Parkstadion () was a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

in Gelsenkirchen,

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, that is no longer used to host any major events. The stadium was built in 1973 and hosted five matches of the 1974 FIFA World Cup.Parkstadion
It had a capacity of 62,109 with seats for 45,067. During the 1974 FIFA World Cup,

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

set the record for the biggest win ever at a

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

with a 9–0 hammering of

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

performed at the stadium during his

Bad World Tour Bad was the first solo concert tour by American singer Michael Jackson, launched in support of his seventh studio album '' Bad'' (1987). Sponsored by Pepsi and spanning 16 months, the tour included 123 concerts for over 4.4 million fans across ...

on 4 September 1988 and during his

HIStory World Tour The ''HIS''tory World Tour was the third and final worldwide solo concert tour by American singer and recording artist Michael Jackson, covering Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania and North America. The tour included a total of 82 concerts spanning ...

on 15 June 1997. He was also scheduled to perform at the stadium on 6 September 1992 on his

Dangerous World Tour The Dangerous World Tour was the second world concert tour by American singer Michael Jackson to promote his eighth studio album '' Dangerous.'' The tour was sponsored by Pepsi-Cola. All profits were donated to various charities including Jack ...

, but cancelled due to ill health.

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

performed at the stadium during their Urban Jungle Tour on 16 August 1990 and during their Bridges To Babylon Tour on 27 July 1998. Pink Floyd performed at the stadium during

The Division Bell Tour The Division Bell Tour was the final concert tour by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It was performed in 1994 to support their album ''The Division Bell'', which was released two days before the tour's start date. Following the tour's conclu ...

on 23 August 1994. It was the home ground of football club FC Schalke 04 until May 2001, before the newly built and adjacent

Arena AufSchalke Arena AufSchalke (), currently known as Veltins-Arena () for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor football stadium in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It opened on 13 August 2001, as the new home ground for Bundesliga club FC S ...

opened in July of the same year. The stadium hosted two

UEFA Euro 1988 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. The tournament crowned the Nethe ...

fixtures (

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, and

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

v the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

), as well as the first leg of the

1997 UEFA Cup Final The 1997 UEFA Cup Final was a two-legged football match contested between Schalke 04 of Germany and Inter Milan of Italy. The tie was a tight affair, with each leg being won 1–0 by the home-team. After 210 minutes of football, the tie was eventua ...

between Schalke and

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is t ...

.Parkstadion
The Stadium Guide. Accessed March 5, 2012. The last competitive football match played in the stadium was a

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

fixture between Schalke and

SpVgg Unterhaching Spielvereinigung Unterhaching () is a German sports club in Unterhaching, a semi-rural municipality on the southern outskirts of the Bavarian capital Munich. The club is widely known for playing in the first-division association football league ...

on 19 May 2001. The match was attended by approximately 65,000 people. At the end of the match, after a difficult 5–3 win against

, and thanks to a last minute goal scored by

Hamburg SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

against Bayern Munich, the crowd celebrated Schalke's first Bundesliga title before

Patrik Andersson Patrik Jonas Andersson (; born 18 August 1971) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Starting off his career with Malmö FF in the late 1980s, he went on to play professionally in England, Germany, and Spain, an ...

equalized in the additional time for Bayern, made Bayern retain the title and instantly killed the joy of the fans celebrating in Parkstadion. The stadium is now partly demolished and the Jumbotron that was placed atop of the northern stand was donated to

Erzgebirgsstadion Erzgebirgsstadion is a multi-purpose stadium in Aue, Germany. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of FC Erzgebirge Aue. The stadium is able to hold 16,485 people and was built in 1950. History The earlies ...

in Aue, where it was installed during the renovations of the stadium in 2004.

References

External links

Parkstadion Gelsenkirchen
{{Authority control Defunct football venues in Germany Buildings and structures in Gelsenkirchen 1974 FIFA World Cup stadiums Multi-purpose stadiums in Germany Defunct sports venues in Germany UEFA Euro 1988 stadiums Sports venues in North Rhine-Westphalia Sports venues completed in 1969 1969 establishments in West Germany