Rajko Mitic Stadium

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Rajko Mitic Stadium
Marakana
Coat of arms of the stadium Rajko Mitić alias Marakana
The Rajko Mitić stadium from a bird's eye view
The Rajko Mitić stadium from a bird's eye view
Earlier names

Red Star Stadium (until 2014)

Data
place Ljutice Bogdana 1a Savski Venac , 11000 Belgrade , Serbia
SerbiaSerbia 
Coordinates 44 ° 46 '59.4 "  N , 20 ° 27' 53.6"  E Coordinates: 44 ° 46 '59.4 "  N , 20 ° 27' 53.6"  E
owner Red Star Belgrade
operator Red Star Belgrade
start of building 1960
opening September 1, 1963
First game September 1st, 1963
Red Star Belgrade - NK Rijeka 2-1
Renovations 2008 ( turf and floodlights )
2,011 ( LED - display panel )
surface Natural grass
costs 300 million dinars
architect Koste Popović
Saša Radovanović
capacity 60,000 seats
Capacity (internat.) 55,538 seats
playing area 110 m × 73 m
Societies)
Events

The Rajko Mitić Stadium ( Serbian Стадион Рајко Митић Stadion Rajko Mitić ), formerly the Red Star Stadium - also known as the Marakana or Marakana of Belgrade  - is a football stadium with an athletics facility owned by the Belgrade Red Star Belgrade football club . With 55,538 seats and a total capacity of up to 60,000 spectators, it is the largest stadium in Serbia .

It used to hold over 110,000 spectators and was one of the largest stadiums in the world. Due to its size and the similar architecture and atmosphere, it was given the nickname Marakana, analogous to the Brazilian Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro .

The venue was the scene of the final of the 1973 European Cup and the 1976 European Football Championship . The venue was also part of a book published by Stadionwelt in 2011 entitled 50 Must-See Stadiums in Europe .

In December 2014, the shareholders of Red Star Belgrade decided at the general meeting to name the stadium after Rajko Mitić (* 1922, † 2008), who scored 262 goals for Red Star in 572 games from 1945 to 1958 . Mitić is considered one of the greatest players and coaches in Yugoslav and Serbian football.

Location and transport links

Location and environment

The favorable central location in south-east Europe on two navigable rivers and at the intersection of several trade and migration routes earned Belgrade the title of “Gate of the Balkans” and “Gate of Central Europe”. The city is also favored locally in terms of geography and is now the focal point for traffic between Central and Southeastern Europe and the Middle East . The stadium is also characterized by its central location and is located in the geographical center of the Serbian capital on the so-called Topčider Hill, south of the Sava and Danube . Located in the Savski Venac district, it is located between the Ljutice-Bogdan -strasse 1a in the west and Banjički-venac -strasse and the eastern Bulevar oslobođenja and is not far from the city center, which means that the stadium can be reached via various routes. The Roter Stern club area with training grounds and a clubhouse is located directly on the north and south sides . About 550 meters as the crow flies north of the sports complex are the Partizan Stadium , the home of the Partizan football club , and the club grounds, whose Red Star tennis department is linked by a traditional sporting rivalry.

Arrival possibility

Due to the close proximity to the E-75 motorway and the relative proximity to the E-70 , both of which are connected to the pan-European traffic corridor X , quick travel to and from the games is guaranteed for those arriving by car. The Belgrade railway junction , which is also connected to the traffic corridor X , is to provide the backbone of the city's rail-based public passenger transport with the planned Belgrade Metro .

From Belgrade Central Station you can take the Belgrade tram line  9 of the city transport company GSP Beograd , the main carrier of local public transport , to the Zvečanska stop . From there you go along the Bulevar oslobođenja in the direction of the roundabout Trg oslobo , enja , turn into the Dr. Milutina Ivkovića Street and turn to Ljutice Bogdan Street, from which you can reach the stadium from the north. Along the Ljutice-Bogdan -Straße you can also use the following bus lines  42, 59 and 78, which stop in front of the venue, whereby line 78 can also be used from the main train station. However, the central distributor and therefore the main transport hub of the metropolis is Slavija Square , which is designed as a roundabout . From there, trams 9, 10 and 14 go to the Zvečanska stop . From the Belgrade Center train station you can take the Beovoz tram line 1 to the Karađorđev -Park stop .

