Swiss Super League football club BSC Young Boys has reached an agreement with global biotech company CSL Behring to restore the ‘Wankdorf Stadium’ moniker to its home venue.
Young Boys’ Stade de Suisse opened in 2005 and was built on the site of the former Wankdorf Stadium, which hosted the final of the 1954 FIFA World Cup. The new venue was also known as Wankdorf Stadium before being rebranded as Stade de Suisse ahead of Euro 2008, which Switzerland co-hosted with Austria.
Under the five-year deal struck between Bern-based Young Boys and CSL Behring, the venue will once again become the Wankdorf Stadium from the start of the 2020-21 season. The deal includes an option for a further five years.
Hanspeter Kienberger, president of the board of directors at Young Boys, said: “We are very pleased to be able to present a strong and innovative stadium partnership with CSL Behring, and we are particularly pleased that YB’s long-standing wish to regain the name ‘Wankdorf’ in the stadium designation is fulfilled. It speaks for CSL Behring that the new stadium partner deliberately renounced its naming and instead acts as a patron.”
Pierre Caloz, who holds responsibility for CSL Behring’s production sites in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, added: “The return of the name Stadion Wankdorf has great emotional value for us. CSL Behring has been anchored in the Wankdorf district for 70 years.
“We are also happy for our more than 1,700 dedicated employees. We have an excellent neighbourhood with YB and the stadium, we already make use of synergies and potential, and we are proud that we can intensify our cooperation (with a stadium that) has gained worldwide renown with the ‘Miracle of Bern’ and is a sympathetic advertising medium with a great deal of appeal.
“Wankdorf is a place where we combine these emotions and values. Above all, our involvement in the Wankdorf district should be sustainable – for the benefit of Berne football, but also for the entire population and our employees.”
The 1954 World Cup final at Wankdorf Stadium is known as the ‘Miracle of Bern’, with West Germany coming back from 2-0 down against the heavily fancied Hungary to win 3-2 and lift the trophy for the first time.
Image: BSC Young Boys
