The Centenary Stadium () is a

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 completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

located in

Ta' Qali Ta' Qali is a wide open space in the limits of Attard and Mosta in central and northern Malta respectively, which contains National Stadium, Ta' Qali, the national football stadium, the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre, Ta' Qali National Park, a ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. The stadium, which is situated next to the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...

, houses the headquarters of the Malta Youth Football Association. It seats 3,000 and serves as the home stadium of the

Malta national under-21 football team The Malta national under-21 football team is the national under-21 association football team of Malta and is controlled by the Malta Football Association. The team is sponsored by Givova. Competitive record UEFA European Under-21 Championsh ...

. The stadium, together with three other stadiums, also hosts matches of the

Maltese Premier League The Maltese Premier League, known as 360Sports Malta Premier for sponsorship reasons with 360Sports (colloquialism, colloquially known as ''Il-Kampjonat Premjer''), is the highest level of professional football in Malta. Managed by the Malta Foot ...

Maltese First Division The Maltese Challenge League (referred to as the BOV Challenge League for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest division in Maltese football, behind the Maltese Premier League. The First Division was the precursor of the present Premier ...

and

Maltese FA Trophy The FA Trophy, currently known as the Meridianbet FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football (soccer), football cup competition that takes place in Malta. The cup was founded in 1933; following a match between England national footba ...

History

Background and early years

As early as back in 1985, the

Malta Football Association The Malta Football Association (MFA; ) is the governing body of football (soccer), football in Malta. The Association organises the Maltese Football League for both men and women and several other competitions, including knockout competitions ...

was already looking to develop a new small stadium. This idea started to take shape on 11 October 1998, when the then

President of Malta The president of Malta () is the constitutional head of state of Malta. The president is indirect election, indirectly elected by the House of Representatives of Malta, which appoints the president for a five-year term and requires them to sw ...

Dr Ugo Mifsud Bonnici laid the first stone of the stadium. The development, which consisted in the construction of a main stand and a canopy, lasted less than a year as on 13 August 1999 the stadium was inaugurated by Dr Eddie Fenech Adami,

Prime Minister of Malta The prime minister of Malta () is the head of government, which is the highest official of Malta. The prime minister chairs Cabinet meetings, and selects its ministers to serve in their respective portfolios. The prime minister holds office b ...

, and Dr Joe Mifsud, the President of the Malta Football Association. In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Malta Football Association, the stadium was named the "Centenary Stadium". Besides a seating capacity of 3,000, the main stand also included a VIP and press area. Like the National Stadium, the Centenary Stadium replaced another stadium renowned for the gravel surface, the Pace Grasso Stadium in

Tarxien Tarxien ( ) is a town in the Port region of Malta, seat of the Port Regional Council. Its population stood at 8,583 in March 2014. The town is most notable for the Tarxien Temples, a megalithic temple complex which is among the oldest freestan ...

. The first competitive match held at the stadium was a group-stage encounter of the now-defunct Maltese 2nd and 3rd Knockout between Birżebbuġa St. Peter's and Ghaxaq on 4 September 1999. The first goal was scored by Ghaxaq's Sandro Lapira on 34 minutes, which paved the way for a 2-1 win for his team.

Pitch Resurfacing

In 2007, the original pitch laid back in 1999 was replaced by a new FIFA Two-Star artificial turf. The resurfacing costed Lm35,000 (

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

81,550) and was inaugurated on 23 July 2007. In May 2017, the Malta Football Association announced that the stadium's pitch will be replaced by a new FIFA-quality pro pitch. The project, which also included the installation of new dug-outs and estimated to cost around

400,000, will mean that the stadium should now be able to host

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

and

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

matches.

References

External links

Centenary Stadium
at mfa.com.mt
Photos
a
cafe.daum.net/stade
{{portalbar, Association football Sports venues in Malta Football venues in Malta Attard

History

Background and early years

Pitch Resurfacing

See also

References

External links