New model of the Belkommunmasch trolleybus on Terazije Square.

From there, the stadium can be reached on foot in around 25 minutes. The tram is to be connected to the future subway via the Vukov spomenik and Belgrade Zentrum station, which will also improve the accessibility of the stadium. The 78 bus takes you directly from the main train station to the stadium. Bus lines 42 and 59, which stop in front of the west stand, and the  E7 minibus leave from Slavija Square . The Belgrade trolleybuses on lines 40 and 41 and bus line 94 also stop in front of the stadium. Lines 47 and 48 stop near the north stand, more precisely at the Trg oslobođenja stop . Lines 17, 18, 39, 46 and 55 stop at the nearby Autokomanda , a traffic junction. From there you can walk to Ljutice Bogdan Street.

From Nikola Tesla Airport , it is about 12 kilometers to the stadium. If you have two terminals , you can check-in separately , which means that opposing fans can be separated from each other if necessary. You can take the A1 minibus from the airport to Slavija Square and the 72 bus to the city center. In the future, the airport is to be better connected to regional traffic as part of an expansion of the Beovoz, which will also make the venue easier to reach.

history

prehistory

Today's Faculty of Electrical Engineering at Belgrade University.

The home of SK Jugoslavija , one of the most successful Serbian and Yugoslav football clubs before the Second World War, was located exactly on the current construction area of the stadium . It was the third match of the club, but his very first was built in 1913 and was there where today the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of Belgrade is, more precisely at the intersection of King Aleksandar Avenue corner Roosevelt -Straße. It was a small stadium and was known as Trkalište , which had 1,000 seats but no grandstands . Instead there were several rows of wooden benches , while a sloping bank was used for standing . Since the venue was destroyed during the First World War, a new stadium with a capacity of 2,500 seats was built on the same site in 1919. In contrast to the first stadium, the new one had a grandstand under which there were changing rooms and showers .

Over time, the stadium area was expanded to include an athletics facility and several football and tennis courts , but the stadium was demolished again in 1925 due to the planned building of the faculty and the construction of a new stadium was commissioned. The last encounter before the demolition was the friendly game between SK Jugoslavija and SK Slovan , an Austrian club from the Penzing district of Vienna , which ended in a 3-3 draw.

Old stadium

The new stadium of SK Jugoslavija was built between 1925 and 1927 with a capacity for 20,000 to 30,000 spectators and was known under the name Avala . It was built on Topčider Hill , which, among other things, had a covered grandstand, an athletics facility and a training ground. It was officially opened on April 24, 1927, the inauguration ceremony of which was accompanied by a two-day football tournament in which SK Slovan also took part. In 1932 it was finally the first stadium in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia to be equipped with a floodlight system. The friendly match between SK Jugoslavija and Racing Club de France on June 22nd of the same year is now considered the first encounter that was played under floodlights in Yugoslavia . Just five years later, the government decided the first phase of renovation, which included modernizing and expanding the stadium. It should be expanded to exactly match the size of the Berlin Olympic Stadium at the time and offer space for around 50,000 spectators. In addition to the renovation work in the vicinity of the stadium, the construction of another training area, a cycling track , several swimming pools , sports fields for basketball , handball , tennis and volleyball , sports halls for various martial arts , as well as a restaurant and a clubhouse began. Construction of the stadium was practically complete and was due to open on April 20, 1941, but on April 6, 1941, the armies of the Axis powers attacked the state of Yugoslavia, so there was no inauguration ceremony.

After the end of the Second World War , SK Jugoslavija was dissolved by the new government and its property, including the stadium and training grounds, was transferred to the Red Star Belgrade football club, which was founded in 1945 . At the end of the 1950s, the club's management finally started building a new large stadium at the same location. The last game took place on December 27, 1959 between Red Star and FK Novi Sad . Part of Belgrade's football history also ended with the subsequent demolition , as numerous football stars had played in the stadium and many a spectacular match had been held there. Goalkeepers like Ricardo Zamora and František Plánička were defeated there by strikers like Blagoje Marjanović , all of whom were among the best in their field worldwide in the 1930s. In the 1950s, numerous Yugoslav football greats played regularly in the stadium, including one of the world's best goalkeepers Vladimir Beara , or Vladimir Durković and Vladica Popović as well as Rajko Mitić , who won two Olympic silver medals with the Yugoslav national team at the 1948 and 1952 games , as did Dragoslav Šekularac 1956 ; all names that are still remembered by many today.

