Stadion pod Bijelim brijegom ( en, Bijeli Brijeg Stadium), also known as ''HŠK Zrinjski Stadium'', is a City of Mostar owned

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

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 the city of

Mostar Mostar (, ; sr-Cyrl, Мостар, ) is a city and the administrative center of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is sit ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. The venue is currently home of

HŠK Zrinjski Mostar HŠK Zrinjski Mostar ( hr, Hrvatski športski klub Zrinjski Mostar, lit=Croat Sports Club Zrinjski Mostar) is a professional football club, based in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club plays in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ...

. Today it has a capacity of 9,000 seats.

Location

The stadium is situated in the city's center, in the neighborhood of Bijeli Brijeg, on the west bank of the

Neretva The Neretva ( sr-cyrl, Неретва, ), also known as Narenta, is one of the largest rivers of the eastern part of the Adriatic basin. Four HE power-plants with large dams (higher than 150,5 metres) provide flood protection, power and water s ...

river.

History

The stadium was built in 1958 with the public subsidies, and volunteering construction works by all denizens of Mostar, particularly students, and it served as the home ground of Velež Mostar during

SFR 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 Yug ...

era. During the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

, between 1992 and 1995, and in particular subsequent incitement of Croat-Bosniak hostilities, the city of Mostar was effectively split to two parts, western (

Croat The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...

) and eastern (

Bosniak The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...

), divided around the river

. The stadium sustained heavy damage during the war, while conflicting ideologies and interests were conveyed from the war times into the post-war era, evidenced in continuous and steady political divisiveness in the city of Mostar, among other, in issues of territorial and ownership disputes. Such political ambiance showed in the forced eviction of FK Velež Mostar from its traditional home-ground of stadium ''Pod Bijelim Brijegom'', and subsequent political and public disputes over stadium usurpation by another club, emerging in the city at the beginning of the war in 1992, namely HŠK Zrinjski Mostar, one of three city's ethno-national football organizations banned by the former Yugoslav government immediately after the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. From that moment onward stadium serves solely as the home ground of Zrinjski Mostar. FK Velež Mostar used stadium ''Pod Bijelim Brijegom'' from the time it was built until 1992, through the club's glory days, when they emerged triumphant from their campaigns in the

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

and

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

Yugoslav Cups competition, and before that when the club also reached the quarter-final stage of the 1974–75 UEFA Cup. People around Velež Mostar club, supporters, as well as aficionados of this cult club around former Yugoslavia, public figures, including number of Croatian intellectuals, continuously advocate for Velež's return to its original stadium, however, so far these calls fall on deaf ears with the city's administration, who often citing political and security issues to continue blocking of Velež's return. The club currently plays at the Rođeni Stadium which was built in 1995.

Importance

Bijeli Brijeg is the second largest stadium in Bosnia and Herzegovina, after

Koševo stadium Koševo ( cyrl, Кошево) is a neighborhood in the municipality of Centar in central Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located between the older parts of the city under Stari Grad and the newer more modern parts of the city under the ...

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

. The club HŠK Zrinjski administration changed the stadium name into ''Stadion HŠK Zrinjski'' ( en, HSK Zrinjski Stadium) and registered it with the

Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Nogometni/Fudbalski Savez Bosne i Hercegovine (N/FSBiH); Ногометни/Фудбалски Савез Босне и Херцеговине (Н/ФСБиХ), (FSBiH); unified abbreviation N/FS ...

for the club's games under the association's auspices.

Gallery

File:Bijeli Brijeg Stadium, Mostar.JPG, View onto field and central Mostar File:Stadion HŠK Zrinjski 1.JPG, Lower western stands of stadium File:Stadion HŠK Zrinjski 2.JPG, Pitch and eastern stands (also known as Standing - hr, Stajanje) File:Stadion HŠK Zrinjski 3.JPG, Building of board HŠK Zrinjski Mostar

References

External links

* {{Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina venues p Football venues in Yugoslavia Athletics (track and field) venues in Yugoslavia Sports venues in Mostar HŠK Zrinjski Mostar