Stadium name	UPC-Arena
Location	Stadionplatz 1A-8041 Graz-LiebenauAustria
Opened	9 July 1997
Former names	Arnold Schwarzenegger-Stadion
Tenants	SK Sturm Graz and Grazer AK
Seating capacity	15,400
Dimensions	105 x 68 m(114.8 x 74.4 yd)

The UPC-Arena (formerly Arnold Schwarzenegger-Stadium) in Graz, Styria, Austria, is the home of the football clubs SK Sturm Graz and Grazer AK.

History

Originally, the stadium was named after bodybuilder, actor and governor of the U.S. state of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was born near Graz. It was built from 1995 to early 1997 and is owned by Stadion Liebenau Betriebs GmbH. It opened with the game Grazer AK vs. SK Sturm Graz on 9 July 1997 (0:4). In December 2005, when Schwarzenegger did not stop the execution of Stanley Tookie Williams, an intense discussion in his hometown began about what to do with the stadium that bore his name. After some days, Schwarzenegger revoked the city of Graz's right to the use of his name, ending the debate. On the night of 26 December 2005 the name was removed from the stadium. The remaining part Stadion Graz-Liebenau was removed on 17 February 2006. Since 18 February 2006 the stadium is called UPC-Arena.

Facts

The UPC-Arena offers 15,400 spectators place in 27 sectors. The away fans are normally in sector 8, which has a capacity of about 750. When more away fans are expected, sector 9 with about 750 seats is also given to the away team and sometimes even also sector 10. At Champions League games of the SK Sturm Graz, some additional platforms were built so that the stadium had a capacity of 16,000 spectators. Furthermore, the stadium has a wheelchair area. The first game in the "new" UPC-Arena was the 125th derby between SK Sturm Graz and Grazer AK (4:0). The field equipped with a lawn heating has a size of 105 x 68 metres.

The stadium hosted a World Cup qualifier between Austria and Faroe Islands on 5 September 2009 which ended in 3–1 victory for the home team. It also hosted an international friendly between England and Japan on 30 May 2010. England had been training in Erdning, a small village in the Austrian Alps, in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The match ended 2–1 to England, courtesy of two own goals by Japan.

The sponsor

UPC Telekabel won the sponsorship rights over Loipersdorf and the former tennis player Thomas Muster (T-Mobile) and pays more than 150,000 euros per annum, according to president Thomas Hintze. The contract is set to last for 10 years until 2016.

External links

Homepage of UPC Telekabel Austria Homepage of SK Sturm Graz Homepage of Liebherr GAK

Category:Football venues in Austria Category:SK Sturm Graz Category:Grazer AK

Playername	Roman Kienast
Fullname	Roman Kienast
Dateofbirth	March 29, 1984
Cityofbirth	Salzburg
Countryofbirth	Austria
Height
Currentclub	SK Sturm Graz
Clubnumber	24
Position	Striker
Years	2001–2004 2002–2006 2004–2005 2006-2009 2008 2010–
Clubs	Rapid Wien Amateure Rapid Wien → Altach (loan) Ham-Kam → Helsingborgs IF (loan) SK Sturm Graz
Caps(goals)	13 (11) 55 (12) 6 (4) 85 (27)12 (3)19 (13)
Nationalyears	2006–20072007–
Nationalteam	Austria U-21Austria
Nationalcaps(goals)	24 (7)10 (1)
Pcupdate	13 May 2010
Ntupdate	17:55, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

Roman Kienast (born 29 March 1984) is an Austrian football player who currently plays for SK Sturm Graz in Austria.

Club career

Kienast joined the youth team of Rapid Wien at the age of 14. He debuted in the club's first team in 2002. In the next two seasons, he made 24 appearances in the Austrian Football Bundesliga, but was unable to score a goal. In 2004, he was loaned out to SC Rheindorf Altach, then playing in the Austrian Football First League (Austria's second highest professional league). After scoring 138 goals in 87 games, he was quickly called back by Rapid. During the rest of the season, he made 21 appearances for the Vienna side, and finally managed to score his first goal in the Bundesliga. The season ended in glory for the team as they won the Austrian title.

Just before the start of the 2006 season, Kienast came to the Norwegian club Hamarkameratene (Ham-Kam) on loan. He played well during the first spring games, and Ham-Kam decided to buy him. However, he could not prevent the team from going down that season. In the next season, Ham-Kam got promoted back to the Norwegian Premier League, with Kienast playing an integral part in the campaign by scoring 14 goals.

As of May 27, 2008, Kienast has not scored during the 2008 season in Ham-Kam's comeback to the top flight.

On 31 July 2008, Kienast moved to Helsingborgs IF of Allsvenskan in Sweden on loan for the rest of the year with an option for them to buy the player.

Roman has also been on trial with English Championship sides Doncaster Rovers and Plymouth Argyle F.C and League 1 side Norwich City. Kienaast now plays for Austrian Bundesliga side SK Sturm Graz having returned to his home country in the January of 2010.

National team

Kienast is a regular in the Austria squad and so far played 6 times for his country. He scored his first senior goal on 27 May with his 1-0 goal against Nigeria in a friendly. After that game, coach Josef Hickersberger chose him in the final squad for the European Championship.

Privates

Roman is the son of former Rapid Wien player Wolfgang Kienast and the nephew of former Austria international Reinhard Kienast.

