| City Stadium | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Stadion Miejski |
| Former names | Stadion Lecha |
| Location | ul. Bułgarska 17, 60-320 Poznań, Poland |
| Broke ground | 1968 |
| Built | 1968 - 1980 |
| Opened | 23 August 1980 |
| Renovated | 2003 - 2010 |
| Owner | City of Poznań |
| Operator | Lech Poznań |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost | ~ € 180 million (renovation only) |
| Architect | Modern Construction Design Sp. z o.o. |
| Capacity | 41,609 |
| Record attendance | 45,000 (Lech Poznań-Widzew Łódź, 8 April 1984) |
| Field dimensions | 105 x 68 m |
| Tenants | |
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City Stadium (Polish: Stadion Miejski [ˈstadjɔn ˈmjɛi̯ski]), is a Association football stadium in Poznań, Poland. It is the home ground of Lech Poznań and Warta Poznań, and is one of the venues for the finals of Euro 2012. It has a league capacity of 43,269 (all seated). The stadium was originally built between 1968 and 1980. From its inauguration in August 1980 Lech Poznań has used the ground as its main venue; since 2010 it has also been used by Warta Poznań, which currently plays in I Liga.[1] The ground is situated on the street ul. Bułgarska in the southwestern part of the city (Grunwald district).
In the years 2003–2010 the stadium underwent a complete reconstruction, including the building of four new fullly covered stands.[2] Currently it is the fifth largest stadium in Poland (after National Stadium, Silesia Stadium, The Municipal Stadium in Wroclaw and PGE Arena Gdańsk) and third largest in Ekstraklasa (after the latter two).[3] The grand opening after final renovation took place on 20 September 2010, with Sting's Symphonicity Tour concert.
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Construction works of the Municipal Stadium began in 1968. Like most stadiums in those times it was built on artificial hills on which concrete benches and crown of the stadium was later formed. The construction consisted of three stands (in a characteristic U-shaped style), while place dedicated for fourth stand was left free. Swimming pool and gyms were suppose to be build there, but this plan was never realized. It takes almost 12 years to complete whole structure. The first match on the new stadium Lech Poznan played on August 23, 1980 with audience of 18000 people. Match between “Kolejorz” and Motor Lublin ended with ended in a 1-1 draw. The first goal scorer for home team at the new stadium was Mark Skurczyński.[4][5]
Six years later the most specific elements of the stadium were built - four 56-meters height masts with floodlights whose total illuminance was 1890 lux. First time floodlights was used on match between National teams of Poland and Greece (2-1).[6]
Record attendance was noted at 8 April 1984, when the stadium was filled with about 45,000 spectators, while the official capacity at that time was only 40 000. The opponent was Widzew Łódź and match ended with 1-0 Lech’s victory. A few years later, Municipal Stadium was equipped with an electronic scoreboard, which was placed behind the sector number 8. For many years, there has not been any modernization work besides installing the plastic chairs on the whole object in the early 90s.
On this stadium Lech Poznan began its "golden age". In the eighties and nineties years of the twentieth century, Lech won six league titles (1983, 1984, 1990, 1992, 1993, 2010), five Polish Cups (1982, 1984, 1988, 2004, 2009) and four Polish SuperCup (1990, 1992, 2004 , 2009).[7]
During reconstruction it was decided to build quite steep stands in order to promote spectators interaction. However, a consequence of this solution is also a poor grass growth on the football pitch because of sunlight hardly getting through.[8] This makes it necessary for turf to be exchanged a few times a year. It is hoped that the frequency of replacement will drop after the rehabilitation of football ground carried out in August/September 2011.[9]
The stadium is one of the venues for the group stages of the UEFA Euro 2012 championships. Three Group C matches are to be played there: Croatia v. Ireland on 10 June, Croatia v. Italy on 14 June, and Ireland v. Italy on 18 June.[10] (The other three matches in that group will take place at PGE Arena, Gdańsk.)
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