Extreme Football Tourism: AUSTRIA: SC Zwettl (2008-)

Sportanlage Edelhof, Zwettl Edelhof (SC Zwettl)

Austria, state: Lower Austria = Neder-Oostenrijk

13 VIII 2024 / SC Zwettl - SG Rohrbach-St. Veit 3-0 / Landesliga Niederösterreich (= AUT level 4)

Timeline

1945 / Foundation of a sports club in Zwettl. Rather unimaginatively, he football branch of the club is called Fussballsektion Zwettl - renamed SC Zwettl in 1947. The club’s ground is situated in the Zwettl valley, in fact the location of the modern-day Zwettltal-Stadion, although the original pitch was laid out in 1945 at a 45-degree angle compared to the current situation.
1970 / Inauguration of the new Zwettltal-Stadion, with the pitch being laid out in the direction, which it still has today.
1985 / Following the completion of the works started after a flooding of the Zwettl River in 1982, a thoroughly renovated Zwettltal-Stadion is inaugurated.
2002 / In the summer of 2002, the Zwettltal-Stadion is completely destructed following a horrible flooding of the Zwettl River. It takes more than a year before the ground is ready for use again.
2006 / Following two more floodings in the fall of 2005 and the spring of 2006, Zwettl’s town-council takes the decision to build SC Zwettl a new stadium in a safer environment, in the hills of Edelhof, some 4km to the east of Zwettl proper. Gerhard Mitterberger’s architectural firm is commissioned to design a clubhouse and a stand for the new stadium. The project is partly financed by the Lower-Austrian Football Association.
2008 / On August 1st, 2008, the Sportanlage Edelhof is officially inaugurated. The new ground sports a covered stand integrated into the clubhouse, offering a seat to some 600 spectators – with total capacity of the ground estimated at 2,000. While first team football moves to this new ground, the Zwettltal-Stadion in Zwettl proper has remained in use for lower team football and training sessions until the present day. At the time of the inauguration of the ground, SC Zwettl played in the Regionalliga Ost (Eastern Regional League), the third division of Austria's league pyramid.
2010 / Having narrowly avoided the drop in the four previous seasons, SC Zwettl, coached by Lucjan Wojtanowicz, now finishes in last place in the Regionalliga Ost, thus dropping back into the State League along with SV Wienerberg, SV Gaflenz, and SV Würmla.
2023 / The Sportanlage Edelhof is renamed Waldviertler Sparkasse Arena in a sponsorship deal, which also sees the club taking on the official name SC Sparkasse Zwettl.