Preserving football’s culture

Preserving football’s culture: new owners for the Union Berlin ground

Union Berlin’s ground, the ‘Stadion An der Alten Försterei’ (Stadium Next to the Old Forester’s Lodge), is in future to belong to the club’s members and sponsors. In order to achieve that, the stadium operating company („An der Alten Försterei“ Stadionbetriebs GmbH & Co. KG) has been converted over the past few months into a joint stock company. In this new form, „An der Alten Försterei“ Stadionbetriebs AG has an authorised share capital of €3.5m, which can be taken up to a maximum of €8.5m by increasing the authorised capital by up to €5m.

From 1st to 31st December 2011, all of the club’s members and sponsors will have the opportunity to subscribe for up to ten of a maximum total of 10,000 ‘Alte Försterei Shares’ at a price per share of €500. The aim is to place the majority of the shares in diverse ownership throughout the Union Berlin family.

“The Stadium An der Alten Försterei is the very soul of Union Berlin, the home of our football culture. It should belong to the people who love football the way we have experienced it at this ground for decades. By getting our members and business partners involved as shareholders, we are ensuring that all key decisions that affect the stadium will be taken in the future by the people who regard this place as a second home,” said Union’s chairman Dirk Zingler, explaining the change of ownership.

In tandem with this, the plans for building the new main stand have also been firmed up. The planning application will, for instance, be submitted before the end of the year. Construction of the new stand, which will hold around 3,500 spectators, is due in all likelihood to begin next summer. Funding is already in place, even without the proceeds from the share issue. They, however, will be used to reduce the proportion of third-party capital required.

“When everything’s done, Union will be playing in a stadium fit for top-flight football, where the level of third-party capital involved is set to be under 40%. Compared to most other stadia in Germany that’s a fantastically low level,” added Dirk Zingler.

The club’s executives gave a detailed presentation of the plans at the extraordinary general meeting on 13th November.

1. FC Union Berlin