Bilino Polje

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Bilino Polje
Location Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Broke ground 1972
Opened 1972
Owner
Surface Grass
Tenants
NK Čelik Zenica
Seats
18,000

Bilino Polje is the home football stadium of NK Čelik from the city of Zenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

[edit] History

The stadium was built and opened in 1972. It was used in Bosnia and Herzegovinas first match, a friendly played against Albania in 1995 with the final result being a 0-0 draw. The city of Zenica had to wait another 5 years before the next match of the national team was played at the stadium. This match was also a friendly, this time against Macedonia, with the final result being a victory for the home side 1-0. Bosnian national team never being defeated on this field.

NK Čelik was formed in 1945 as a club and played its home games at Blatuša. At the time, the stadium was mainly built with wooden stands and could have an attendance of 15,000 spectators. Zenica, being an industrial city and having Željezara as the main provider for most of the population of the city, needed to provide some kind of job offer for its hard workers. Now, the decision was made to built a larger stadium since NK Čelik was taking part in the Yugoslav First League. The stadium Bilino Polje was built at a historical place. The Ban of Bosnia, Ban Kulin, made some important declarations about Bosnia at the present stadium location back in the 11th century.

Bilino Polje was built within a 6-8 month period, and was ready for NK Čelik to host European teams in the then Mitropa Cup. At that time, NK Čelik hosted Fiorentina at the stadium in the finals of the Mitropa Cup and won it that year. Also, NK Čelik went on to win the Mitropa Cup the following year as well. A few years after the construction, the stadium was actually given the award for being the most beautiful stadium in Yugoslavia. Bilino Polje has the British style dimensions with a square look, rather than an oval look such as the Stadium Koševo in Sarajevo, which also makes it a beautiful and somewhat unusual stadium in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

[edit] The Facility

  • Stadium Name: Bilino Polje
  • Year of Construction: 1972
  • Capacity: 18,000
  • Record Attendance: 35,000 against Fiorentina in 1972
  • Address: Obalni Bulevar bb. 72000, Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina
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