RheinEnergieStadion – FC Koln

The Exterior

If you’re lucky enough to see the FC Cologne stadium in the flesh the most eye catching things you’ll see is four huge steel towers; they are situated in each corner of the ground and stand well beyond the height of the roof. The roof itself runs all the way around the stadium, which was built on the site of the former FC Koln ground, Mungersdorfer Stadium. When you get nearer to the stadium you’ll be able to appreciate the impressive structure of white columns supporting the main stadium whilst the walkways around the stadium are easy on the eye too.

The Interior

When you’re inside the RheinEnergieStadion seating area, the first thing your attention will be drawn to is probably the south stand; here you’ll find the standing area that houses circa 8,000 fans. Like all stands inside the FC Koln ground the south stand is split in two tiers; the bottom tier is for those standing fans with the upper tier seated. The north stand cuts a similar appearance but the key difference being the absence of a standing section; both have the two famed steel towers visible from inside.

Then you have the east and west stands that run down the length of the touchlines. Despite offering two tiers of seating, the side stands also have business lounges and VIP boxes running through the middle sections. The west stand also houses the media teams. In total there are nearly 50 lounges and 1,800 seats offered to business guests. The standard seating in these two stands offers uncompromised views of the pitch with seats steeply rising from the playing surface to the near-transparent roof to aid the atmosphere.

There are a few eateries located near to the FC Koln ground, which we’ll come to in a minute but most fans tend to get the pre-match fix inside the RheinEnergieStadion. Inside the stadium there is a decent array of food options in every stand and at each tier. The lower east stand offers pizza stands, chips, curry and bratwurst takeaways and a couple of places for a hotdog fill; the south stand is similar but the option of fries is no longer on your doorstep. The west and north lower stands have slightly less offering in the immediate vicinity but a range of sausages are still available – you’ve got bratwurst, currywurst and the more traditional hotdog to choose from.

In the upper tiers the choice is fairly standard all around with just the curry and bratwurst options. The one exception to that is in the west where fries are back on your menu. Of course, we’ve not spoken about the possibility of a liquid diet in the stadium yet. You can pick up your good old German beer nearby regardless of what seats you occupy.

Now we come to what’s available outside. As we mentioned, you do have some choice but it’s not really an overwhelming range to choose from – at least not unless you want to take on a decent walk or stop on route. In terms of what is in a reasonable walking distance, you’re looking at the likes of Arizona Restaurant, which serves American style food, Aphrodite or Taco Loco. You then have a couple of options either side of the price spectrum; there is a McDonalds nearby and, over the road from that, a fine dining restaurant Landhaus Kuckuck. All of those mentioned are within a 10 minute stroll of the stadium.

When you attend the FC Cologne stadium as a visiting supporter you benefit from most of the eateries we’ve just touched on with your positioning in the North East corner. This also places you close to one of the club shops so you can grab a souvenir of your away day. The only downside of the location you occupy is that you’re the opposite side of the stadium to the die hard home fans.

The FC Koln stadium is located outside of the main city – by approximately 4 miles – which means accessing on foot is not really the most suitable option. Access via private car is straightforward enough though; the main guidance is to pickup highway A1. If, however, you’re coming from the city centre then you’ll want to head towards the stadium via Aachener Street before then turning onto Friedrich-Schmidt-Straße. When you arrive at the stadium there is fairly extensive range of car park; in total there are 7,500 spaces available.

The other option you have for accessing the stadium is public transport, which will likely be the most cost effective solution as the price is pre-built into your matchday ticket. Train Line 1 has a stop named RheinEnergieStadion, which is, of course, the best option for stadium access.

Not only is Cologne home to FC Koln but it’s also a beautiful city that could easily warrant a stay that lasts longer than a few hours. You’re obviously loaded with choice in the city centre but, as detailed, that’s not all that close to RheinEnergieStadion. You still have a few options though. A bit of a leftfield choice – Guesthouse of the germans Sport University DSHS – is your closest hotel to the ground at just a nine minute walk; it costs around £130 per night. Other than that, you’re looking at around a half hour walk.

The budget option at £50 per night is AAA BudgetHotel im TechnologiePark Köln. If you don’t mind paying a few quid more, you can stay at the £80 per night Leonardo Royal Hotel Köln – Am Stadtwald. It is still 30 minutes away by foot but most of that walk is through Stadtwald park.

Borussia Monchengladbach, Bayer Leverkusen and Fortuna Dusseldorf

The below link will take you to the team website.

1. FC Köln | Fixtures and results