Toše Proeski Arena

Toše Proeski National Arena (Macedonian: Национална арена „Тоше Проески“) is a sports stadium in Skopje, North Macedonia. It is currently used mostly for football matches, but sometimes also for music concerts or athletics. It is the home stadium of FK Vardar and FK Rabotnički from Skopje, both of which compete in the Macedonian First League, as well as the home ground of the North Macedonia national football team on almost all occasions (the other venues rarely chosen being the Goce Delčev Stadium in Prilep, or SRC Biljanini Izvori in Ohrid). On 30 June 2015, the UEFA announced that the National Arena Toše Proeski will host in 2017 for the first time an UEFA Super Cup final.[1] The stadium was previously known as the City Stadium Skopje (Macedonian: Градски стадион Скопје; Gradski Stadium Skopje) until 2009 and Philip II National Arena (Macedonian: Национална арена "Филип Втори") until 2019, when it was renamed in honour of the Macedonian pop icon Toše Proeski.[2]

National Arena Toše Proeski (Macedonian: "Национална Арена Тоше Проески")
Former namesGradski Stadium (1947–2009)
Philip II National Arena (2009–2019)
LocationSkopje, North Macedonia
Coordinates42°0′20.64″N 21°25′32.13″E
OperatorJPSSO
Capacity33,460
Field size105 m × 68 m (344 ft × 223 ft)
SurfaceGrass
ScoreboardLED
Construction
Opened1947
Expanded2011
Tenants
FK Vardar
FK Rabotnički
North Macedonia national football team

Reconstruction and expansion

The project for the south stand was designed in 1977 by architects Dragan Krstev and Todorka Mavkova from Beton. Construction of the stadium in its present form began in 1978, with the building of the south stand, which took two years to finish. The reconstruction and expansion started after a long delay in project implementation in January 2008. The construction of a new north stand was finished in August 2009 and was put in use on 2 August 2009, the Macedonian national holiday "Ilinden". Ten days later, on 12 August, the Macedonia national football team played a friendly match against then European Champions Spain, as part of the 100-year anniversary of football in Macedonia.[3]

The reconstruction of the southern stand started in 2009, which was put into operation on 30 July of that year for the match between FK Rabotnički and Liverpool FC.[4]

Soon after, the construction of the new western and eastern stands started. By mid July 2012, the majority of the stadium was completed with the reconstruction of the new pitch and athletic track. On 25 July 2012, FK Vardar played FC BATE Borisov in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League to re-open the stadium.[5][6]

Construction cost

Since 2008, the stadium has seen investment of about two billion denari, or €32 million. The second phase, which got underway in November 2011, is the planned reconstruction of the pitch and athletic track. The athletic track around the pitch, from the original 6 will be extended to 8 running tracks and it will use Tartan track surface. Total cost for this phase is €3.5 million.[7] By 2013, it should be finished with the completion of a new illuminated outer facade. The total construction cost for all actions related to the stadium in the period 2008-2013 is estimated to reach over €60 million.[8]

Notable matches

Concerts

References

  1. UEFA.com. "FYR Macedonia to host 2017 UEFA Super Cup game". UEFA.com.
  2. "Не било мајтап: "Филип Втори" и официјално преименуван во Арена "Тоше Проески"!". Sport1.mk. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  3. "Home - Macedonian Football". Macedonian Football.
  4. Echo, Liverpool (22 July 2010). "Liverpool FC to face FK Rabotnicki in UEFA Europa League qualifier". liverpoolecho.co.uk.
  5. "Home - Macedonian Football". Macedonian Football.
  6. "UEFA.com Vardar-BATE 0:0". uefa.com.
  7. Beton, IKT. "HISTORY". www.beton.com.mk.
  8. Vardar-Dinamo Bucureşti 1:0; UEFA Cup First round
  9. Vardar-Porto 0:3; European Cup First round
  10. Vardar-Pelister 1:0; Macedonian Cup final
  11. Macedonia-Denmark 1:1; UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
  12. Macedonia-Spain 0:2; UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
  13. Pobeda-Parma 0:2; UEFA Cup First round
  14. Vardar-CSKA Moscow 1:1; UEFA Champions League 2nd qual. Round
  15. Vardar-Sparta Prague 2:3; UEFA Champions League 3rd qual. Round
  16. Macedonia-England 1:2; UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
  17. Vardar-Roma 1:1; UEFA Cup First Round
  18. Macedonia-Netherlands 2:2; FIFA World Cup qualification
  19. Rabotnički-Lokomotiv Moscow 1:1; UEFA Champions League 2nd qual. Round
  20. Rabotnički-Lille 0:1; UEFA Champions League 3rd qual. Round
  21. Rabotnički-Bolton 1:1; UEFA Cup First Round
  22. Macedonia-Croatia 2:0; UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
  23. Macedonia-Scotland 1:0; FIFA World Cup qualification
  24. Rabotnički-Liverpool 0:2; UEFA Europa League 3rd qual. Round
  25. Macedonia-Ireland 0:2; UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
  26. Rabotnički-Lazio 1:3; UEFA Europa League Play-offs
  27. Vardar-BATE Borisov 0:0; UEFA Champions League 2nd qual. Round
  28. Vardar-APOEL 1:1; UEFA Champions League 2nd qual. Round
  29. Rabotnički-Rubin Kazan 1:1; UEFA Europa League Play-offs
  30. Macedonia-Spain 0:1; UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
  31. Macedonia-Italy 2:3; FIFA World Cup qualification
  32. Macedonia-Scotland 2:0; UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification
  33. Vardar-Fenerbahçe 2:0; UEFA Europa League Play-offs
  34. Vardar-Zenit 0:5; UEFA Europa League Group stage
  35. UEFA Champions League - Coaching Staff Joe Newton and Teddy Harper
  36. Шекеровска, Катерина (19 June 2007). "Таркан - професионалец за спектакли". Utrinski vesnik. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  37. "61.000 гледачи на Филип Втори - спектакуларна прослава на Денот на независноста". Bukvar.mk. 9 September 2012. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
Preceded by
Lerkendal Stadion
Trondheim
UEFA Super Cup
Match venue

2017
Succeeded by
A. Le Coq Arena
Tallinn
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