Oosterpark Stadion () was the

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 ...

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 c ...

club

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, province of Groningen. Founded on 16 June 1971 as the successor of GVAV, the team compete in the Eredivisie, the highest tier of Dutch football. G ...

until December 2005. The all-seater stadium in Groningen's Oosterpark neighbourhood was inaugurated on 30 September 1933 and renovated in 1960, 1984 and 1987/88. The stadium has been replaced by the new, larger

Euroborg The Euroborg () is the stadium in Groningen, Netherlands. It is the home of football club FC Groningen, with a capacity of 22,525 seats. The stadium site houses a casino, movie theater, school, supermarket, and a fitness centre. A temporary railwa ...

stadium, and the ground it occupied is being redeveloped. The stadium's peak capacity was 22,000 spectators (in 1985). At the time of the demolition, the capacity was 11,224. Clubs that played in the stadium earlier are BRC, GVAV Rapiditas and De Oosterparkers. The best visited game ever was

Servette FC Servette FC is a Swiss football club based in Geneva, founded in March 1890 with rugby as its first sporting activity, and named after the Geneva district of the same name. The football section was created on 17 January 1900. They play in the S ...

with 19,500 spectators. On 22 December 2005, the last match of FC Groningen in the stadium took place, the

KNVB Beker The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

match against

FC Volendam Football Club Volendam () is a professional Association football, football club based in Volendam, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football from the 2022–23 season following promotion ...

. The supporters made a very last trip from the Grote Markt in Groningen with torches and fireworks. The match ended in a 3–0 victory for FC Groningen, and the last goal in the Oosterpark was scored by

Glen Salmon Glen George Salmon (born 24 December 1977) is a retired South African football forward and current manager of Orlando Pirates' B-team. Career Salmon was born in the Rhodesian capital of Salisbury (now Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe) and grew u ...

. The stadium in Groningen hosted two international matches of the

Netherlands national football team The Netherlands national football team ( nl, Nederlands voetbalelftal or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal Du ...

in the early 1980s, both won by the home side 3-0. The first one was a qualifying match for

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national foo ...

on 22 February 1981 against

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 geo ...

with goals scored by

Hugo Hovenkamp Hugo Hermanus Hovenkamp (born 5 October 1950, in Groningen) is a former Dutch football defender, who played for the Dutch club AZ Alkmaar in the late 1970s, early 1980s. He started his professional career for FC Groningen. Hovenkamp made his i ...

Cees Schapendonk Cees Schapendonk (born 24 December 1955 in Den Bosch, North Brabant) is a former football striker from the Netherlands. In his sole appearance for the Netherlands national football team on 22 February 1981, he scored in a three-nil victory over C ...

and

Dick Nanninga Dirk Jacobus Willem "Dick" Nanninga (17 January 1949 – 21 July 2015) was a Dutch footballer who played as a forward. At club level, he played for Dutch sides BV Veendam, Roda JC and MVV Maastricht. He also had a short spell with Hong Kong club ...

; this match was notable because Hovenkamp and Nanninga were players who were born in the Oosterpark-area of Groningen. The second and the last one was a qualifying match for Euro 1984 on 7 September 1983 against

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

with goals scored by

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is the younger brother of his former international teammate Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman. Koeman was cap ...

Ruud Gullit Ruud Gullit (; born Rudi Dil; 1 September 1962) is a Dutch footballer and subsequent manager who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s as a defender, midfielder or forward. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all t ...

and

Peter Houtman Peter Houtman (born 4 June 1957 in Rotterdam) is a retired football striker from the Netherlands who obtained eight caps for the Netherlands national team in the 1980s, scoring seven goals. Houtman played for Feyenoord Rotterdam and FC Gron ...

References

External links

* *
Official Website
Defunct football venues in the Netherlands Sports venues in Groningen (city) Sports venues completed in 1933 FC Groningen {{Netherlands-sports-venue-stub