Gyumri City Stadium ( hy, Գյումրիի քաղաքային մարզադաշտ) is an
all-seater
An all-seater stadium is a sports stadium in which every spectator has a seat. This is commonplace in professional association football stadiums in nations such as the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. Most association football and Ame ...
football stadium in
Gyumri
Gyumri ( hy, Գյումրի, ) is an urban municipal community and the second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th century, when the city w ...
,
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...
. It is currently the home venue of the
Armenian Premier League
The Armenian Premier League ( hy, VBET Հայաստանի Պրեմիեր Լիգա, known as the VBET Armenian Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the top football competition in Armenia. From 1936 to 1991, the competition was held as a r ...
club
FC Shirak
Football Club Shirak ( hy, Շիրակ Ֆուտբոլային Ակումբ), commonly known as Shirak, is an Armenian professional sports club based in Gyumri. Shirak is known for its professional football team which is one of the oldest football ...
of Gyumri. The current capacity of the stadium is 4,000 seats.
History
The stadium was built and opened in 1924 to become the first stadium in the modern history of Armenia. When
Shirak was founded in 1958, the stadium became the regular home ground of the team for the
Soviet First League
The Soviet First League in football (russian: Первая лига СССР по футболу) was the second highest division of Soviet football,Evgeni Kazakov. The Soviet First Football League (Первая лига СССР по футбо ...
competition. Starting from 1991, the stadium witnessed many glorious moments of FC Shirak in the
Armenian Premier League
The Armenian Premier League ( hy, VBET Հայաստանի Պրեմիեր Լիգա, known as the VBET Armenian Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the top football competition in Armenia. From 1936 to 1991, the competition was held as a r ...
and the
Armenian Independence Cup
The VBET Armenian Cup ( hy, Հայաստանի Անկախության Գավաթ) is the main football cup competition of Armenia. In its original form as the Armenian Cup, it started in 1939, when Armenia was a republic of the Soviet Union. It s ...
. The stadium hosted the
2011–12 Armenian Cup
The 2011–12 Armenian Cup was the 21st season of Armenia's football knockout competition. It featured the eight 2012 Premier League teams. The tournament began on 19 November 2011. Mika were the defending champions. The winners entered the first ...
final match when Shirak defeated
Impulse
Impulse or Impulsive may refer to:
Science
* Impulse (physics), in mechanics, the change of momentum of an object; the integral of a force with respect to time
* Impulse noise (disambiguation)
* Specific impulse, the change in momentum per uni ...
to win the title for the first time in their history.
The venue was reconstructed in 1999 and turned into an all-seater stadium. The total capacity of the stadium became 2,844 seats (1,413 at the western stand and 1,431 at the eastern stand).
During 2012, the playing pitch and many other facilities were entirely renovated to meet the
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 ...
standards.
As of 2014, the stadium is the home ground of Shirak for the domestic competitions since 1958. However, after the most recent developments in 2012, the stadium was permitted to be used by the club for their home games at the European competitions.
On 12 July 2012, Shirak hosted
Rudar Pljevlja at the Gyumri City Stadium, in the
qualifying phase of the
2012–13 UEFA Europa League
The 2012–13 UEFA Europa League was the 42nd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 4th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
The final was played at the Amsterdam Aren ...
. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, allowing FC Shirak to advance with a 2-1 win on aggregate.
After the most recent renovation took place during summer 2019, the capacity of the stadium was increased from 2,844 up to 4,500 seats, following the installment of new seats at the southern end of the stadium.
References
{{Gyumri
Shirak SC
Sports venues completed in 1924
Sports venues built in the Soviet Union
Football venues in Armenia
Buildings and structures in Gyumri