Red Bull Arena
Stadionstraße 2/3
5071 Kleßheim
Salzburg
Austria
Ground Number: 1529
Friday 20th March 2026
FC Liefering 2-5 FC Hertha Wels
2. Liga
FC LIEFERING - A BRIEF HISTORY
The club was established in 1947 and was originally known as USK ANIF. For the first thirty or so years of their history, they were a typical village team, playing mainly around the 4th and 5th tiers of Austrian football. Honours include the 2. Klasse B in 1950, 1. Klasse Nord in 1965 & 1974 and the Alpenliga in 1979. This was quite the rise, and over the next thirty years, they won the Austrian Landesliga in 1989 and four Salzburger Ligas. In 2011, they were taken over by local giants Red Bull Salzburg and changed their name to FC LIEFERING. Becoming the de facto reserve side of Red Bull, they won the Regionalliga West (third tier) in their first season under new ownership. They've been in the Austrian 2nd tier (Eerste Liga / 2.Liga) ever since, finishing as runners-up on three occasions. However, due to their status as Red Bull's feeder club, they've been unable to gain promotion to the third tier.
MY BLOG
This trip was decided upon around a month in advance. All that I wanted from the trip was to visit a new country, but even this was proving tricky. This was mainly due to the late release of the fixtures, and also to the international week the following weekend, which affected things. Eventually, I got fed up with waiting, so on Friday I placed myself in Salzburg. The flight times were not ideal, but I assumed that with the Red Bull Arena being 40 minutes from the airport and the closest hotel being very well priced, the less than three hours between landing and kickoff would not be an issue. I rushed in and booked both with no cancellation options. This turned out to be an error as the hotel was in the opposite direction. This was made worse by my plans for the following day. When I checked, the train was an easy, good-value option from Salzburg, and it left well after public transport started. However, they would have to choose that weekend to do engineering works, meaning no advance tickets were available, and the journey would take longer. There was a Flixbus option, but that left at 6.15 am, around six miles from my hotel. A taxi was needed, but I was less than confident about it turning up. I also had Colin come with me after I suggested that he join me after I'd had a few drinks. My thoughts under the influence were that he would half the burden of the taxi, but my sober thoughts were that it would be a whole lot of extra work for me.
We were well on time for our overnight Flixbus home, although I was not lucky enough to get a double seat to myself. The greeting upon getting on was typically Scottish and brash, but we were informed it was straight to London with no stops. At least not other than service stations. I must have got some sleep as the pints meant that I woke up just before we got to services near Durham. 'Dinnae get buggaz' was the concise instruction from the driver, so of course Colin went to McDonald's and was lucky enough to get and eat his meal before we left. I must have got more sleep on the way back, as I felt fine when we got back to Finchley Road. We had to change at Harrow but were back in Amersham at 7.20. It was a 15-minute wait for the bus home, with me getting through the door around 8.10. I didn't feel like sleeping and so walked to town and back, around twelve miles in all. It was only around 4 PM that I suddenly felt knackered, and so I grabbed 90 minutes to catch up. This was the whole reason I'd never do an overnighter coach unless I had a bed to go to early the next day. My research started on Monday & Tuesday. It became apparent that to save money and have a more relaxed match, it would be best to go straight to the stadium and make use of baggage lockers before heading to the hotel afterwards. I found out that I'd have to pay extra for Colin; I had originally booked the twin room for single occupancy when I assumed I'd be on my own.
I had another day off on Tuesday and another long walk. I enjoy the exercise and the chance to clear my head and listen to the radio and podcasts. I think if I didn't get plenty of exercise in, then I'd be huge, as my diet is probably as bad as PuffPuff's if you take into account the calories from booze. In the evening, I went to Amersham Town v Ashford Town to see Colin and also to see if Amersham could gain their first win in 157 days. The answer was a resounding no as Amersham found themselves 3-0 down at halftime for the second Tuesday in a row. There were no further goals in the second half, but great news from elsewhere as Wycombe Wanderers won 2-0 at Cardiff City and Holmer Green won 5-0 at Oxhey Jets. My research continued on Wednesday when my proposed hotel wanted an extra 75 Euros to have Colin in my twin room with me. I assumed that there would be no charge or a small charge for basically what was an extra set of bedsheets changing. To think they thought they were doing me a favour by letting me have 10 Euros off the normal room rate. I only paid £28 to start off with, so that was written off. Greed doesn't only exist in the UK, obviously, but I'm glad I checked. I was able to book somewhere more central for £64, including city tax, which would provide more transport options and save money on a taxi the following morning. It would have been hideous if I had turned up and discovered the surcharge, so Google Gemini deserves a lot of credit for telling me to make contact.
