SSV JAHN REGENSBURG
MAY 2021
Founded: Oct 4, 1907
Club Members: 3,600
Nicknames: Die Jahnelf, Die Rothosen
Coach: Mersad Selimbegovic
Website: www.ssv-jahn.de
Most German football clubs - some more directly than others - have a connection to a man called Friedrich Ludwig Jahn who, in 1811, began organising gymnastics festivals to counter 'the physical decline of humanity' following Prussia's defeat in the Napoleonic Wars. They soon became national patriotic events that inspired many gymnasts to form their own associations - including a group from Regensburg who formed 'Turnerbund Jahn Regensburg' in 1886 and named it after "The Father of Gymnastics". It was around this time that football, which Ludwig Jahn discredited as an elitist sport that only sought to divide the world into winners and losers, was beginning to take root in Germany and as more and more young men jumped off their pommel horses and began kicking a leather ball about instead, a football department was added to the new club in 1907.
The footballing gymnasts remained with their parent association until 1924 when they broke ranks to form 'Sportbund Jahn Regensburg' before a merger with two local clubs - 'Sportverein 1889 Regensburg' and 'Schwimmverein 1920 Regensburg' saw the formation of 'Sport und Schwimmverein Jahn 1889 Regensburg' in 1934. After starting out life as an unspectacular performer in the Bezirksliga Bayern throughout the late 1920s and early 1930s, German football was divided into 16 regional divisions following the Nazi rise to power and Jahn were given entry to the Gauliga Bayern. The stay was a brief one however and they were relegated in 1935 but secured a return to the top-flight a couple of years later. The transition was handled better this time and the 1937-38 and 1938-39 seasons marked the club's high-water mark in the Gauliga era with successive third-place finishes before performances dropped off and they became a mid-to-lower table side.
As football and dictatorship untangled themselves after World War 2, fortunes went up and down as Jahn became a Fahrstuhlmannschaft (elevator team) and danced between the top-flight Oberliga Süd and second-tier Regionalliga Süd before a spell in the third-tier in the early 1960s. By the mid-1970s however, things began to unravel and Jahn not only crashed into the amateur third-tier, but carried on through the fourth-tier before coming to rest in the fifth-tier Landesliga Bayern-Mitte by the end of the 90s. In 2000, the football club left it's parent association and with their autonomy secured, SSV Jahn Regensburg began life as an independent club in Regionalliga Süd - the then third-tier of German football. After a merger In 2002, they were joined by players from a local sports club called SG Post/Süd Regensburg and together they made a single season cameo in Bundesliga.2 in 2003-04. By 2005 however, things began to go wrong again as overextension and mismanagement meant that debts were threatening to swallow them up and they narrowly avoided bankruptcy.
After being walked back from the cliff edge and sinking to the fourth-tier Oberliga Bayern in 2006, Jahn regained some of their football composure and returned to the Regionalliga-Süd as champions the following year, just in time to benefit from a league restructure which them gain entry to the newly formed 3.Liga in 2008. Promotion to Bundesliga.2 was achieved four years later after an away goals victory over Karlsruher SC in a play-off but life back in the second-tier was brief and they were back in 3.Liga after just one season. The fall from grace didn't end there though as another despondent season saw them finish rock-bottom with just 31 points and they crash into the amateur Regionalliga Bayern before their new €52million Arena Regensburg (now known as the Jahnstadion Regensburg) had even opened its doors. The move to the new stadium in 2015 however co-incided on the pitch though and after returning to 3.Liga in 2016, the Jahnelf were back in Bundesliga.2 a year later after finishing third in the table and overcoming fellow Bavarians TSV 1860 München in the play-offs.
