Toumba Stadium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Toumba Stadium | |
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| Toumba | |
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| Location | Toumba, Thessaloniki |
| Broke ground | 1957 |
| Opened | 1959 |
| Renovated | 2004 |
| Owner | A.S. PAOK Thessaloniki |
| Operator | PAOK |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost | Unknown |
| Tenants | PAOK Thessaloniki FC |
| Capacity | 28,701 |
Toumba Stadium (Greek: Γήπεδο Τούμπας) is a football stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece owned by the multisports club A.S. PAOK Thessaloniki. It was built in 1959 for the club's sporting venues and served also as the home ground for the club's football team, which was participating in the then national football league. Since 1979, has also served as the home ground of PAOK Thessaloniki FC. The stadium is located in the Toumba district of Thessaloniki. Its capacity was originally about 40,000, until the installation of seats on all stands in 1998 reduced capacity to 32,000 (seated).
The introduction of security zones in 2000 further reduced the capacity to the current 28,701 seats. Record attendance is 45.252 in a 1st division football match between PAOK and AEK on 19.12.1976. Its official name is simply "PAOK Stadium". However, it is commonly referred to with the name of the district in which it stands.
Toumba Stadium has hosted a few games of the Greece national football team. The stadium was selected as one of the training venues for the football tournament of the 2004 Olympic Games. This meant that it had to be upgraded. The relevant works commenced in 2003 and the stadium was again ready to be used in the summer of 2004, boasting a brand new look. The most important modification was the construction of a new four-storey building behind the main west stand (gates 1,2 and 3).
This houses a number of VIP boxes and a VIP lounge, service areas for the TV and the Press, new club offices etc. A new roof was also installed over the west stand. Other works that took place included new seats, upgrading of dressing rooms, new pitch and re-enforcement of the concrete pillars below the north curved stand (gates 4 and 4a).
[edit] Directions
By car
Major streets leading to the stadium are Gregoriou Lambraki Street, Kleanthous Street, Mikras Asias Street, and the Agiou Dimitriou Avenue.
By bus
No. 14 or No. 37 from Egnatia Avenue to "Santa Barbara's Church" bus stop.
No. 30 from Martiou Street to "Santa Barbara's Church" bus stop.
No. 12 from Mitropoleos Street to "PAOK Stadium" bus stop.
