Stadion Wojska Polskiego

The Stadion Wojska Polskiego (, en, Polish Army Stadium), officially named Stadion Miejski Legii Warszawa im. Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego ( eng, The Marshall Józef Piłsudski's Municipal Stadium of Legia Warsaw) in Warsaw, Poland, is an all-seater, highest fourth category football-specific stadium. The venue is located at the 3 Łazienkowska Street in Śródmieście district. It is the home ground of Legia Warsaw football club, who have been playing there since 9 August 1930.

The stadium underwent a two-stage, complete reconstruction in the years 2008–2011. Only a small part of the main building facade was preserved from the old construction (with another part being precisely reconstructed).
With space for 31,800 spectators it is the 5th biggest football stadium in Ekstraklasa and the 7th biggest in the country.
The stadium is equipped with a heated pitch, training pitch, underground parking, sport bar, club museum and other facilities.

The stadium, which for decades belonged to the Polish Armed Forces, is currently owned by the City of Warsaw.

Construction Background

The necessity to build a new stadium for Legia Warszawa players increased in the mid-1990s, when Legia had one of the most successful periods in its history. Championship of Poland (1994, 1995), Polish Cup (1995, 1997), semi-final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1991) and the quarter-final of the UEFA Champions League (1996) strengthened the demand to modernize or even replace the old facility. Ultimately, however, until 1997 virtually nothing on this subject has been done.

The complicated legal status of the land, which belonged to the military, effectively discouraged potential investors. The new hope came together with the new owners – Daewoo company, which bought the majority stake in Legia in the late 1996. The Korean club owners strongly lobbied the City of Warsaw to take over the property and invest in the new facility, however, the then owners of the site – the Military Property Agency – was not willing to sell the property. The deadlock existed for the next 5 years, during which time the Koreans sold the club. Eventually, the sale went through on 29 July 2002, when the City of Warsaw acquired the title to the land. Although the market value was estimated at 60 million PLN, the purchase price was agreed at 16 million PLN. In October 2004, Warsaw's chief architect Michał Borowski gave permission to build a new stadium on the said land. The decision led to the announcement of tender for redevelopment of the Legia's facilities.

On 25 September 2006, the City of Warsaw dismissed the offer of the German consortium: HMB Stadien GmbH und Sportstättenbau with Wayss Schlüsselfertigbau und Freytag AG and Krupp Stahlbau Hannover GmbH, which had won the tender. Their project planned the construction of a building with a capacity of 30,500 to 35,000 spectators, with underground parking, and – a first at a Polish sports facility – was supposed to have a fully retractable roof. The City, however, did not accept the consortium's condition that all the funds for the construction be secured by the investor prior to the construction. The Polish side cancelled the deal.

On 26 September 2006, Legia's new owners – ITI Group – during a meeting with the acting President of Warsaw Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, in the club premises presented their own idea of rebuilding the stadium. Their idea provided for the construction of the stadium in stages (so that the club could still play games during the construction), with the capacity between 31,800 and 34,000 seats (depending whether standing spaces were included). In November of that year, the club signed a 23-year lease with the City of Warsaw. In June 2007, the Warsaw City Council allocated 360 million PLN in funding (which later had to be increased to 460 million PLN) for the construction of the new stadium according to the club's proposed design. In April 2008 the then President of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz issued a permit for the construction of the stadium. On 12 November 2008 the investor – the City of Warsaw – signed an agreement with a consortium Polimex-Mostostal for the construction works.

On 17 November 2008 the first stage of the new stadium construction began. This stage provided for the demolition and construction of three stands: the southern, the eastern, and the northern one. Works began by the demolition of the club's old premises and of the eastern stand (the famous " Żyleta"). The first stage was completed and taken over by the investor on 10 May 2010. The stadium was officially opened (with only three stands completed) by a match against Arsenal F.C. on 7 August 2010. The second stage of construction, which provided for the demolition and construction of the eastern stand (the main stand – so-called "Kryta") was completed and taken over by the investor on 10 May 2011.

Stadium characteristics

Overall

The Stadion Wojska Polskiego at Łazienkowska_Street_is_located_in_Warsaw_

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