Construction of the stadium

As Red Star's old stadium met the requirements of a football stadium suitable for the European Cup and a steady increase in the number of spectators could be observed, there were plans for a new venue years before. When the semi-final second leg in the 1956/57 European Cup against Fiorentina and the quarter-final second leg in the 1957/58 European Cup against Manchester United had to be played in the JNA Stadium in Partizan , the club management finally realized that a new one was urgently needed Stadium had to be built. The Belgrade construction company Sport was awarded the contract and the architects Koste Popovića and Saša Radovanović then developed the design. At the end of the 1950s, the “Red Star Stadium” project was presented, which envisaged the construction of a 300 million dinars , 110,000-seat stadium. Since the dinar was a very stable currency for a real socialist country in the 1960s and 1970s and had an exchange rate of 7: 1 with the German mark , this meant costs of around 43 million DM, an extremely expensive undertaking at the time. To put it into practice, 20 dinars expensive coupons called Ciglice were sold in popular places; not just in Belgrade, but throughout Serbia. It was often sold by its own players, including Dragoslav Šekularac , one of the football stars of the period.

During the symbolic laying of the foundation stone , which was carried out by club president Isa Jovanović, Miljan Miljanić was also present, who led Real Madrid to a double in his coaching career in addition to Red Star . With the construction of the stadium between 1960 and 1963, a new era in Belgrade football history finally began. Architecturally, the stadium with its clear, basic geometric shapes is based on ancient sports facilities. It is partly designed as an earth stadium , in which only the upper ring protrudes above the earth level, which is why its external effect is not so overpowering. The new playing field should be 12 meters lower than the old one, for this alone 350,000 cubic meters of earth and 150,000 cubic meters of rock were excavated and removed. The oval of the stadium was oriented approximately in a north-south direction and in a north-westerly direction the view of the Cathedral of Saint Sava , 2 km away, is released from the west stand , a monumental Serbian Orthodox church building that is now the largest church in Southeast Europe and one of the largest Orthodox church in the world. Modern changing rooms as well as press and VIP rooms were built in the catacombs of the west stand. Several boxes were built under the roof.

Opening and first games

Before the official opening game, there was a youth game between Red Star and Jedinstvo Zemun , which served as a test run for the stadium operations. Trifun Mihajlović from Red Star scored the first goal. The stadium was then officially opened on September 1, 1963 with the first division game between Red Star and NK Rijeka in front of 55,000 spectators, which ended with a 2-1 win for the home team. The first goal was scored by visiting player Nedeljko Vukoje, while Red Star Dušan Maravić scored the first. The first visitor is Laza Petrović, who works in the building trade and comes from the Loznica area , who had already appeared in the stadium at 6 a.m. on the opening day. As soon as he arrived, he looked for a suitable place in the east stand and waited half the day until the game started. The first encounter, which was played in the new stadium against city rivals Partizan , better known as the Eternal Derby , was watched by around 74,000 spectators. After the completion of the west stand in 1964, it finally received its full capacity of 110,000 seats, making it one of the largest stadiums in the world. It was therefore also given the nickname Marakana analogous to the Brazilian Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro .

development

The highest registered number of spectators was achieved on April 23, 1975 at the semi-final match of the European Cup Winners' Cup 1974/75 between Red Star and Ferencváros Budapest with an official 96,070 spectators. The unofficial attendance was 110,000. Today the stadium has a capacity of 55,538 seats and a total capacity of up to 60,000 spectators, making it the largest stadium in the country. After the Athens Olympic Stadium (69,618 seats) and the Arena Națională (55,600 seats), it is the third largest stadium in Southeastern Europe and thus one of the largest in Europe .

Major events

European Champions Cup final 1973

On May 30, 1973, the stadium was the scene of the final of the European Cup . The team from Ajax Amsterdam from the Netherlands met the Italian representative Juventus Turin . In front of 91,654 spectators, Ajax won 1-0 with a goal from Johnny Rep in the fourth minute.

