Hristo Botev Stadium (Plovdiv)

Hristo Botev Stadium

The College
Full name	Hristo Botev Stadium
Location	Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Coordinates	42°08′23.50″N 24°45′52″E / 42.1398611°N 24.76444°E
Owner	Municipality of Plovdiv
Operator	PFC Botev Plovdiv
Capacity	18,000 (17 500 seating)[1]
Surface	Grass
Construction
Broke ground	July 21, 1959
Built	1959 - 1961
Opened	May 14, 1961
Renovated	1993, 2008, 2012, 2013
Tenants
Botev Plovdiv (1961-)

Hristo Botev Stadium (Bulgarian: Стадион „Христо Ботев“), also nicknamed the College, is a football stadium in the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. It is the home ground of PFC Botev Plovdiv and has a seating capacity of 18,000 spectators. The sport venue was inaugurated on May 14, 1961, with the friendly match between Botev Plovdiv and Steaua Bucureşti.

• The stadium was originally named The College and is still known by this name among the fans. The reason for this is that in the early 20th century the pitch was owned by the Catholic College of Saint Augustine.
• The stadium was built between 1959 and 1961, and originally held 35,000 people and had electric lightning in the design of architect Anton Karavelov.
• In the summer of 2008, the venue underwent some renovations to meet the requirements of the Football Union - The Central Stand was renovated and the visitors's changing room was built under it.
• The football stadium was also the host of the 2000 Bulgarian Cup final, which was won by Levski Sofia after 2:0 against Naftex Burgas.
• The stadium is currently being reconstructed, with the opening date for the new stadium being set for the spring of 2015.

References

1. http://www.fussballtempel.net/uefa/BUL.html

External links

• (Bulgarian) Official website of the fans of Botev Plovdiv