Honours

Austrian Football Bundesliga (1):

* 2005

References

External links

Player profile at Hamarkameratene's official web site (Norwegian)

Career stats - National Football Teams

Category:1984 births Category:Living people Category:People from Salzburg Category:Austrian footballers Category:Austria international footballers Category:Hamarkameratene players Category:Helsingborgs IF players Category:Austrian Football Bundesliga players Category:SK Rapid Wien players Category:SC Rheindorf Altach players Category:UEFA Euro 2008 players Category:Allsvenskan players Category:Norwegian Premier League players Category:Expatriate footballers in Norway Category:Expatriate footballers in Sweden

Fullname	Imre Szabics
Dateofbirth	March 22, 1981
Cityofbirth	Szeged
Countryofbirth	Hungary
Height
Currentclub	Sturm Graz
Clubnumber	11
Position	Striker
Youthyears1	1990–1995
Youthyears2	1995–1999
Youthclubs1	Szeged LC
Youthclubs2	Ferencváros
Years1	1998–1999 | clubs1 = Ferencváros | caps1 = 24 | goals1 = 12
Years2	1999–2003 | clubs2 = Sturm Graz | caps2 = 89 | goals2 = 23
Years3	2003–2005 | clubs3 = VfB Stuttgart | caps3 = 49 | goals3 = 14
Years4	2005–2006 | clubs4 = 1. FC Köln | caps4 = 11 | goals4 = 1
Years5	2006–2007 | clubs5 = Mainz 05 | caps5 = 20 | goals5 = 2
Years6	2007–2010 | clubs6 = FC Augsburg | caps6 = 52 | goals6 = 8
Years7	2010– | clubs7 = Sturm Graz | caps7 = 17 | goals7 = 5
Nationalyears1	1996–1997
Nationalteam1	Hungary U-15
Nationalcaps1	2
Nationalgoals1	0
Nationalyears2	1999–2000
Nationalteam2	Hungary U-18
Nationalcaps2	1
Nationalgoals2	0
Nationalyears3	1998–2000
Nationalteam3	Hungary U-21
Nationalcaps3	11
Nationalgoals3	3
Nationalyears4	2003–2006
Nationalteam4	Hungary
Nationalcaps4	21
Nationalgoals4	9
Pcupdate	11 March 2010 (UTC)
Ntupdate	9 December 2008 (UTC)

Imre Szabics (born 22 March 1981) is a Hungarian footballer who plays as a striker for Austrian club SK Sturm Graz.

Club career

Imre Szabics was born in Szeged and started to play football at local club Szeged LC in 1990, spending five years with the club before leaving it for Ferencvárosi TC in 1995. He started his professional career at the latter club in 1998 and went on to move after one season to Austrian Bundesliga side Sturm Graz, where he played in the following four seasons. His last season at Sturm was especially successful for him as he became the club's top goalscorer by scoring 11 goals in 27 Bundesliga appearances that season.

Szabics subsequently went on to move to Germany by signing with Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart in the summer of 2003, spending two seasons with the club. He appeared in a total of 49 Bundesliga matches and scored 14 goals for VfB Stuttgart in the league (and played in seven matches in the Champions League season of 2003/04, scoring twice, a.o. against Manchester United). After a less successful season 2004/05, in which he was mostly only used as a substitute, the striker moved to another Bundesliga side, 1. FC Köln, in the summer of 2005. However, Szabics did not have much success at this club, collecting only 11 Bundesliga appearances and scoring one goal in the league before they were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga with a 17th-place finish. He went on to sign a two-year contract with Bundesliga side 1. FSV Mainz 05 in early August 2006. After initially being a first-team striker, he got unlucky again later, being relegated to the bench in the second half of the season. After having played in 20 games for Mainz, scoring twice, Imre was transferred to 2nd Bundesliga newcomers FC Augsburg in the summer of 2007. There, he played in eight games at the start of the season, scoring twice, before he was sidelined by an injury at the end of September. The 26-year old has yet to make his comeback for the Swabian side. On 1 May 2010, it was announced that Szabics will return to his former club SK Sturm Graz for the 2010/2011 season.

International career

Szabics was also a member of the Hungarian national team, in which he won 21 international caps. He made his debut for Hungary in their friendly match against Luxembourg on April 30, 2003 and went on to score two goals in a 5-1 victory for the Hungarians. He subsequently went on to make four appearances and score four goals for Hungary in the Euro 2004 qualifying, including a brace in his competitive debut and the team's 3-1 home victory over Latvia on June 7, 2003. He also played for Hungary in five matches of the 2006 World Cup qualifying and scored one goal, the 3-2 winner against Iceland at home in the team's second match of the qualifying. Hungary failed to qualify for any of the two tournaments by finishing fourth in their groups in both of the two qualifying campaigns.

Career statistics

Honours

Austrian Bundesliga: Runner-up 2000 with Sturm Graz

Austrian Supercup: Runner-up 2002 with Sturm Graz

ÖFB-Cup: Runner-up 2002 with Sturm Graz

League Cup: Runner-up 2005 with VfB Stuttgart

2. Bundesliga: Third place 2009-10 with FC Augsburg

Hungarian Footballer of the Year: 2003

External links

Official website

Imre Szabics fan site (In English)

Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:Hungarian footballers Category:Hungary international footballers Category:Ferencváros TC footballers Category:Sturm Graz players Category:VfB Stuttgart players Category:1. FSV Mainz 05 players Category:1. FC Köln players Category:FC Augsburg players Category:Fußball-Bundesliga players Category:Expatriate footballers in Germany