The Partizan Stadium (
Serbian: Стадион Партизанa / ''Stadion Partizana'') is a
football and
track-and-field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping event ...
stadium in
Autokomanda
Autokomanda ( sr-cyr, Аутокоманда, ) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located on the tripoint of the Belgrade's municipalities of Voždovac, Savski Venac and Vračar.
Location
Autokomanda is locate ...
,
Belgrade,
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
. The home ground of
FK Partizan
Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; en, Partizan Football Club), sometimes known as Partizan Belgrade in English, is a Serbia, Serbian professional football club (association football), football ...
, it was formerly known as JNA Stadium (Stadion JNA / Стадион ЈНА) after the
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska ar ...
(JNA), which it is still colloquially known as by fans in the former
SFR Yugoslavia.
Its current capacity is 29,775, having previously seated 50,000 people before conversion to an
all-seater stadium
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 a ...
.
History
Construction of the stadium was started after World War II, on the site of BSK Stadion, which was a 25,000-seat stadium that hosted the
Yugoslav national team as well as
BSK Beograd
OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club'') is a Serbian professional football club based in Belgrade, more precisely in Karaburma ...
. The stadium was built with the help of the Yugoslav People's Army, in the period between 1948 and 1951. Although the stadium was not completely finished, the first match was Yugoslavia against
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
on 9 October 1949, which ended 1–1. The ground was officially opened on
Yugoslav People's Army Day, on 22 December 1951.
![Nosioci stafete](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Nosioci_stafete.JPG)
From 1957 to 1987 the stadium was the site of
Youth Day
National Youth Day is a holiday dedicated to the youths of a country. It is observed by 18 countries, on many dates throughout the year. The United Nations agreed on the date of 12 August in 1999 in South Africa.
National Youth Day
Internationa ...
parade. Every year on 25 May the
Relay of Youth
The Relay of Youth (Serbo-Croatian and Slovenian: ''Štafeta mladosti'' ( Cyrillic: ''Штафета младости''), Macedonian: ''Штафета на младоста'', Albanian: ''Stafeta e Rinise'') was a symbolic relay race held in S ...
were held in
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...
. Participants carried a baton with a birthday message to President
Josip Broz Tito. The Relay of Youth was a symbolic
relay race
A relay race is a racing competition where members of a team take turns completing parts of racecourse or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. Relay races are common in running, oriente ...
which started in Tito's birth town
Kumrovec
Kumrovec () is a village in the northern part Croatia, part of Krapina-Zagorje County. It sits on the Sutla River, along the Croatian-Slovenian border. The Kumrovec municipality has 1,413 residents (2021), but the village itself has only 267 peop ...
and went through all major towns and cities of the country and it ended in Belgrade at JNA Stadium. On 1 April 1957, the stadium received its first electronic
scoreboard
A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score in a game. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards in the past used ...
. First time it was used on a match between Partizan and
Vardar Skopje
FK Vardar Skopje ( mk, ФК Вардар Скопје), or simply Vardar, is a football club based in the capital city of Skopje, North Macedonia. The club was founded in 1947 and currently competes in the Macedonian Second Football League. The ...
on 30 November 1957.
The stadium was a site of the
7th European Athletics Championship which was held from 12 to 16 September 1962.
In April 1989, Partizan Belgrade purchased the stadium from the former
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska ar ...
, and thus became the owner. The name of the stadium were officially changed in ''Partizan Stadium''.
Partizan stadium had a 50,000 capacity before the new
UEFA security regulations came in effect. There were 15,924 seats, 33 000 standing places and 585 box seats. It was renovated in 1998, and has had a capacity of 29,775 since.
The stadium hosted Partizan in their first-ever
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
, the
2003-04 edition. In the qualifiers they eliminated
Bobby Robson
Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and football manager. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich ...
's
Newcastle United; losing 0–1 in Belgrade, but in rematch at
St James' Park
St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England.
St James' Pa ...
they won by
Ivica Iliev
Ivica Iliev (, ; born 27 October 1979) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a forward.
Club career
After starting out as a youngster at Rad, Iliev joined the youth system of Partizan in January 1996. He made his first-te ...
's goal in regular time and reached the group stages after a penalty shoot-out. Despite being drawn in a tough group with Real Madrid (the previous year's Champions League semi-finalist),
Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
(the winner of the
2002–03 UEFA Cup
The 2002–03 UEFA Cup was the 32nd edition of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup, the second-tier European club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA. The 2003 UEFA Cup Final, final was played between Portuguese side FC Porto ...
and the eventual winner of the
competition
Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indiv ...
