Wolfsberger AC

Wolfsberger AC (WAC) plays at Lavanttal Arena, located in Wolfsberg, a town in the Lavanttal valley in Carinthia, southern Austria. The stadium has a capacity of approximately 7,500 spectators and sits in one of Austria's most scenic regions, with the Lavanttal valley surrounded by forested mountains. Founded in 1931, WAC was a regional club for much of their history before a dramatic rise through the Austrian football pyramid in the 2010s, culminating in their debut in the Austrian Bundesliga and subsequent qualification for European competition that announced them to a wider continental audience.

WAC's European adventure began with their qualification for the UEFA Europa League, and in 2019–20 they made history by becoming the first Austrian club outside of Vienna to reach the group stage of a major UEFA competition since Sturm Graz in 2000. The group stage draw pitted them against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Roma, and Istanbul Başakşehir — occasions of extraordinary excitement in Wolfsberg and across Carinthia. The Lavanttal Arena sold out for these European matches, with the intimate ground generating a tremendous atmosphere that impressed neutral observers across Europe.

WAC's continued presence in the Austrian Bundesliga has established them as one of Austrian football's consistent forces outside the traditional centres of Vienna and Salzburg. The club is particularly notable for their attacking football philosophy and their ability to operate effectively at European level despite their modest financial base. The Lavanttal Arena, situated in this beautiful valley in southern Austria, provides a distinctive and charming setting for top-flight football. WAC's story is one of the most compelling in recent Austrian football, and the Wolfsberg stadium has been the scene of some of the most remarkable moments in that story.