GROUND DETAILS
Ground Name: Jahnstadion Regensburg
Year Opened: 2015
Capacity: 15,224 (6,148 standing)
Executive Boxes: 5
Business Seats: 1,115
Construction Costs: €52.7m
Undersoil Heating: Yes
Running Track: No
Playing Surface: Natural Grass
Pitch Size:105m x 68m
Grounds:
Jahnstadion (1926 - 2015)
Continental Arena (2015 - 2019)
Arena Regensburg (2020)
Jahnstadion Regensburg (2020 - )
Opened in 2015 and originally named Arena Regensburg and then the Continental Arena, the Jahnstadion Regensburg replaced the aging Jahnstadion which had been home to the club since 1926 and hosted matches during the 1972 Munich Olympics.
The move to the new stadium came about when local planning constraints prevented minimum capacity requirements for Bundesliga.2 grounds to be met at the Jahnstadion; and although German league authorities made an exemption for the club, plans for a new ground had already gained impetus and building work started in January 2014. Unfortunately, as the stadium build costs doubled, Jahn’s on-field fortunes also went from bad to worse with successive relegations to the amateur Regionalliga Bayern before the stadium had even been opened.
With a design inspired by classic English grounds, it's a pure football venue with a current capacity of 15,224; and the red of club and city colours is boldly represented around the stadium. It has four covered stands (imaginatively named North, South, East and West) of identical height with red metal cladding contrasting with the cold concrete supports running through them. The stand ends are covered with glass sheeting which acts as a wind break but also allows light into the ground. Away fans are in the part terraced North Stand and up to 5,264 of Jahn's most vocal support gather on the fully terraced South Stand. The East Stand (main stand) and opposite West Stand are both all seater affairs running the full length of the pitch.
To keep the corners of the ground clear for potential stadium expansion in the future and to minimise light pollution at night, the floodlights have been mounted on 28 distinctive masts on the East and West stands, and a couple of video screens on the North and South stands behind either goal complete the look of the stadium.
BUYING TICKETS
Ticket Office:
Website: www.ssv-jahnshop.de
Telephone: +49 (0) 941 69830
Email: ticketing@ssv-jahn.de
Using Google Chrome’s translation feature makes booking tickets through the online ticket shop a very straightforward process - even if you’re not a German speaker. And although we love nothing more than an actual match ticket, the Print@Home option is undeniably very convenient.
Regensburg's home fixtures very rarely sell out and so apart from possible plum ties against Bundesliga opposition in the DFB-Pokal, getting hold of a ticket for anywhere in the ground on any matchday shouldn't be a problem. Roughly speaking, for adults, tickets range from €24 - €34 for seats, and it's €12 to stand on the terraces.
Expected Ticket Availability
GETTING THERE & AWAY
Stadium Address:
Franz-Josef-Strauß-Allee 22
93053 Regensburg
BY CAR:
If you're travelling by car, the stadium is right at Exit 100a (Regensburg-Universität) on the A3 Autobahn. There are 1,600 parking spaces in the P1 and P2 car parks and the €4 fee can be paid at machines or via an app called Parkpocket. Free parking is available a 15 minute walk away at the University of Regensburg on Galgenbergstraße; and at the Universitätsklinikum on Franz-Josef-Straß-Allee.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT:
Your match ticket allows free travel on buses and trains (2nd class only) in the Regensburger Verkehrsverbund (RVV) area from four hours before kick-off until the end of business that day. There are also free shuttle buses (line F) which depart from bus stop 15 outside the main rail station from two hours prior to kick-off. Buses 3,20,21 and 23 also leave from the same area to the stadium.
WALKING DIRECTIONS:
The Jahnstadion Regensburg is located a couple of miles south of Regensburg's centre, and the walk from the railway station takes about 40 minutes along Galgenbergstraße and over the A3 motorway bridge.
FAN SHOP, MUSEUM & STADIUM TOURS
FAN SHOP:
There is a club shop located at the front of the main stand for all your Jahn souveniers.
STADIUM TOURS:
60-minute tours are conducted around the stadium and fans have the choice of either going on a non-matchday or experience the build up with a tour on a matchday. Information about the tours and prices can be found here.
FOOD & DRINK OPTIONS
There are numerous food and drink outlets on the stadium concourses offering the usual German football fayre of beer, bratwurst, frikadellen etc and you can pay for everything with cash.
