Cape Town Stadium

Cape Town Stadium
Location	Green Point, Cape Town, South Africa
Broke ground	26 March 2007
Opened	14 December 2009
Owner	City of Cape Town
Operator	SAIL/Stade de France
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	R 4.4 billion (USD $ 600 million £ 415 million)
Architect	GMP Architects, Louis Karol Architects, Point Architects
General Contractor	Murray and Roberts/ WBHO
Capacity	64,100 (FIFA)[1] 55,000 (Legacy) (football)
Tenants
Ajax Cape Town [1]

The Cape Town Stadium (Afrikaans: Kaapstad-stadion; Xhosa: Inkundla yezemidlalo yaseKapa^[2]) in Cape Town, South Africa is a newly built stadium that was used for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.^[3] During the planning stage it was known as the Green Point Stadium, which was the name of the previous stadium on the site, and this name was also used frequently during World Cup media coverage.

The stadium is located in Green Point, between Signal Hill and the Atlantic Ocean, close to the Cape Town city centre and to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, a popular tourist and shopping venue. The stadium has a capacity of 64,100.^[1] The stadium is connected to the waterfront by a new road connection, Granger Bay Boulevard, and is surrounded by a 60 hectare urban park.

Name

Cape Town Stadium

Location of the stadium in the Cape Town metropolitan area

During construction, Cape Town Stadium was unofficially known as Green Point Stadium, the name of an older stadium demolished to make way for the new stadium. During October 2009, the city asked for the public to propose names for the new stadium and the name Cape Town Stadium was chosen.^[2]

Previous stadium

The old stadium

The beginnings of the former Green Point Stadium during the Second Boer War.

Aerial view of the old Green Point Stadium, which was demolished during 2007.

The stadium is adjacent to the now partially demolished 18,000 seat Green Point Stadium. It replaces a portion of the Metropolitan Golf Club site which has now been realigned.

The previous stadium, which was demolished in 2007, was a multi-purpose stadium used mainly for football matches, and was the home ground of Santos Football Club and Ajax Cape Town at different points. It also hosted music concerts including Michael Jackson, U2, Metallica, Paul Simon, Robbie Williams, the Coca Cola Colab Massive Mix and the 2003 46664 Concert for the benefit of AIDS victims.

Design

Construction of the Cape Town Stadium, located on the Green Point Common, began in March 2007. In 33 months, joint contractors Murray & Roberts and WBHO completed the project at a cost of R4.4billion – or approximately US$600million. The project architects were an association between GMP Architects of Germany and two local firms, Louis Karol and Associates and Point Architects.^[4]

Handing Over

Cape Town Stadium was officially handed over to the City of Cape Town on 14 December 2009. At a ceremony in front of over 200 invited guests and the media representatives from around the world, Cape Town Executive Mayor Alderman Dan Plato, received the keys to the stadium officially confirming the opening of Cape Town Stadium.^[5]

Possible use after the World Cup

A consortium consisting of South Africa's Sail Group and French-based Stade de France were awarded the service contract to operate the stadium and ensure that it remains a sustainable multi-purpose venue after the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The consortium, called Business Venture Investments 1317, was involved in the management of the stadium from January 2009 onwards. The city municipality paid the consortium to manage the stadium up to and during the World Cup, after which the consortium will lease the stadium from the city for a period of not less than 10 years and not more than 30 years.

Following the World Cup, the stadium capacity will be reduced to 55,000, enabling it to cater for all types of sports, including rugby, as well as music concerts and other major events. The stadium will feature corporate hospitality suites, medical, training, conferencing and banqueting facilities. The consortium will operate the stadium as well as manage and maintain the defined areas of the surrounding urban park and sport precinct on the 85-hectare Greenpoint Common from stadium revenue.^[6]

Ajax Cape Town are set to use the stadium as their home ground during the 2010-11 Premier Soccer League season.^[7]

Inaugural Games

The first game to be hosted at the new Cape Town Stadium was a Cape Town derby between Ajax Cape Town and Santos on the 23 January 2010 as part of the official inauguration of the stadium. Only 20,000 tickets were made available for the event and were sold out by Friday 15 January 2010. The Soccer Festival had entertainment from local band Freshlyground and a Vuvuzela orchestra performance during half time.

Date	Time (UTC+2)	Team #1	Res.	Team #2	Attendance
2010-01-23	16:00	Ajax Cape Town	0(5) – 0(6)	Santos	20,000

Panoramic view of the opening match between Ajax Cape Town and Engen Santos

The second of three 'dry runs' at the new Cape Town Stadium was another Cape Town derby. Local Cape Town rugby teams, The Vodacom Stormers and the Boland Inv. XV battled it out at the Cape Town Rugby Festival that took place on the 6 February 2010. The Rugby Festival had entertainment from local band Flat Stanley. Only 40,000 tickets were made available for the event. This was double the amount that attended the Soccer Festival.

Date	Time (UTC+2)	Team #1	Res.	Team #2	Attendance
2010-02-06	16:15	Vodacom Stormers	47–13	Boland Inv. XV	40,000

Cape Town Stadium hosted its third test event on Monday 22 March, during which all 55 000 permanent seats were be available for the first time. A total of 52,000 tickets were sold.

‘Cape Town For Jesus’, a religious gathering addressed by South African evangelist Angus Buchan, was the first major non-sporting event hosted at the stadium, and gave the stadium operators another chance to test their readiness ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Cape Town Stadium hosted its fourth and final test event on Saturday 10 April. This was the first time that the stadium was utilised at night, for the International Under-20 Soccer Challenge between South Africa, Brazil, Nigeria & Ghana. About 40,000 attended the event that tested the stadiums readiness before the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Date	Time (UTC+2)	Team #1	Res.	Team #2	Attendance
2010-04-10	18:00	Ghana U/20	0–1	Brazil U/20	40,000
2010-04-10	20:30	South Africa U/20	1–3	Nigeria U/20	40,000

2010 FIFA World Cup

In the World Cup, hosted five first round matches, one second round, one quarter-final and one semi-final.^[8] During the World Cup all FIFA media referred to the stadium as 'Green Point Stadium'.

Matches

Date	Time (UTC+2)	Team #1	Res.	Team #2	Round	Attendance
2010-06-11	20.30	Uruguay	0–0	France	Group A	64,100
2010-06-14	20.30	Italy	1–1	Paraguay	Group F	62,869
2010-06-18	20.30	England	0–0	Algeria	Group C	64,100
2010-06-21	13.30	Portugal	7–0	Korea DPR	Group G	63,644
2010-06-24	20.30	Cameroon	1–2	Netherlands	Group E	63,093
2010-06-29	20.30	Spain	1–0	Portugal	Round of 16	62,955
2010-07-03	16.00	Argentina	0–4	Germany	Quarter Finals	64,100
2010-07-06	20.30	Uruguay	2–3	Netherlands	Semi Finals	62,479

References

External links

• Cape Town Stadium at the City of Cape Town website
• Cape Town Stadium at the Cape Town Tourism website
• 360 View
• 360 degree Virtual Tour (5 locations)