St. Pölten in the Bundesliga, Austria's Under 21's and women's national team playing their regularly and even American Football with four of the last seven Austrian Bowls taking place at the NV Arena. 

The marvellous all-conquering St. Pölten women's team, who have won the last five Planet Pure Frauen-Bundesliga titles, play their biggest games at the stadium with the likes of Paris St. Germain and Manchester City appearing there in the UEFA Women's Champions League in recent seasons. 
The men are not as successful, but have risen from the 5th level of Austrian football all the way to a sixth place finish in the 2018-19 Bundesliga season - which is a phenomenal rise by all accounts. After half a decade in the top flight, they were relegated following a play-off defeat to Austria Klagenfurt in 2021, meaning that sadly, no Bundesliga games take place here any longer. LASK did bring European football to the NV Arena in 2022 though, as they used the venue for a UECL knockout tie against Slavia Praha.

How to get there?

The NV Arena is not the easiest stadium to access with public transport, we regret to inform! If you arrive at the St. Pölten main station, you're looking at a 4km walk to the stadium. However, taxis are available, and if you want to get the bus, both 6 and 7 bus lines take you to the stadium. 

Tickets

You can get Print@Home tickets from the club's website: 

https://www.ticketmaster.at/artist/skn-st-polten-tickets/982972?brand=at_sknstpoelten

More info

Website: 

https://www.skn-stpoelten.at/