Sportovní areál Drnovice is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 ...

in Drnovice, in the

South Moravian Region The South Moravian Region (; , ; ), or just South Moravia, is an Regions of the Czech Republic, administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the south-western part of its historical region of Moravia. The region's capital is Brno, th ...

of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. The game hosted two friendly matches of the

Czech Republic national football team The Czech Republic national football team (), recognised by FIFA as Czechia, represents the Czech Republic in men's international Association football, football. The team is controlled by the Football Association of the Czech Republic (FAČR). H ...

History

The stadium opened in 1955. It was used in the

Czech First League The Czech First League () also known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Czech Republic and the highest level of the Czech Republic football league system. Seasons typically run from A ...

between 1993 and 2002, and again in the 2004–05 season. It hosted

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

matches in the 2000–01 season, including against

TSV 1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; ''sechzig'' locally ; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's association football, football team plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football league system ...

. The stadium hosted Drnovice's matches in the second tier for the last time in the 2005–06 season. The stadium was sold by auction in March 2016. MFK Vyškov of the second-tier

Czech National Football League The Czech National Football League (, ''FNL''), known as Chance Národní Liga due to sponsorship reasons, is the second level professional association football league in the Czech Republic. Before 2013 it was known as 2. liga or Druhá liga. The ...

started using Sportovní areál Drnovice for their league matches from the start of the 2021–22 season. This arrangement continued until the end of the 2024–25 season, by which time, the stadium was non-compliant with key league requirements including under-soil heating and artificial lighting. By 2023, the stadium's capacity had been reduced to 4,500 seats.

National team matches

The stadium was the venue for the

1999 UEFA European Under-16 Championship The 1999 UEFA European Under-16 Championship was the 17th edition of UEFA's UEFA European Under-17 Championship, European Under-16 Football Championship. Czech Republic hosted the championship, from 24 April to 7 May 1999. Players born on or after ...

semi-final between

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, in a game contested by players including

Mikel Arteta Mikel Arteta Amatriain (born 26 March 1982) is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of club Arsenal F.C., Arsenal. Arteta began his senior club career ...

and

Pepe Reina José Manuel "Pepe" Reina Páez (; born 31 August 1982) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. The son of famed Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Pepe Reina began his career with the Barce ...

. The match, which was played on 4 May 1999, finished 4–0 to Spain. The stadium hosted two matches of the

: on 18 August 1999, Drnovice was the venue of the international friendly between the Czech Republic and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, a game which finished 3–0 to the hosts in front of 7,825 spectators. On 15 August 2001, the stadium hosted a friendly match between the Czech Republic and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. The match, which was a 6,596 sell-out, finished 5–0 to the home side. ----

References

External links

{{Czech First League venues Football venues in the Czech Republic Czech First League venues 1955 establishments in Czechoslovakia Sports venues completed in 1955 20th-century architecture in the Czech Republic