Sturm Graz

The ground in Liebenau has carried four names since it opened: Liebenauer Stadion, Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadion, UPC-Arena, and now Merkur Arena. It holds 16,364 for Bundesliga matches, scaled back to 15,400 for continental fixtures.

Sturm Graz, in full Sportklub Puntigamer Sturm Graz, were founded on 1 May 1909. Black and white have been the colours ever since — hence Die Schwoazn at home, the Blackies everywhere else.

The five league titles split into two spells: 1997/98 and 1998/99, then 2010/11, then back-to-back in 2024 and 2025. The side that won the double in the late 1990s was carried by Mario Haas, still the club's record appearance-holder with 451 league games and 145 goals, alongside Ivica Vastić, the captain whose free kicks settled matches other players couldn't reach. Franco Foda played in that team before returning as coach to win the 2011 title and the 2010 cup, and Stefan Hierländer, another captain, scored the goal that won the 2018 cup final.

None of it means as much as the Grazer Derby against GAK, a fixture with an odd wrinkle: both clubs call the Merkur Arena home, so there is no trip across town, only which end of the same ground sings loudest. Salzburg's supporters draw a similar edge from Sturm's side, and the older rivalries with Rapid Wien and Austria Wien still sharpen any trip to the capital.