FNB Stadium

Soccer City
Soccer City, The Calabash[1]
Former names	Soccer City
Location	Nasrec, Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa
Broke ground	1986[2]
Opened	1989[3]
Renovated	2009
Expanded	2009
Owner	The Stadia and Soccer Development Trust [4]/ City of Johannesburg
Operator	Stadium Management South Africa
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	Rand 3.3 billion (USD $ 440 million)
Architect	Boogertman & Partners, Populous[5]
Capacity	84,490 (2010 FIFA World Cup)[6][7] 94,700 (Association football)[8]
Field dimensions	105m X 68m
Tenants
South Africa national football team Telkom Charity Cup

A friendly game between South Africa and Colombia at Soccer City.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony.

Soccer City during the kick-off match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup between South Africa and Mexico.

FNB Stadium, known as Soccer City during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, is a stadium located in Nasrec, the Soweto area of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located next to the South African Football Association headquarters (SAFA House) where both the FIFA offices and the Local Organising Committee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup were housed.^[9] Designed as the main association football stadium for the World Cup, the FNB Stadium became the largest stadium in Africa with a capacity of 94,700, However its maximum capacity during the 2010 FIFA World Cup was 84,490 due to reserved seating for the press and other VIP's. The stadium is also known by its nickname "The Calabash" due to its resemblance to the African pot^[10] or gourd.

It was the site of Nelson Mandela's first speech in Johannesburg after his release from prison.^[11] It was also the site of Chris Hani's funeral.^[11]

Naming history

The stadium has been officially known as FNB Stadium since it was opened in 1989. This was due to a naming rights deal with First National Bank. However, the stadium was often referred to as Soccer City by fans and the media, including during the 1996 African Cup of Nations.

During the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as well as in the month before the tournament, the stadium was referred to as Soccer City. This was done as FIFA does not allow stadiums to be referred to by sponsored names during FIFA sanctioned tournaments.

In July 2010, controversial future plans were announced to rename the stadium "The National Stadium" after the World Cup for international football and rugby matches.^[12] This was resolved after a South Gauteng High Court decision that owing to a 2007 naming rights agreements with First National Bank, the stadium's name would revert to "FNB Stadium".^[13]

Construction

FNB Stadium underwent a major upgrade for the 2010 tournament, with a new design inspired by the shape of an African pot, the calabash.^[14] The South African main contractor GLTA, part of the Aveng Group in a joint venture with the Dutch company BAM who had a 25% stake, constructed the upgrade, which was designed by the South African architects Boogertman + Partners who brought Populous on board the design team once construction had started on site in February 2007. The upgrade included: an extended upper tier around the stadium to increase the capacity to 88,958,^[15] an additional 2 executive suites, an encircling roof, new changing room facilities and new floodlights. The number of suites in the stadium was increased to 195. Grinaker-LTA and BAM international won the R1.5 billion ^[8] tender to upgrade the stadium.^[16] The construction was completed on Wednesday, 21 October 2009, and was marked by a huge celebration at the stadium.^[15]

Construction work in progress at Soccer City in May 2008.

Construction work in progress at Soccer City in December 2008.

Stadium design

The outside of the stadium is designed to have the appearance of an African pot; the cladding on the outside is a mosaic of fire and earthen colours with a ring of lights running around the bottom of the structure, simulating fire underneath the pot. No spectator is seated more than 100 metres (330 ft) from the field, and there are no restricted views in the stadium.^[17]

The stands in Soccer City are articulated by ten black vertical lines; nine are aligned geographically with the nine other stadiums involved in the 2010 World Cup. Because 9 is considered to be an unlucky number in South African traditional culture, a tenth line was added. This tenth line is aimed at Berlin's Olympic Stadium, which hosted the previous World Cup final in 2006. This represents the road to the final and it is hoped that after the World Cup, each goal scored at the stadium will be placed in pre-cast concrete panels on a podium so that the full history of the tournament’s scores can be seen for years to come.^[18]

Before the upgrade

Before the upgrade, the stadium had a capacity of 80,000. The newly reconstructed stadium retains the original structure's west upper tier and entire lower tier (the lower tier was divided into two tiers).

