LFF Stadium (Lithuanian Football Federation stadium, ), formerly known as Vėtra Stadium, is a

football stadium Football stadium may refer to: * A stadium used in gridiron football, association football or Australian rules football * A soccer-specific stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sp ...

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. The stadium has a capacity of 5,067 people and was home of the

Lithuanian national football team The Lithuania national football team ( lt, Lietuvos nacionalinė futbolo rinktinė) represents Lithuania in international football and is controlled by the Lithuanian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Lithuania. They pla ...

between 2012 and 2022.

Overview

The stadium was first named Lokomotyvas in Soviet era due to its location close to the

Vilnius railway station Vilnius Railway Station ( lt, Vilniaus geležinkelio stotis) is a Lithuanian Railways passenger station in Vilnius, Lithuania. The railway station situates between two neighbourhoods of Vilnius - Naujininkai and Naujamiestis and on the edge of ...

. In 2004 it was the first private football-oriented stadium in Lithuania rebuilt after the Soviet era. It was then renamed to Vėtra Stadium as the home ground of Vėtra. In 2005 it hosted its first national team matches. Following the bankruptcy of Vėtra in 2010, the stadium was taken over by the

Lithuanian Football Federation The Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) ( lt, Lietuvos futbolo federacija) is the governing body of football in Lithuania. The Federation is responsible for football development in the country and for the national teams, including the Lithuania ...

and renamed again as the LFF Stadium. The stadium has undergone various improvements to meet UEFA 3rd category stadium status. Following the renovation, the stadium also includes the new headquarters of the LFF, while the grass pitch was changed to an artificial turf. In 2015 the stadium was renewed - the artificial turf was renewed with a new higher quality surface, and the stadium lighting system was updated. A year later, before the match with

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, a new

scoreboard A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score in a game. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards in the past used ...

was installed. Pitch was once again replaced in April 2020. Since 2012, the stadium is the home of the

and one of the top Lithuanian clubs Žalgiris Vilnius. It also sometimes hosts local

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team Iron Wolves of the Baltic American Football League, and it's also the venue of the Dancing Day of the

Lithuanian Song Festival The Lithuania Song Festival (also called The Song Celebration) is a massive traditional song and dance festival. Since regaining the Independence in 1990, the event has gained the status of the national celebration. The most recent event took pla ...

. The current capacity of the stadium is 5,067.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vetra Stadium Football venues in Lithuania Sports venues in Vilnius Multi-purpose stadiums in Lithuania Sports venues completed in 2004 2004 establishments in Lithuania FK Žalgiris