The Centenary Stadium ( mt, il-Grawnd taċ-Ċentinarju) is a

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

located in

Ta' Qali Ta' Qali is a wide open space in the limits of Attard and Mosta in central and northern Malta respectively, which contains the national football stadium, the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre, Ta' Qali National Park, a crafts village, and a nation ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. The stadium, which is situated next to the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

, houses the headquarters of the Malta Youth Football Association. It seats 3,000 and serves as the home stadium of the

Malta national under-21 football team The Malta national under-21 football team is the under-21 football team of Malta and is controlled by the Malta Football Association. The team is sponsored by Givova Givova is an Italian manufacturing company located in Scafati. The company, fou ...

. The stadium, together with three other stadiums, also hosts matches of the

Maltese Premier League The Maltese Premier League, known as BOV Premier League for sponsorship reasons with Bank of Valletta (colloquially known as ''Il-Kampjonat Premjer''), is the highest level of professional football in Malta. Managed by the Malta Football Associa ...

Maltese First Division The Maltese Challenge League (referred to as the BOV Challenge League for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest division in Maltese football, behind the Maltese Premier League. The First Division was the precursor of the present Premier L ...

and

Maltese FA Trophy The FA Trophy, currently known as the IZIBET FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football cup competition that takes place in Malta. The cup was founded in 1933; following a match between England and Italy, played in Rome in May 1933, ...

History

Background and early years

As early as back in 1985, the

Malta Football Association The Malta Football Association (MFA; mt, Assoċjazzjoni tal-Futbol ta' Malta) is the governing body of football in Malta. The Association organises the Maltese Football League and several other competitions, including a knockout competition ...

was already looking to develop a new small stadium. This idea started to take shape on 11 October 1998, when the then

President of Malta The president of Malta ( mt, President ta' Malta) is the constitutional head of state of Malta. The President is indirectly elected by the House of Representatives of Malta, which appoints the president for a five-year term and requires them to ...

Dr Ugo Mifsud Bonnici laid the first stone of the stadium. The development, which consisted in the construction of a main stand and a canopy, lasted less than a year as on 13 August 1999 the stadium was inaugurated by Dr Eddie Fenech Adami,

Prime Minister of Malta The prime minister of Malta ( mt, Prim Ministru ta' Malta) is the head of government, which is the highest official of Malta. The Prime Minister chairs Cabinet meetings, and selects its ministers to serve in their respective portfolios. The Pr ...

, and Dr Joe Mifsud, the President of the Malta Football Association. In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Malta Football Association, the stadium was named the "Centenary Stadium". Besides a seating capacity of 3,000, the main stand also included a VIP and press area. Like the National Stadium, the Centenary Stadium replaced another stadium renowned for the gravel surface, the

Pace Grasso Stadium The Pace Grasso Stadium, formerly known as Schreiber Sports Ground, was a stadium in Paola, Malta. It was used mostly for football matches. History The site of the stadium was formerly occupied by Tal-Borg Battery, an artillery battery built ...

Tarxien Tarxien ( mt, Ħal Tarxien) is a town in the South Eastern Region of Malta. Its population stood at 8583 in March 2014. The town is most notable for the Tarxien Temples, a megalithic temple complex which is among the oldest freestanding structur ...

. The first competitive match held at the stadium was a group-stage encounter of the now-defunct Maltese 2nd and 3rd Knockout between Birżebbuġa St. Peter's and Ghaxaq on 4 September 1999. The first goal was scored by Ghaxaq's Sandro Lapira on 34 minutes, which paved the way for a 2-1 win for his team.

Pitch Resurfacing

In 2007, the original pitch laid back in 1999 was replaced by a new FIFA Two-Star artificial turf. The resurfacing costed Lm35,000 (

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

81,550) and was inaugurated on 23 July 2007. In May 2017, the Malta Football Association announced that the stadium's pitch will be replaced by a new FIFA-quality pro pitch. The project, which also included the installation of new dug-outs and estimated to cost around

400,000, will mean that the stadium should now be able to host

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

and

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

matches.

References

External links

Centenary Stadium
at mfa.com.mt {{portalbar, Association football Sports venues in Malta Football venues in Malta Attard

History

Background and early years

Pitch Resurfacing

See also

References

External links