Teddy Stadium ( he, אצטדיון טדי) is a sports stadium in the

Malha Malha is a neighborhood in southwest Jerusalem, between Pat, Ramat Denya and Kiryat Hayovel in the Valley of Rephaim. Before 1948, Malha was an Arab village known as al-Maliha ( ar, المالحة). History Antiquity Excavations in Malha revea ...

neighborhood of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. Three football teams currently use the stadium:

Beitar Jerusalem Beitar Jerusalem Football Club ( he, מועדון כדורגל בית"ר ירושלים, Moadon Kaduregel Beitar Yerushalayim), commonly known as Beitar Jerusalem () or simply as Beitar (), is an Israeli football club based in the city of Jerus ...

Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Jerusalem is a sport organization in Jerusalem as a local branch of the Hapoel movement. The branch was established in the 1920s and represents the city in more sports than any other sport organization in Jerusalem. Today, the club's leadi ...

, and the Israel national football team for select home matches. The stadium is named after long-time Jerusalem mayor

Teddy Kollek Theodor "Teddy" Kollek ( he, טדי קולק; 27 May 1911 – 2 January 2007) was an Israeli politician who served as the mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 19 ...

, who was in office during the time of its construction and was one of its prominent advocates.

History

Maliha village boundaries with the location of the Teddy Stadium marked

For Beitar, the stadium was a major upgrade after years of playing at the YMCA Stadium, nicknamed "The Sandbox". In the first stage, only the west and east sides of the stadium were built, giving it a capacity of 14,500. In 1999, work was finished on a north side which contains capacity of 8000 seats. The stadium itself is one of the newest in Israel and one of the few that are close to meeting all European standards. It is

accessible Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

to the disabled, has modern bathrooms, and has ample

concession stand A concession stand (American English, Canadian English), snack kiosk or snack bar (British English, Irish English) is a place where patrons can purchase snacks or food at a cinema, amusement park, zoo, aquarium, circus, fair, stadium, b ...

s, a combination that is very difficult to find in many Israeli stadiums. The stadium has 5,000 parking spots on its premises, and is connected to the Malha Mall and its parking facilities by a pedestrian bridge. The stadium is located at the Begin Expressway and just past the Malha Train Station, which ensures convenient road and rail access to the rest of Israel. With stands close to the pitch and excellent acoustics, Teddy Stadium has hosted several Israel national football team matches, the Maccabiah Games opening ceremony, and other public events. A south side stand was completed on June 3, 2013, increasing

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

to 31,733. Teddy Stadium was one of the venues for the

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

and hosted the tournament's final match. The first official match of the Israel national football team in the new stadium was played on March 31, 2015. Israel hosted the Belgium national football team in the

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from September 2014 to November 2015 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams joining the automatically qualified host team France in the UEFA Euro 2 ...

match and lost the match by a score of 0–1. Israel was chosen to host The 2021

IFAF Flag Football World Championship IFAF Flag Football World Championship is the international championship in flag football, organized by International Federation of American Football. The men's and women's competitions are usually held in the same venue. The tournament starts with ...

which were played at Teddy Stadium after feared high winds at the original venue, The Kraft Family Sports Campus in Jerusalem.

Supporters

During Beitar matches, the

La Familia ''La familia'', (English: ''The Family'') is a 1969 Mexican telenovela produced by Televisa and originally transmitted by Telesistema Mexicano. Cast *Virginia Gutiérrez *Jorge Lavat *Irma Lozano *Enrique Aguilar Enrique Aguilar Zermeño ( ...

group occupies the eastern sections of the stadium. They are known for being the most vocal and controversial of fans in the venue.

Renovations

In September 2016 a new solar system which can produce 639 kW was installed on the roof of the stadium. In mid-2018 Jerusalem municipality announced a 25 million ₪ upgrade of the stadium which have finished at the start of 2019: * The players warm-up hall was renovated. * New ergonomic players seats were installed. * New professional sound system was installed on the roof. The second phase of the renovation began in February 2019, and was completed in August 2020.: * Built new roof for the south stand. * Extension of the solar system on the new south stand roof. * Installation of new LED lights show system around the stadium. * Built new 8 VIP boxes in the west stand. The third phase of the renovation began in 2021, and was completed in August 2022.: * Replacement of 6700 remaining old seats in the north stand with new modern seats. * Extension of the new sound system on the south stand roof. Jerusalem municipality allocated dozen of millions ₪ more for further improvements in 2022/23: * Installing 2 new LED screens on the roofs of the north and south stands. * Replacement of the old stadium lighting with new LED lights system. * Construction of new shops and restaurants outside the north-east stand. * Dressing rooms renovation. * VIP hall renovation.

International matches

Gallery

File:Teddy-stadium-exterior-.jpg, 2006 File:Teddy Kollek Stadium - Outside.JPG, 2007 File:Teddy Kollek Stadium - Inside.JPG, 2007 File:Teddy Stadium14.jpg, 2011 File:Teddy_stadium,_Jerusalem (cropped).JPG, 2013 File:Israeli-Police-Facebook--Jerusalem-aerial-03.jpg, 2015

References