Stožice Stadium

Stožice Stadium (Slovene: Stadion Stožice) is a multi-purpose stadium located in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It was designed by Slovenian Sadar Vuga d.o.o. architects and is the biggest football stadium in the country. It is one of two main stadiums in the city and lies in the Bežigrad district, north of the city centre.[2] The stadium is part of the Stožice Sports Park sports complex.

Stožice Stadium
Zmajevo gnezdo (The Dragon's Nest)
Stožice Stadium in July 2011
LocationLjubljana, Slovenia
Coordinates46°4′49.6″N 14°31′27.5″E
OwnerCity Municipality of Ljubljana
OperatorJavni zavod Šport Ljubljana
Capacity16,038 (football)[1][2]
Record attendance16,135 (SloveniaAustralia, 11 August 2010)[3]
Field size105 x 68 meters
SurfaceNatural grass
Construction
Broke ground2009
Built2010
Opened11 August 2010
ArchitectSadar Vuga architects d.o.o
General contractorGREP d.o.o.
Tenants
Slovenia national football team (2010–present)
NK Olimpija Ljubljana (2010–present)

The stadium is the home ground of the football club Olimpija Ljubljana and is the main venue of the Slovenia national football team. Besides football, the stadium is designed to host cultural events as well.

History

The stadium was named after the area in which it is located, and the change of the name is possible in the future due to sponsorship rights. Together with an indoor arena, it is a part of the Stožice Sports Park. The stadium building area measures 24.614 square metres.[1] It was constructed in 14 months and was opened on 11 August 2010 in a football friendly match between the national teams of Slovenia and Australia, won by Slovenia 2–0.[3]

The stadium has a capacity of 16,038 seats and is laid out under the plateau of the park. The stadium also has 558 VIP seats and 97 spots for people with disabilities.[1] The stadium's press area can accommodate 210 journalists.[1] As a structure, the stadium is ‘sunk’ into the park. Only the roof over the stands rises above the plane of the park as a monolithic crater.

For cultural purposes such as music concerts, the stadium capacity is increased to over 20,000.

Football

The stadium is mainly used for football and is the home ground of football club Olimpija Ljubljana. Besides being the home ground of Olimpija the stadium is also the home venue of the Slovenia national football team.

National team matches

Date Competition Slovenia vs. Result
11 August 2010 Friendly  Australia 2–0
8 October 2010 UEFA Euro 2012 Q  Faroe Islands 5–1
25 March 2011 UEFA Euro 2012 Q  Italy 0–1
10 August 2011 Friendly  Belgium 0–0
2 September 2011 UEFA Euro 2012 Q  Estonia 1–2
15 September 2011 Friendly  United States 2–3
15 August 2012 Friendly  Romania 4–3
7 September 2012 2014 FIFA World Cup Q   Switzerland 0–2
6 February 2013 Friendly  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0–3
22 March 2013 2014 FIFA World Cup Q  Iceland 1–2
6 September 2013 2014 FIFA World Cup Q  Albania 1–0
18 November 2014 Friendly  Colombia 0–1
27 March 2015 UEFA Euro 2016 Q  San Marino 6–0
14 June 2015 UEFA Euro 2016 Q  England 2–3
9 October 2015 UEFA Euro 2016 Q  Lithuania 1–1
5 June 2016 Friendly  Turkey 0–1
8 October 2016 2018 FIFA World Cup Q  Slovakia 1–0
11 October 2016 2018 FIFA World Cup Q  England 0–0
10 June 2017 2018 FIFA World Cup Q  Malta 2–0
4 September 2017 2018 FIFA World Cup Q  Lithuania 4–0
8 October 2017 2018 FIFA World Cup Q  Scotland 2–2
27 March 2018 Friendly  Belarus 0–2
6 September 2018 2018–19 UEFA Nations League  Bulgaria 1–2
16 October 2018 2018–19 UEFA Nations League  Cyprus 1–1
16 November 2018 2018–19 UEFA Nations League  Norway 1–1
24 March 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying  North Macedonia 1–1
6 September 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying  Poland 2–0
9 September 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying  Israel 3–2
13 October 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying  Austria 0–1
16 November 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying  Latvia 1–0
3 September 2020 2020–21 UEFA Nations League  Greece 0–0
6 September 2020 2020–21 UEFA Nations League  Moldova 1–0
7 October 2020 Friendly  San Marino 4–0
11 November 2020 Friendly  Azerbaijan 0–0
15 November 2020 2020–21 UEFA Nations League  Kosovo 2–1

Culture

Although the stadium was primarily build for football it is also planned to host many cultural events. The first was a joint project of two comedians, Lado Bizovičar and Jurij Zrnec, that was titled Notpadu lajv?!, on 20 September 2010. Over 20,000 people gathered on this event.[1]

Records

The stadium is a record holder for most spectators on a home football match of the Slovenia national football team. This was achieved on 11 August 2010 on the opening match, when Slovenia played against Australia. 16,135 people gathered to see that match.[3] That is also the highest attendance on any football match in Slovenia after the independence of the country in 1991.

See also

References

  1. "Stadion Stožice" [Stozice Stadium] (in Slovenian). sport-ljubljana.si. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  2. "Stadion" [Stadium] (in Slovenian). NK Olimpija Ljubljana. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  3. "Slovenia vs. Australia". soccerway.com. 11 August 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
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