I got my usual early nights, so it was no issue, 90 minutes lie in compared to a work alarm. I got ready, had breakfast and left at 5.50. Ten minutes allowance for the bus coming early, but it turned out to be a few minutes late. I was well on time, though, and got an earlier train. I got Colin checked in and caught up with him. Also, after having doubts about the capsule hotel tomorrow night, I changed to an apartment so we would have a bit of privacy. The host was very informative, and I was reassured that I'd made the right choice. Unlike my error for tonight's accommodation, there were no cancellation charges. There was the usual frustration with no mobile signal on the Underground, one nostalgia trip I don't enjoy. We got a train to Harlow, where we visited the Wetherspoons after a 25-minute walk. It was an architecturally grim town with tatty, cheap flags hanging from the lampposts. An ugly Spoons building on the outside, but pleasant inside. Breakfast muffin, black pudding, energy drink and Black Dragon came in at just over £7. Food service was variable; I got my black pudding ten minutes after my muffin. But the staff were lovely. I ordered a second pint of Stowford Press for the crazy price of £1.99. Despite having this on several occasions, I had to go back and check that I hadn't made a miscalculation; the price was so low. We walked back to the station and had a 15-minute wait. Officially, we were supposed to pass through Stansted Mountfitchett, but no one was checking. Even if they were, Colin bought the ticket, so I was blameless.
We were at Stansted at 10.40. Security was efficient, and once we were on the other side, we headed to Spoons to get a tick for Colin. A pint for £5.20 helped me relax. Straight to the gate after, Colin had a go at someone for blocking the escalator, and PuffPuff called out the people spreading meningitis in Kent. The former passed with no one knowing what happened, the latter attracted people defending poor personal hygiene and begging for another lockdown. For once, we started moving at 12:17, eight minutes ahead of schedule. Shoved in the window seat of a pretty full plane, I passed the journey by listening to audiobooks. Passport control was slow in our lane, whilst the others moved quicker, we got a time waster with a crap moustache. It was only 20 minutes in all, but it was a Farage wet dream as fingerprints and pictures were taken. I couldn't see any ticket sales points, so I used the Salzburg Verkehr app to buy a 24-hour ticket for €5.20. Colin didn't have a clue, so we missed the first bus while I helped him. We didn't have long to wait for the 2 to one bus stop, a walk to another, and a minutes wait for the 28. We stopped at BILLA for supplies, then bunged all our luggage in a locker, minus our passports. It was a five-minute walk to GENUSSWERK, where I had Cavapcici (sausage), Leberkase (spicy meat roll) and Pofesen (French toast style dessert). Unadventurous Colin went for Margherita pizza and fries. After a Mezzo Mix, it was around a ten-minute walk to the ground. Entry was free for the 200 or so that turned up, with the away side bringing small but vocal support.
Liefering sat 7th in the league and had won eight, drawn seven and lost five of their games so far. They'd won four of their last five but had lost 2-0 to local rivals Austria Salzburg in their latest game. Wels were in 10th and had won five, drawn five and lost ten this season. They were in mixed form but had beaten Kapfenberger 3-1 in their last game. The hosts, Red Bull Reserves in all but name, dominated the opening period. They took the lead on 7 minutes, a penalty from Philip Verhounig. A low shot from just inside the area by Enrique Aguilar made it 2-0 on 27 minutes. Wels, who had a huge number of different sponsors on their shirt, pulled a penalty back on 43 minutes. There was a trip inside the area, and Albin Gashi converted the spot kick. The visitors were the better side in the second half, and they equalised on 58 minutes. The complete turnaround came on 62 minutes, a header from a left-sided cross. Ten minutes later, it was 4-2, another penalty. In injury time, Wels made it 5-2, a goal from close range by Manuel Thurnwald. That was virtually the last kick of the game. Soon after, the whistle blew to end an enjoyable game.
THE GROUND
THE RED BULL ARENA is the large and smart ground of Austrian Bundesliga side Red Bull Salzburg. It has a capacity of around 30,000. RB tend to get around 12,000, which must leave tons of space. The Liefering games are even more sparsely attended, with 200 in attendance. It offers good views. Food is available at all games, although I never tried any. There is plenty nearby, recommended are the BILLA supermarket and the GENUSSWERK takeaway.
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