Waldstadion Homburg – stadium description

The stadium lies off the beaten track, in a forested buffer zone south of town. It was built during the Third Reich and initially called Hauptkapmfbahn, or simply the main stadium. As was quite common in early 20th century Germany, the multi-use stadium wasn’t created alone, it’s surrounded by a vast leisure complex.

Since 1974 its official name changed to the more common Waldstadion (or Forest Stadium, fitting its location) and the peak capacity is reported at 38,000. This, coincidentally, is almost exactly the town’s population in 1970s. So when local FC 08 Homburg was promoted to the Bundesliga in late 1980s, Homburg was the smallest town to reach this level.

Record attendances from that period aren’t close to the above-mentioned capacity, but it should be noted that by this time a redeveloped main stand was in place (since 1986), reducing the size noticeably. In early 2000s it was reported at 21,000+, while currently it’s below 17,000.