1996 African Cup of Nations

FNB Stadium served as the main venue for the tournament. It hosted the opening game, 5 other group games, a quarter final, a semi final, the 3rd place play-off and the final. The games were:

Date	Team #1	Res.	Team #2	Round	Attendance
1996-01-13	South Africa	3–0	Cameroon	Group A (opening match)	80,000
1996-01-15	Egypt	2–1	Angola	Group A	6,000
1996-01-18	Cameroon	2–1	Egypt	Group A	4,000
1996-01-20	South Africa	1–0	Angola	Group A	30,000
1996-01-24	South Africa	0–1	Egypt	Group A	20,000
1996-01-25	Zaire	2–0	Liberia	Group C	3,000
1996-01-27	South Africa	2–1	Algeria	Quarter-finals	80,000
1996-01-31	South Africa	3–0	Ghana	Semi-finals	80,000
1996-02-03	Ghana	0–1	Zambia	Third place match	80,000
1996-02-03	South Africa	2–0	Tunisia	Final	80,000

2010 World Cup

The stadium hosted the opening ceremony followed by the opening match between South Africa and Mexico, 4 other group stage matches, a Round of 16 match, a quarter-final and the final.

2010 World Cup Schedule

Date	Time (UTC+02)	Team #1	Res.	Team #2	Round	Attendance
2010-06-11	16.00	South Africa	1–1	Mexico	Group A (opening match)	84,490
2010-06-14	13.30	Netherlands	2–0	Denmark	Group E	83,465
2010-06-17	13.30	Argentina	4–1	Korea Republic	Group B	82,174
2010-06-20	20.30	Brazil	3–1	Côte d'Ivoire	Group G	84,455
2010-06-23	20.30	Ghana	0–1	Germany	Group D	83,391
2010-06-27	20.30	Argentina	3–1	Mexico	Round of 16	84,377
2010-07-02	20.30	Uruguay	1–1 (4–2 on pen.)	Ghana	Quarter Finals	84,017
2010-07-11	20.30	Netherlands	0–1	Spain	Final	84,490

Local football

The stadium regularly hosted football matches invloving Soweto based Premier Soccer League clubs. It hosted the Telkom Charity Cup (in all of its forms) from 1990 to 2006, before it was closed for renovations. The Charity Cup then returned in 2010. The stadium also hosted the 2010 Nedbank Cup final, South Africa's premier football cup, this was the stadium's first event since re-opening. The first league match at the stadium since being rebuilt, was a 2010-11 Premier Soccer League match between Orlando Pirates and Free State Stars. The first MTN 8 match at the stadium was the first leg of the 2010 MTN 8 semifinal, between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.

The stadium has also been regularly used by the South African national football team both for friendlies and qualification matches. This has led to the stadium being seen as the de facto 'national stadium' for football.

Rugby union

The stadium hosted its first rugby union match during 2010. It was the venue of the Tri Nations match between South Africa and New Zealand. New Zealand ran out 29-22 eventual winners to secure the 2010 Tri Nations Title on the occasion of South Africa's captain John Smit's 100th Test Cap.^[19] The attendance was a record of 94,713.^[20]

Concerts

Irish rock band U2 will play at FNB Stadium as a part of their U2 360° Tour on February 13, 2011. It will be the first concert held in the stadium, and also the band's first concert in South Africa in over 12 years. The Kings of Leon will also perform for the very first time in Johannesburg at the FNB Stadium on March 27, 2011. Neil Diamond will be performing for the first time in South Africa with a kick off of his tour at the FNB Stadium on April 2, 2011.

See also

• 1996 African Cup of Nations
• 2010 FIFA World Cup

References

External links

• Official website
• FNB-Stadium at soccermatch
• Soccer City at the 2010 Communication Project
• FIFA 2010 sponsorship at FNB
• Soccer City Stadium: a case study on Constructalia
• Soccer City ESPN Profile
• 360 View
• Satellite and Inside Stadium Views of Soccer City from SightseeBySpace.com