) and
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
(the eventual runners-up of the
2003–04 UEFA Cup
The 2003–04 UEFA Cup was won by Valencia in the final against Marseille. It wrapped up a league and UEFA Cup double for Valencia.
Porto could not defend their title as they automatically qualified for the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League and a ...
)., the stadium proved a tough ground for the opposition and the team did not lost a home game, playing out a 0–0 draw with Real Madrid's famous ''
Galácticos
' (Spanish for ''galactics, referring to superstars) are expensive, world-famous football players'' recruited during the "''galácticos''" policy pursued during Florentino Pérez's presidency at Real Madrid, where in his first tenure between 20 ...
'', which included players such as
Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the mos ...
,
Ronaldo,
Luís Figo
Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo (; born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Winger (association football), winger for Sporting CP, FC Barcelona, Barcelona, Real Madrid CF, Real ...
,
Roberto Carlos
Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his car ...
,
Raúl
Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul.
Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...
and
David Beckham; a 1–1 draw with Porto, led by coach
José Mourinho; and Marseille, with its superstars
Fabien Barthez
Fabien Alain Barthez (born 28 June 1971) is a French racing driver and former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. At club level, he played football in both France and England with Toulouse, Marseille, AS Monaco, Manchester United ...
and
Didier Drogba, while playing some inspired football in the away matches at Madrid (0–1), Marseille (0–3) and Porto (1–2).
In September 2010, Partizan stadium was reorganized in a few places for the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
. Due to UEFA stadium standards, the fences on the eastern and western stands were shortened from 2.25m to 0.70m. The football pitch was extended by 1 square meter. New, modern goal-posts were mounted, and brand new media boxes were constructed on top of the western stand. Partizan's
Champions League game against
Arsenal on 20 September, was almost postponed due to two of the stadium's floodlights failing. However, one of them was fixed and the referee,
Wolfgang Stark
Wolfgang Stark (born 20 November 1969) is a German former football referee who is based in Ergolding. He refereed for DJK Altdorf of the Bavarian Football Association.
Refereeing career
In addition to German domestic competitions, Stark offic ...
gave consent for the match to be played with only 3 floodlights.
In March 2012, the old scoreboard was replaced with a new
LED display
A LED display is a flat panel display that uses an array of light-emitting diodes as pixels for a video display. Their brightness allows them to be used outdoors where they are visible in the sun for store signs and billboards. In recent ...
after 55 years of service. On 7 September 2012, Partizan Belgrade announced a sponsorship agreement between the
Carlsberg Group
Carlsberg A/S (; ) is a Danish multinational brewer. Founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen, the company's headquarters is in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since Jacobsen's death in 1887, the majority owner of the company has been the Carlsberg Foundation. T ...
and the club, which includes also the placement of black and white chairs on the whole stadium.
Structures and facilities
![Grobari slave titulu protiv Mladosti](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Grobari_slave_titulu_protiv_Mladosti.jpg)
The Partizan Stadium has 29,775 seats split between four stands: the south, north, west and east. The stands have a height of and a span of in length (north-south) and in width (east-west). There are 30 rows of seats and 30 entry and exit gates for spectators. The playing field measures , and is illuminated at 1,400
lux (
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
).
The stadium has athletic trace, two grass fields, a training court with locker rooms, press center and restaurant. Within the stadium complex is also 18
tennis court
A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...
s,
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...
hall,
shooting range, gym, medical center and commercial area.
Proposed new stadium
In 2006, the current stadium was to be redesigned by Swiss firm Mob Lab. The capacity of the new Partizan stadium would have been approximately 38,000 seats with a modern
business park
A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typicall ...
filled with hotels, office buildings, tennis courts and multiplex cinema.
Other uses
Beside sport events, the stadium is also a place for various concerts and shows. The stadium facilities and acoustics meet demands of local artists and international superstars.
*
Bijelo Dugme
Bijelo Dugme (trans. ''White Button'') was a Yugoslav rock band, formed in Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1974. Bijelo Dugme is widely considered to have been the most popular band ever to exist in the former Socialist Federal Republic ...
headlined a day-long event, called "Rock spektakl '79", at the stadium on 22 September 1979. Other acts to appear on the day were
YU grupa
YU Grupa (trans. '' YU Group'') is a Serbian (former Yugoslav) rock band. A pioneer in combining rock music with the elements of the traditional music of the Balkans, YU Grupa is credited with being the longest-lasting Serbian rock band.
