Stadion Rođeni ''()'', previously known as Stadion Vrapčići ''()'', 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
Mostar
Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina.
Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...
,
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
, which has been used by
FK Velež Mostar
Fudbalski klub Velež Mostar ( sh-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Beлеж Мостар; English language, English: Football club Velež Mostar) is a professional football (soccer), football club based in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The cl ...
since 1995.
It is located in the northeastern part of the city, namely the
Vrapčići suburb, and is principal stadium and the home-ground of FK Velež Mostar football club. The stadium takes its name from FK Velež's and its supporters' nickname ''"Rođeni"'' (, as in "our own"; literally "born"), and was decided after an online poll in 2017.
At present stage of development, it can receive up to 7,000 supporters in attendance.
The lack of funds and a slow process of country's recovery from the war, as well as complicated political ambient in the city and the country as a whole, all of which have influenced the scope and the tempo of stadium development.
History
Stadiums before "Stadion Rođeni"
Like all other clubs in Mostar at the time, Velež played their league matches before World War II at a quarter of the city then known as "Bakamovića glava", later known as "Staro Veležovo igralište". After the war Velež became the only major club in the city and the stadium belonged solely to them, although it was owned by the city of Mostar.
The first attempt to build a stadium meant solely for Velež happened at the beginning of 1938. FK Velež's board decided to call a loan among the club's supporters and friends, and all Mostar's working class, whose money would be used to buy land and build a playground. Velež were allegedly the only team in Mostar that had to pay rent to use the "Staro Veležovo igralište", while others played games on it for free.
A non-interest-bearing loan, with a two-year repayment period after the construction of the playground, was proposed, and coupons called ''"Loan"'' were issued in denominations of 50 and 100 dinars. In this way, 100,000 dinars were collected. When an agreement was reached on the purchase of land, the club was banned by the regime on 3 September 1940, and the money collected was than directed to humanitarian cause ''"Red Assistance"''.
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
stadium ''Pod Bijelim Brijegom'' was built through
volunteer labor of young people from Mostar and Bosnia and Herzegovina, between 1947 and 1958. ''Bijeli Brijeg'' was a stadium used by FK Velež Mostar from the time it was built until 1992, through the club's glory days, when they emerged triumphant from their campaigns in the
1980–81 and
1985–86 Yugoslav Cup
The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...
s competition, and before that when the club also reached the quarter-final stage of the
1974–75 UEFA Cup
The 1974–75 UEFA Cup was the fourth season of the UEFA Cup, the third-tier club football competition organised by UEFA.
The final was played over two legs at the Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, West Germany, and at the Diekman Stadion, Enschede ...
.
As such the stadium is considered Velež's historic stadium, and plenty calls over the years have been made to return it from various figures, including leading figures at the club at certain points.
From time the
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...
broke out, and in particular subsequent incitement of
Croat-Bosniak hostilities, conflicting ideologies and interests were conveyed from the war times into the post-war era, which continuously manifesting itself through steady political divisiveness in the city of Mostar, among other shown in issues of territorial and ownership disputes. Such political ambiance showed in the forced eviction of FK Velež Mostar from its traditional home-ground of ''Bijeli Brijeg'' in 1992, and in subsequent legal disputes over stadium usurpation by another club, emerging in the city at the time.
Finding a location and initial opening

In 1995, Velež played their first home game after the beginning of the war at Sjeverni logor, the former barracks of the Austro-Hungarian and later Yugoslav People's Army.
The location was expected to be Velež's temporary home until a return to the Bijeli Brijeg stadium, and in case of that scenario being impossible, was seen as a suitable replacement due to its proximity to the rest of the city, even years later. However, with help from the local government at the time, the
Islamic Community built a mosque right next to the field, making a stadium with a larger capacity impracticable. Instead, in 1995 the club was awarded the former field of FK Đuro Salaj, a
works team
A works team, sometimes also referred to as factory team and company team, is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business, institution, or organization in a broad sense. Works teams have very close ties with thei ...
for a company with the same name located in Vrapčići. Before the ground could be re-opened to a larger crowd, Velež played their games for the opening of the
1995–96 First League in
Jablanica instead, while their first game in Vrapčići was played on Bosnia and Herzegovina's
Statehood Day Statehood Day may refer to:
* Statehood Day (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
* Statehood Day (Croatia)
* Statehood Day (Hawaii)
* Statehood Day (Lithuania)
* Statehood Day (Montenegro)
* National Day (Serbia)
* Statehood Day (Slovenia)
* Statehood Da ...
