Ramat Gan Stadium

Ramat Gan Stadium
אצטדיון רמת גן

The National Stadium האצטדיון הלאומי
Location	Ramat Gan, Israel
Owner	Israel Football Association
Capacity	41,583 (football)[1]
Field size	105 × 68 m (115 × 74 yd)[1]
Surface	Grass
Construction
Broke ground	Early 1950
Opened	Late 1951
Expanded	1981
Architect	Ivor Shaw Friba
Tenants
Israel national football team (1956–2014) Maccabiah Games (1950–1997, 2005–present)

Ramat Gan Stadium (Hebrew: איצטדיון רמת גן‎, Itztadion Ramat Gan) is a football stadium in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel, it serves as the National stadium of Israel, and until 2014 the home stadium of Israel national football team.

Overview

Completed in 1951 and serving as Israel's largest stadium ever since, this all-seated stadium contains 41,583 seats,^[1] 13,370 of which are located in the Western Tribune,^[1] completed in 1982 – at the time the stadium went through a major refurbishing process.

The stadium is mixed-use, fit for athletic competitions alongside its more regular usage as a football stadium when it hosts Israel international football matches along with the home UEFA Champions League matches of Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa in the 2004–05 and 2009–10 seasons, respectively. The pitch dimensions are 105 m × 68 m (115 × 74 yd),^[1] with a 10,500 m² (2.6 acres) lawn. The stadium's plot area is 36,000 m² (8.9 acres).

The stadium also contains six dressing rooms, meeting halls, a conference center, press rooms, referees' room and medical and drug-test clinics. It is sided by two training fields, large athletes clinic, a café-restaurant, and a 3,900 space open-air car park. It also houses the headquarters of the Israel Football Association.^[1]

The artificial lighting conditions in the stadium are on the same level with the world's top stadiums, offering a max 1,550 lux on every part of the pitch.

Until the opening of Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa, it was the only stadium in Israel which was world-class standard, and the only one to host official FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and UEFA Champions League games, although Hapoel Tel Aviv got permission to stage their 2010 Champions League games at the Bloomfield Stadium. The stadium is also the location for opening ceremonies of the Maccabiah Games.

According to IFA president Avi Luzon, there are plans to tear down the stadium and rebuild a larger one with expected capacity of 55,000 people.

Entertainment

The stadium has hosted musical acts such as Depeche Mode, Elton John, R.E.M., Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Leonard Cohen, Sting, High on Fire, Orphaned Land, Metallica, Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan and Kanye West. In 2012 Madonna opened her MDNA Tour at the stadium, playing in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 33,000 people.

References

1. About The National Stadium Israel Football Association

External links

Media related to Ramat Gan Stadium at Wikimedia Commons

• Stadium pictures at Stadiumguide.com

Coordinates: 32°6′1″N 34°49′27″E / 32.10028°N 34.82417°E