The Teslim Balogun Stadium is a multi-use

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 ...

Surulere Surulere is a residential and commercial Local Government Areas of Nigeria, Local Government Area located on the mainland of Lagos in Lagos State, Nigeria, with an area of . At the last census in the year 2006, there were 503,975 inhabitants, wi ...

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. It is used mostly 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 c ...

matches and serves as a home ground of First Bank FC. The

Nigeria national rugby league team The Nigeria national rugby league team represents Nigeria in international rugby league football competitions. They made their debut in the 2019 Middle East Africa Championship with a 23-12 victory over Ghana. Current squad Squad for 2019 MEA ...

also use the venue. The stadium has a capacity of 24,325 people, and is sometimes used for international football matches. It once served as the venue for the

Nigerian FA Cup The AITEO Cup (a.k.a. Challenge Cup, sometimes shortened to Fed Cup), is the main football single-elimination tournament in Nigeria contested by 74 teams, representing the 36 states + 1 FCT of Nigeria. It is the Nigerian domestic cup and the Nig ...

final, just before it hosted some matches in the

2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the thirteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup held in Nigeria from 24 October to 15 November 2009. The tournament was won by Switzerland, beating the host team and holders, Nigeria. The Golden Ball to the Be ...

youth tournament held in

. It sits adjacent to the Lagos National Stadium.

Overview

It is named after former professional footballer Teslim Balogun. The stadium is located directly opposite the multipurpose National Stadium. Started in 1984 under the administration of military governor

Gbolahan Mudasiru Gbolahan Mudasiru (18 October 1945 – 23 September 2003) was a Nigerian Air Force officer who was appointed Governor of Lagos State, Nigeria, who served in office between January 1984 and August 1986 during the military regimes of General Muhamma ...

, construction continually stalled under military regimes and the stadium became a white elephant. By the time the stadium was completed in 2007, it had taken 23 years to build and cost over N1.3 billion. As recently as 2006, it was occupied by homeless people and

area boys Area boys (') are loosely organized gangs of street children, teenagers and youths, composed mostly of males, who operate on the streets of major cities in Nigeria, including Lagos, Ibadan, Onitsha, Aba, Umuahia, Akure, Ado-Ekiti and Enugu.T ...

. The first event held in the stadium was the 18th Mobil Track and Field Athletics Championship on 17 May. The first football game was an international friendly on 28 May between

Enyimba Aba is a city in the southeast of Nigeria and the commercial center of Abia State. Upon the creation of Abia state in 1991, Aba was divided into two local government areas namely; Aba South and Aba North. Aba south is the main city centre an ...

and

Asante Kotoko Asante Kotoko Sporting Club, simply known as Asante Kotoko, is a professional football club founded on 31 August 1935 and based in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Nicknamed the ''Porcupine Warriors'', they compete in the Ghana Premier Lea ...

. The stadium also hosted the

Nigeria Premier League The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) is the highest level of the Nigerian football league system, for the Nigerian club-football championships. The Nigerian league has suffered, like many others, from the financial impact and dwindl ...

Super Four playoff that season and the

final in 2007. The final of the 2009 Federation Cup between Enyimba and Sharks was held at the stadium. Lagos State Commissioner for Youth Sports and Social Development, Prince Ademola Adeniji-Adele disclosed at the FIFA Media Briefing Room of the Teslim Balogun Stadium on 18 May 2009 on the preparations for

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

that "with a FIFA Star Two artificial turf, FIFA Grade seats with back rest, a

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 ...

of 24,325, a 70 kVA electricity generating set for the digital scoreboard, state of art changing room for athletes and officials, security gadgets with CCTV cameras, a 1,000 kVA and 500 kVA generating sets and other standard facilities, I know we are set to host a successful championship." The Teslim Balogun stadium was also the main venue of the 18th National Sports festival in December 2012. With 114 gold, 99 silver, and 75 bronze medals, Delta took the top spot on the medal stand and emerge winners of the 18th National sport Festival. In 2018, during the Nigerian Independence day (1 October 2018); The Crawford Age grade competition was held at the Olympic Standard swimming pool of the stadium. Eyo Iga Faji procession

Architecture

The stadium was designed by Nigerian Architect O.C. Majoroh of ''Majoroh Partnership''.

Notable football matches

2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the thirteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup held in Nigeria from 24 October to 15 November 2009. The tournament was won by Switzerland, beating the host team and holders, Nigeria. The Golden Ball to the Be ...

References

External links

Venue information

Enyimba, Kotoko baptise Teslim Balogun pitch

Teslim Balogun To Host Principal's Cup

{{Lagos, state=collapsed Football venues in Nigeria Sport in Lagos Sports venues completed in 2007 Sports venues in Lagos