, 25 November against
Željezničar Sarajevo.
The first stand was only built in 1999, specifically the eastern stand, which opened on 14 March that year against
Bosna Visoko. The stadium would not receive any new stands for another seven years. When Velež returned to the top flight of Bosnia and Herzegovina football after being promoted in 2006, a large northern stand was constructed in commemoration. In 2012, the eastern stand was renamed the ''Red Army Tribina'' (Red Army Stand) after
Red Army Mostar
Red Army Mostar is a FK Velež Mostar supporters' group in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
History
Red Army Mostar was founded in 1981 in Mostar under the name Crveni šejtani (Red Devils) after FK Velež Mostar won its first 1980–81 Yugoslav Cup, Yu ...
, Velež's supporter group. In 2008, a western stand was built, which was dramatically increased in size after additional works and expansions between 2017 and 2018. In 2019, a roof for the western stand was finished.
Bosnia and Herzegovina's
under-21 football team has played against
Montenegro
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, image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg
, coa_size = 80
, national_motto =
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map = Europe-Mont ...
on two occasions at the stadium, once in 2013 and again in 2016. These are the only international games that have been played at the stadium, although the ongoing construction projects have made the club hopeful of hosting proper international matches in the future.
Reconstruction and expansion
While hosting a fundraiser for the club, then president of Velež, Šemsudin Hasić announced that within three years (2022 was Velež's 100 year anniversary) the stadium would be upgraded to the point it could be known as the "Rođeni Arena". One month later in December 2019, the eastern stand was demolished for a new stand to be built proportional to the northern stand, known by supporters as the ''dedara'' (old man's
tand. The first official match played under the floodlights at Rođeni Stadium was on 8 August 2020, when Velež defeated Zrinjski 2–0 in the
Mostar derby
The Mostar derby () is a football rivalry in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina between HŠK Zrinjski and FK Velež. The derby took place for the first time in 1922 and is the oldest major football derby in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Both Mostar clubs ...
. However, since the initial announcement the construction has been beset with issues. The
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
made it much more difficult for work to be done in the stadium, as according to measures at the time only four people could be present at the site at once. Also, due to suspensions and resignations from various members of Velež's board from 2021 onwards, it has been much harder to secure funding for new improvements in the stadium such as the yet unbuilt southern stand, which will host most of the facilities needed for
UEFA stadium categorization in the future.
In 2022, Velež signed a contract with the
Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Nogometni/Fudbalski Savez Bosne i Hercegovine (N/FSBiH); Ногометни/Фудбалски Савез Босне и Херцеговине (Н/ФСБиХ), (FSBiH); unified abbreviation N/FS ...
to build a new hybrid pitch with finances shared between the club, the FA and UEFA funds that would cost up to 1.200.000 euros. Construction started in June of that year and was expected to finish by September, when the club would play a derby match against
FK Sarajevo
Fudbalski klub Sarajevo ( sh-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Сарајево; , English language, English: Sarajevo Football Club), is a professional Association football, football Sports club, club based in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosn ...
. Since the season would have already began by that point, the club played their home matches in
Gabela's
Perica "Pero" Pavlović stadium. However, the construction was delayed several times due to the bonding pad structure being incorrectly implemented and other inconveniences while inserting the pitch.
As such the club did not play a single home game in the first half of the
2022–23
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...
season at the stadium, instead playing all their home games in Gabela instead. Work was officially finished in December 2022.
See also
*
List of football stadiums in Bosnia and Herzegovina
References
External links
FK Velež Mostar Official websiteUG Mostarski Rođeni
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stadium Rođeni
r
Sports venues in Mostar
FK Velež Mostar