Makario Stadium ( el, Μακάρειο Στάδιο), is an all-seater
multi-purpose stadium in
Nicosia
Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaori ...
,
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...
.
It was the largest and main sports venue of the capital up to the construction of the
GSP stadium
Gymnastic Club "The Pancyprians" Stadium (GSP Stadium) ( el, Στάδιο Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος "Τα Παγκύπρια") is a football stadium in Strovolos, Nicosia District, Cyprus. Although small by international standards ...
in 1999. At present it is mostly used for
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
matches and is the home ground of
Digenis Morphou, and
Ethnikos Assia
Ethnikos Assia Football Club ( el, Εθνικός 'Ασσιας) is a Cypriot football team currently playing in the Cypriot Second Division. The team was established in Assia, Famagusta, but since the Turkish invasion of 1974, Ethnikos becam ...
. The stadium holds 15,590 seated spectators. The playing field is surrounded by a running track and can be adapted to hold most track and field events. Apart from corporate boxes and the press centre, there are no coverings for spectators.
It is built in the Nicosia suburb of Makedonitissa, close to the grounds of the
Cyprus State Fair, with which it shares a large car park.
Over the years it has served as the home ground for Nicosia teams such as
AC Omonia
Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Oμόνοιας Λευκωσίας, ΑΣΟΛ; ''Athlitikos Sillogos Omonias Lefkosias'', ''ASOL''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia ("Harmony"; also tran ...
,
APOEL
APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...
and
Olympiakos. The
Cypriot national team has also played home matches there in the past. All those teams have now relocated to the New GSP stadium. The ultras of APOEL (PANSYFI - AU79) and Omonia (
Gate-9
Gate 9 (Greek: Θύρα 9) is a Cypriot Ultras group that supports PAC Omonia 29M and the non-football departments of AC Omonia.
History
AC Omonia
Gate 9 was established on 25 October 1992, in Nicosia, as the Ultras group of AC Omonia, one o ...
) were formed during the years their teams played at the stadium.
The Makario was built in 1978 and is named after
Makarios III
Makarios III ( el, Μακάριος Γ΄; born Michael Christodoulou Mouskos) ( Greek: Μιχαήλ Χριστοδούλου Μούσκος) (13 August 1913 – 3 August 1977) was a Cypriot politician, archbishop and primate who served as ...
, the Ethnarch of Cyprus;
Archbishop
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...
and first
President of Cyprus. It has hosted many
Cypriot Cup
The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club tea ...
and
Super Cup finals and was the main venue for the
1989 Games of the Small States of Europe
The III Games of the Small States of Europe were held in 1989 by the Republic of Cyprus. The majority of events including the opening and closing ceremonies took place at the Makario Stadium, while the indoor events were held at the Lefkotheo
T ...
.
The record of the highest attendance for a European Competition game is over than 30,000 spectators in the match between OMONOIA and ANDERLECHT for the 1985-86 UEFA Champions League last-
omonoia-vs-anderlecht/. The match was held on Wednesday, 6 Nov 1985 • 20:00 and ended with a 1–3 win for ANDERLECHT .
Publications of the time state that there were 34,000 spectators at the Makarios stadium, which is a record number of fans in Cypriot stadiums.
References
Athletics (track and field) venues in Cyprus
Sport in Nicosia
Football venues in Cyprus
Multi-purpose stadiums in Cyprus
Buildings and structures in Nicosia
Sports venues in Cyprus
Doxa Katokopias FC
{{Cyprus-sports-venue-stub