Temporary Stadium in Dusseldorf?

German second division Bundesliga side Fortuna Dusseldorf are set to do a first for a professional German football team, by building a temporary stadium to host their final three league matches in April and May 2011.

But why is Fortuna Dusseldorf forced to build a temporary stadium? The city of Dusseldorf is set to host the Eurovision Song Contest in the Esprit Arena, the home venue of Fortuna Dusseldorf, in May 2011 and due to the build-up to the continental song contest the stadium will be blocked for six weeks, which meant that Fortuna Dusseldorf needed an alternative venue for its final three 2.Bundesliga games.

The first idea was to expand their former home venue the Paul-Janes-Stadium in the suburb of Flingern to a capacity of 17,500 and the club received a clearance from the Bundesliga (DFL) but under certain tough criteria. Also there were potential problems in logistics, transport and security with the venue; so the city along with the club was looking at other alternatives. Another one which wasn't to the liking of the club and their fans was a shift to another city with the Ruhr Stadium in Bochum and the BayArena in Leverkusen possibilities; but in Dusseldorf they were looking at an option within the city.

The mayor of Dusseldorf said, "Important is that the games of Fortuna against Union Berlin, Bielefeld and Aachen have a home match character. The solution at the Arena sports park has the biggest charm."

There the idea was born to build a temporary stadium besides the Esprit Arena on the training ground of the club at the Arena sports park. The plan is to build a temporary stadium around the training venue with a capacity of 20,000. The stadium would be made of modular structures which would be taken apart once the three games are played. The only worry for the city of Dusseldorf are the potential costs involved and therefore the club is searching for a naming sponsor for the stadium's three games.