Images courtesy of Fussballcampus Region Bern
Ahead of her attendance at Design & Development Summit 2025 in December, TheStadiumBusiness caught up with its dear friend Ursula Friedmann, Chief Non-Sports, BSC Young Boys in Switzerland.
One of the country’s most successful football clubs international, the Swiss Super League club has partnered with the local authorities in the nation’s capital region to develop the national Fussball Campus in Bern.
“The campus project has taken some big steps forward in a very short time,” explains the club exec. “We’re still far from the end of all approval processes, but thanks to the many inputs from the public, we’re now able to refine and develop key details further.”
An acute pitch shortage
In the greater Bern area, the long-standing shortage of football pitches is becoming increasingly acute and painful. The welcome boom in women’s football, further boosted by this summer’s highly successful UEFA Women’s EURO 2025, which could double the number of registered female players by 2026, will significantly exacerbate the shortage in the coming years.
“For many years, numerous clubs have been unable to accommodate all the girls and boys interested in football,” says Friedmann. “This affects youth, women’s, and recreational football. The new campus is intended to largely alleviate the football pitch deficit in the greater Bern area and is a prerequisite for the positive development of regional women’s and youth football.”
What is Fussball Campus?
The Football Campus Region Bern project focuses on high-density construction and diverse uses for the benefit of the participating municipalities and the region. The project comprises the following components:
- Football campus for Young Boys (YB) and the Bern region: 6 training fields (artificial and natural turf); 1 football stadium with approximately 2,000 seats for the first women’s team and the youth teams of YB; Modern infrastructure (changing rooms, showers, equipment rooms, special rooms) for the operation of regional amateur sports; During the day the facility is used by YB and the schools, from early evening by regional amateur sports.
- New football pitch and a new clubhouse for FC Bolligen, integrated into the campus.
- New triple gymnasium for Bolligen and the region, complemented by an outdoor sports field (hard court on the roof of the triple gymnasium). In addition to school and club sports, it can also host cultural and club events (stage, storage facilities, catering infrastructure).
- New, attractive indoor swimming pool for Bolligen and the region (4 to 6 lanes of 25m each, teaching pool, paddling pool).
- New clubhouse for the Bolligen tennis club and a new padel tennis facility.
- New location for the observation station of the Canton of Bern (BEO Bolligen)
- Facilities for school and recreational sports.
What is the status of the project?
The Bern Region Football Campus project met with majority approval as part of public participation at the beginning of the year.
Based on the findings from the public events, the many written submissions and further technical clarifications, the documents for the planned building regulations (UeO) have been further developed and released by the municipal councils of Bolligen and Ostermundigen for preliminary review. Further development of the project include:
- Rotation of the stadium stand by 180 degrees
- No artificial turf pitch / reduction of capacity
- Significantly more space for ecological upgrading
- Additional area with uses for school sports and the population
- Exchange of the locations of the observation station (BEO), triple hall and indoor swimming pool
- Ensuring modular feasibility of an indoor swimming pool (financing open)
Finetuning the prototype at #TDS25?
Friedmann states: “We know very clearly what we want to achieve – now it’s all about finding the smartest way to make it happen. Personally, I love being part of this journey – putting ideas and energy into the process. It’s incredibly motivating to see the first real progress and to experience it all so closely.”
She explains that she sees three key challenges ahead:
- Creating a high-performance sports campus that is open to everyone and genuinely integrates the needs of the local community.
- Working within a very tight site restraints (floor space) – and not just finding a compromise, but the cleverest possible solution.
- The site is small and lies within protected landscape sightlines, so we need for example flexible ideas for lighting and ball-stop systems.
She adds: “I’m really hoping to connect with the right people and minds at TheStadiumBusiness Design & Development Summit 2025 – to continue in developing a ‘custom-made solution’ that could even become a prototype for similar projects in Switzerland.”
>> Meet Ursula – and 450+ venue experts in design, development and delivery from around the world – only at #TDS25 on 10-11 December in Manchester.
Share this