,
Galija
Galija ( sr-cyr, Галија; ) is a Serbian and Yugoslav rock band formed in Niš in 1977.
The central figures of the band are brothers Nenad Milosavljević (vocals, acoustic guitar and harmonica) and Predrag Milosavljević (vocals). A larg ...
,
Siluete
Siluete ( sr-cyr, Силуете, trans. ''The Silhouettes'') were a Serbian and Yugoslav rock band formed in Belgrade in 1961. They were one of the pioneers of the Yugoslav rock scene.
Soon after the formation, Siluete, fronted by charismatic ...
,
Generacija 5
Generacija 5 ( sr-cyr, Генерација 5; trans. ''Generation 5'') is a Serbian and Yugoslav rock band formed in Belgrade in 1977.
The mainstay members of the band are keyboardist and band leader Dragoljub Ilić and guitarist Dragan Jovan ...
,
Parni Valjak
Parni Valjak (; "steamroller") is a Croatian and former Yugoslav rock band. They were one of the top acts of the former Yugoslav rock scene, and one of the top rock bands in Croatia.
Biography
Parni Valjak was founded in 1975 in Zagreb. Unl ...
,
Suncokret
Suncokret ( sr-cyr, Сунцокрет; trans. ''Sunflower'') was a SFRY, Yugoslav acoustic rock band from Belgrade.
Band history
1975 — 1980
The band was formed in 1975 by former Zajedno member Bora Đorđević (vocals and acoustic guitar), a ...
,
Prljavo Kazalište, Tomaž Domicelj, Obećanje Proljeća, Metak, Revolver, Prva Ljubav, Senad od Bosne,
Opus
''Opus'' (pl. ''opera'') is a Latin word meaning "work". Italian equivalents are ''opera'' (singular) and ''opere'' (pl.).
Opus or OPUS may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* Opus number, (abbr. Op.) specifying order of (usually) publicatio ...
, Čisti Zrak,
Aerodrom, Peta Rijeka, Formula 4,
Mama Rock, Kako, Rok Apoteka, Kilo i po, and Crni Petak.
*
Metallica performed at the stadium during their
Madly in Anger with the World Tour on 15 June 2004, with
Van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...
as the opening act, in front of approximately 25,000 people.
*
AC/DC performed at the stadium during their
Black Ice World Tour
The Black Ice World Tour was a 2008–2010 concert tour by Australian rock band AC/DC, in support of their fifteenth studio album ''Black Ice'', which was released on 20 October 2008. This tour had 8 legs around the world lasting more than 20 m ...
on 26 May 2009, with
Amajlija
Amajlija (Serbian Cyrillic: Амајлија; transl. '' Amulet'') is a Serbian and Yugoslav rock band formed in Novi Sad in 1979. Led by vocalist and guitarist Bogoljub "Čombe" Banjac, Amajlija reached the peak of popularity in the late 1980s ...
and
The Answer as their opening acts, in front of approximately 40,000 people.
See also
*
SC Partizan-Teleoptik
The Sports Centre Partizan-Teleoptik ( sr, Спортски центар Партизан-Телеоптик / Sportski centar Partizan-Teleoptik), also known as Zemunelo ( sr-cyrl, Земунело; the name being composed to show the resemblance ...
Gallery
File:Beograd 7669.jpg, Front of the northern stand
File:FK Partizan 02.jpg, Front of the southern stand
File:Beograd 7663.jpg, Main Entrance
File:Stadion Partizana.jpg, Western and northern stand
File:Saint Sava et Partizan stadium.jpg, Cathedral of Saint Sava
The Temple of Saint Sava ( sr-Cyrl, Храм Светог Саве, Hram Svetog Save, lit='The Temple of Saint Sava') is a Serbian Orthodox church which sits on the Vračar plateau in Belgrade, Serbia. It was planned as the bishopric seat an ...
and Partizan Stadium
References
External links
About the Stadiumat club official website.
{{Authority control
Stadium
Football venues in Serbia
Athletics (track and field) venues in Serbia
Football venues in Serbia and Montenegro
Athletics (track and field) venues in Serbia and Montenegro
Football venues in Yugoslavia
Athletics (track and field) venues in Yugoslavia
Sports venues in Belgrade
Unbuilt stadiums
Proposed buildings and structures in Serbia
1951 establishments in Serbia
Sports venues completed in 1951
Savski Venac