Stadion Eden
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| Former names | Stadion Eden |
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| Location | Prague, Czech republic |
| Coordinates | 50°04′03″N 14°28′18″E / 50.0675°N 14.47167°ECoordinates: 50°04′03″N 14°28′18″E / 50.0675°N 14.47167°E |
| Broke ground | 15 September 2006 |
| Opened | 7 May 2008 |
| Owner | SK Slavia Praha, E Side Property Limited |
| Operator | SK Slavia Praha |
| Construction cost | 1 billion koruna |
| Architect | Ing. arch.Martin Kotík Ing. arch.Daniel Dvořák Ing. arch.Leoš Zeman |
| Capacity | 21,000 |
| Field dimensions | 105 metres (115 yd) x 68 metres (74 yd) |
| Tenants | |
| SK Slavia Praha | |
Synot Tip Aréna (also known as Eden) is a football stadium in Prague, Czech Republic. It hosts home matches of SK Slavia Praha and the Czech Republic national football team. The stadium has a capacity of about 21,000 people and it is the most modern football stadium in the Czech Republic.
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[edit] History
In the early 1950s, Slavia was forced to leave its stadium at Letná and a new stadium was built at Eden in the Vršovice district. Its capacity was about 50,000 (mostly for standing). The wooden western (main) stand was taken from the old stadium at Letná, the rest of the stands were made of concrete. The stadium also featured an athletics track. The first match at this stadium took place on September 27, 1953, Slavia drew 1-1 against the team of Křídla vlasti Olomouc. Josef Bican scored the home team's goal.
[edit] Move
In the 1970s, it became apparent that Eden did not provide sufficient comfort for the visitors and started planning to build a new one in the same place. However, under the communist regime, the planning went quite slowly. Several projects were made, and the construction was finally to start in 1990. In 1989, Slavia moved temporarily to nearby Ďolíček stadium (home of FC Bohemians Praha]) and the eastern stand was torn down. However, the overthrowing of the communist regime in 1989 delayed the construction. In the meantime, Slavia moved to Stadion Evžena Rošického, a stadium on the Strahov hill, which is large but uncomfortable and poorly accessible.
In the early 1990s, the whole construction was cancelled and Slavia moved back to Eden. A temporary stand was built in the place of former eastern stand, but it was clear that Eden was outdated and Slavia needed a new home ground. Several more projects were made, but Slavia was unable to raise sufficient funds and there were some legal problems, as the premises were owned by the government and it took a lot of effort to transfer them to Slavia. In 2000, the stadium was not eligible to host Czech league matches, so Slavia moved to the unpopular Strahov again.
[edit] New stadium
Slavia finally presented a project of the new stadium, but no construction started. In December 2003, the old Eden stadium was torn down and Slavia announced that the new stadium would be opened on October 19, 2005, however, by October 2005 the construction had not even started. It took another year to start. The project had to be scaled down to lower the construction cost from 1.8 billon Czech crowns to less than 1 billion. The construction eventually started in October 2006.
Despite the stadium not being fully finished, it was opened on May 7, 2008 with an exhibition match against Oxford University A.F.C.. Many former Slavia stars (such as Pavel Kuka, Patrik Berger, Jan Suchopárek and Ivo Knoflíček) took part in this match. Slavia won 5-0.[1]
The first competition match at the new stadium was played on May 17, 2008 against Jablonec, the match ended 2-2, Slavia secured the Gambrinus Liga title in this final match of the 2007/08 season.
[edit] Other uses
The stadium is occasionally used for other events beside football, such as concerts or other sports matces. There is a hotel and a fan shop at the northern stand, and various other facilities (bar, McDonald's, Komerční banka branch, offices) at the main stand.
[edit] References
- ^ "Czech champions Slavia too strong for Blues". http://www.ouafc.com/news/262. Retrieved on Nov 13 2008.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Stadion Eden |
