Soccer City
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| Location | Johannesburg, South Africa |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 26°14′5.27″S 27°58′56.47″E / 26.2347972°S 27.9823528°ECoordinates: 26°14′5.27″S 27°58′56.47″E / 26.2347972°S 27.9823528°E |
| Broke ground | 1986[1] |
| Opened | 1989[2] |
| Renovated | 2009 |
| Expanded | 2009 |
| Owner | The Stadia and Soccer Development Trust [3] |
| Operator | South African Football Association |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost | Rand 3.3 billion (USD $ 440 million) |
| Architect | Boogertman & Partners, Populous |
| Capacity | 94,700 (football)[4][5] |
| Tenants | |
| South Africa national football team | |
Soccer City, formerly known as the FNB Stadium, is a stadium located in the Soweto area of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located next to the South African Football Association headquarters (SAFA House) where both the FIFA offices and the Local Organising Committee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup are housed.[4]
A football-specific stadium, Soccer City is currently the largest stadium in Africa with a capacity of 94,700. Most of the largest football events in South Africa are played at Soccer City and the venue is better suited to these events than the Ellis Park Stadium, where the final for the Rugby World Cup in 1995 was held. Soweto and the National Exhibition Centre in Nasrec are nearby.
It was the site of Nelson Mandela's first speech in Johannesburg after his release from prison. It was also the site of Chris Hani's funeral.
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Construction
The Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg has undergone a major upgrade for the 2010 tournament, with a new design inspired by traditional African pottery. The Populous sports facilities group came up with the design. The upper tier has been extended around the stadium to increase the capacity to 94,700 [6] with an extra 99 Executive suites, an encircling roof has been constructed, new changing room facilities have been developed and new floodlights have been installed. The number of suites in this stadium has been increased to 195. The R1.5 billion [5] tender to upgrade the stadium was won by Grinaker-LTA.[7] The construction was completed on Wednesday, 21 October 2009. The completion was marked by a huge celebration at the stadium.[6]
[edit] Stadium design
The outside of the stadium is designed to have the appearance of an African pot, the cladding on the outside is a mosaic of fire and earthen colours with a ring of lights running around the bottom of the structure, simulating fire underneath the pot. No spectator will be more than 100 metres (330 ft) from the action and there are no restricted views in the stadium.[8]
The stands in Soccer City are articulated by ten black vertical lines; nine are aligned geographically with the nine other stadia involved in the 2010 World Cup, and a tenth line is aimed at Berlin's Olympic Stadium, which hosted the previous World Cup final in 2006. This represents the road to the final and it is hoped that after the World Cup, each goal scored at the stadium will be placed in pre-cast concrete panels on a podium so that the full history of the tournament’s scores can be seen for years to come.[9]
[edit] Before the upgrade
The stadium from before the upgrade had a capacity of 80,000. The newly reconstructed stadium retains the original structure's west upper tier and entire lower tier (albeit remodelled).
[edit] 1996 African Cup of Nations
Soccer City served as the main venue for the tournemnt hosting the opening game, 5 other group games, a quarter final, semi final, the 3rd place play-off and the final. The games were:
| Date | Time (UTC+2) | Team #1 | Res. | Team #2 | Round | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-01-13 |  South Africa |
3–0 |  Cameroon |
Group A (opening match) | 80,000 | |
| 1996-01-15 |  Egypt |
2–1 |  Angola |
Group A | 6,000 | |
| 1996-01-18 | Cameroon |
2–1 | Egypt |
Group A | 4,000 | |
| 1996-01-20 | South Africa |
1–0 | Angola |
Group A | 30,000 | |
| 1996-01-24 | South Africa |
0–1 | Egypt |
Group A | 20,000 | |
| 1996-01-25 |  Zaire |
2–0 |  Liberia |
Group C | 3,000 | |
| 1996-01-27 | South Africa |
2–1 |  Algeria |
Quarter-finals | 30,000 | |
| 1996-01-31 | South Africa |
3–0 |  Ghana |
Semi-finals | 75,000 | |
| 1996-02-03 | Ghana |
0–1 |  Zambia |
Third place match | 80,000 | |
| 1996-02-03 | South Africa |
2–0 |  Tunisia |
Final | 80,000 |
[edit] 2010 World Cup
The stadium will hold the opening match South Africa Vs. Mexico, four more first-round matches, one second-round match, one quarter-final, and the final.
[edit] 2010 World Cup Schedule
| Date | Time (UTC+2) | Team #1 | Res. | Team #2 | Round | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-06-11 | 16.00 | South
Africa |
vs |  Mexico |
Group A (opening match) | – |
| 2010-06-14 | 13.30 |  Netherlands |
vs |  Denmark |
Group E | – |
| 2010-06-17 | 13.30 |  Argentina |
vs |  South
Korea |
Group B | – |
| 2010-06-20 | 20.30 |  Brazil |
vs |  Côte
d'Ivoire |
Group G | – |
| 2010-06-23 | 20.30 | Ghana |
vs |  Germany |
Group D | – |
| 2010-06-27 | 20.30 | Winners of Group B | vs | Runners-up of Group A | Round of 16 | – |
| 2010-07-02 | 20.30 | Winners of Match 49 | vs | Winners of Match 50 | Quarter Finals | – |
| 2010-07-11 | 20.30 | Winners of Match 61 | vs | Winners of Match 62 | Final | – |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "2010 FIFA World Cup - the beautiful game". First National Bank (South Africa). https://www.fnb.co.za/aboutus/sponsorship/fifa.html. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
- ^ Lucille Davie (2007-01-23). "Soccer goes back 120 years in Joburg". City of Johannesburg. http://www.joburgnews.co.za/2007/jan/jan23_soccerhistory.stm. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
- ^ "Soccer City". South African Football Association. http://www.safagoal.net/index.php?page=soccercity. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
- ^ a b "Soccer City". FIFA. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/destination/stadiums/stadium=5007759/index.html. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
- ^ a b "Stadia". South African Football Association. http://www.safagoal.net/index.php?page=stadia. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
- ^ a b "Soccer City is ready for play". 23 October 2009.
- ^ "2010 lead stadium work begins". SAinfo. 2007-01-18. http://www.southafrica.info/2010/fnbstadium-180107.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
- ^ "World Cup: One year to go". BBC News. 2009-06-11. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8092181.stm. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
- ^ "Take a seat at Soccer City". http://www.shine2010.co.za/Community/blogs/goodnews/archive/2009/10/21/take-a-seat-at-soccer-city.aspx. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
[edit] External links
Media related to Soccer City at Wikimedia Commons- Official Site
- FNB-Stadium at Footballmatch
- Soccer City at the 2010 Communication Project
- FIFA 2010 sponsorship at FNB
- Soccer City ESPN Profile
- 360 View
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| Preceded by Olympiastadion Berlin |
FIFA World Cup Final Venue 2010 |
Succeeded by Estádio do Maracanã Rio de Janeiro |
| Preceded by Stade El Menzah Tunis |
African Cup of
Nations Final Venue 1996 |
Succeeded by Stade du 4-Août Ouagadougou |
