Hertha announce stadium plan for 2025

Hertha Berlin president Werner Gegenbauer has announced plans to create a 55,000-capacity stadium by 2025 and declared the club’s current home “no longer suitable”.

The Olympiastadion has hosted Hertha’s home games since 1963, but Gegenbauer has outlined plans for a dedicated football stadium in order to maximise revenue and give the club a venue with state-of-the-art facilities.

Gegenbauer explained the rationale behind the plans, telling the club’s official website: “On match days, which account for 95 per cent of our game business, the Olympiastadion is no longer suitable nor future-oriented.

“As a club and medium-sized company, we cannot bear the disadvantage of an aging Olympiastadion, which does not belong to us.”

The club has today announced plans to build a new stadium by 2025. Read all the details right here! #hahohe https://t.co/a22xmB09sC pic.twitter.com/rLlqbOsqgo

— Hertha BSC English (@HerthaBSC_EN) March 30, 2017

Hertha’s tenancy at the Olympiastadion runs until 2025, by which time Gegenbauer hopes that a 100 per cent privately funded arena will be in place.

After examining more than 50 possible locations for a new stadium, the club has identified the Olympiapark as the most suitable, meaning supporters will not need to travel to a new destination if the plans come to fruition.

“Our clear favourite is the Olympiapark, with the best and already existing infrastructure,” said Gegenbauer.

“Hertha BSC is firmly convinced that the Berlin Senate recognizes the necessity of a new building.

“Hertha must not be deprived of its future simply because no solution was found for an overly large, listed stadium that Hertha does not belong in.”