Silesian Stadium

Silesian Stadium
Stadion Śląski
Kocioł czarownic
Full name Silesian Stadium
Stadion Śląski
Location Chorzów, Silesia, Poland
Owner Silesian Voivodeship
Capacity 54,477[1]
(in the past 120,000)
Record attendance 130 000 (1973 Speedway World Championship, 2 September 1973)
Field size 105 x 68 m
Construction
Built 1951–1956
Opened 22 July 1956
Expanded 2009–2013
Construction cost no data
465 mln PLN (expansion only)
Tenants
Poland national team
(to 1993 as de facto, 1993-2012 as official)
Silesian national team¹
and:
Górnik Zabrze¹
GKS Katowice¹
Ruch Chorzów¹
Polonia Bytom¹
GKS Tychy¹
other club from Upper-Silesian Metropolis¹
¹ - only important matches

Silesian Stadium (Polish: Stadion Śląski) is a sport stadium located between Chorzów and Katowice, Silesia, Poland. It opened on 22 July 1956 and has since hosted crowds of over 120,000 for both football matches and motorcycle speedway world championships. It also hosts music festivals.

History

In 1993, the stadium was designated as the official home stadium of the Polish national football team. In the 1990s, the stadium was converted to an all-seater stadium, reducing the capacity to 47,246. Currently, there are plans to expand its capacity to 55,211 and to construct a roof over the stadium (claimed to become one of the largest in the world, 43,000 m2).[2]

Events

Speedway

The football pitch at the Silesia Stadium is surrounded by a 384 metres (420 yards) long Motorcycle speedway track. The first World Final held at the stadium in 1973, was run in front of the largest crowd in world speedway history.

Speedway in the United Kingdom|English speedway]] 'golden boy' Peter Collins won the 1976 World Final at Silesian.

Ivan Mauger won the 1979 World Final at the stadium.

The last ever World Final staged at the stadium was won by Denmark's Hans Nielsen in 1986.

Silesian also hosted the Final of the 1974 Speedway World Team Cup, won by England, as well as the Final of both the 1978 and 1981 World Pairs Championships.

Other

In 2009, it was the venue of performances by Monster Jam.

References

  1. ↑ "stadion". Oficjalna strona Stadionu Śląskiego. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  2. ↑ "Nowy Stadion Śląski robi wrażenie (wideo)" (in Polish). Sport.pl. Retrieved 2013-10-10.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Silesian Stadium.

Coordinates: 50°17′17.53″N 18°58′22.65″E / 50.2882028°N 18.9729583°E