European Football Championship 1976

In 1976, the final round of the European Football Championship took place in Yugoslavia . The semi-finals and the final of the tournament were held in the Red Star Stadium. In the semi-finals, Yugoslavia played against world champions and defending champions Germany . The Yugoslavs , who were strong in attack and spurred on by the frenetic audience, led 2-0 up to the 32nd minute. The Braunschweig Bundesliga professional Danilo Popivoda and the Yugoslav captain Dragan Džajić had presented impressively. In particular, the Yugoslavian wing tongs, consisting of these two players, made the German team very difficult, Džajić was the clear winner in the duel with Germany's star defender Berti Vogts . At halftime, national coach Helmut Schön brought the Cologne midfield motor Heinz Flohe , and Flohe scored the next goal in the 65th minute.

In the 79th minute, the national coach finally brought the Cologne center forward Dieter Müller . It was the 22-year-old's first international match. He ran straight into the Yugoslav penalty area and expected a German corner. The first touch of the ball in the national team by Müller brought the 2-2 equalizer. The shocked Yugoslavs collapsed in extra time, and Müller scored the 4-2 final score of a memorable semi-final with two more goals. The final between Germany and the surprise finalist Czechoslovakia ended after 90 minutes with 2: 2. Not much happened in extra time, and for the first time in the history of major football tournaments, a penalty shoot-out was a decision. While Uli Hoeneß missed at the score of 3: 4, only Antonín Panenka had to convert and the Czechoslovaks were European champions. Panenka lured Sepp Maier into a corner and confidently lifted the ball into the middle of the goal. Thus Czechoslovakia had defeated Germany and became European champions for the first time. The final went down in football history as the night of Belgrade .

1979 UEFA Cup Final

In 1979, Red Star reached the final of the UEFA Cup . The first leg against the Borussia Mönchengladbach team took place at the Roter Stern Stadium. The 87,000 spectators saw a 1-0 lead for Red Star by Miloš Šestić , but an own goal was scored by defender Jurišić and the game ended 1-1. Mönchengladbach won the UEFA Cup with a 1-0 win in the second leg.

European champion cup in 1991

In the quarter-finals of the European Cup of National Champions 1990/91 , Roter Stern met the last-time GDR champions Dynamo Dresden . The first leg was highly anticipated by the Belgrade audience, with around 100,000 Red Star fans showing up at the Marakana while another 20,000 gathered around the stadium. The atmosphere in the stadium before and during the encounter, which went down as one of the most spectacular in the history of the club, was particularly remarkable. The semi-final second leg against FC Bayern Munich was just as spectacular . Shortly before the game started, Red Star supporters lit hundreds of Bengali torches , which were not yet outlawed at the time, around the entire stadium. This Bengalo show was part of a BBC - documentary about the association. The 100,000 spectators eventually witnessed a memorable semi-final. It was decided by the then Bayern captain Klaus Augenthaler and the then goalkeeper Raimond Aumann , who co-produced an own goal in stoppage time after a Belgrade attack in a dramatic chain of misfortunes, which ultimately led to the final score 2-2. The final whistle eventually sparked a big celebration in the stadium and a massive invasion of the pitch.

The 4: 3 overall victory over Bayern brought Roter Stern to the final of the European Cup , which the young Red Stern team won against Olympique Marseille , for the first time after losing three semifinals . Red Star was ultimately to collapse in the turmoil of the Yugoslav War and the UEFA sanctions and lose its stars to major clubs across Europe; including players like Dejan Savićević , who was to rise to the European football throne again with AC Milan in 1994 , as well as Vladimir Jugović with Juventus Turin 1996 , or Robert Prosinečki , who played for Real Madrid and FC Barcelona , and Siniša Mihajlović , the most successful free kick taker of all time, Miodrag Belodedić the previously extended, Steaua Bucharest the 1985-86 European Cup was won, and Darko Pančev , the winner of the Golden boot in 1991. This sale resulted in unprecedented decay of a reigning European Cup winner indefinitely. On a European level, the second leg against Bayern was the last encounter of this glorious generation in the Red Star Stadium.

Summer Universiade 2009

From July 1 to July 12, 2009, the Summer Universiade took place in the Serbian capital Belgrade . The Universiade was held in 69 different sports venues in Belgrade and the surrounding area. Red Star Belgrade Stadium was one of the venues.

Renovations

In July 2008, the stadium was rebuilt for the 2009 Summer Universiade. The entire irrigation system was renewed and soil heating installed 32 kilometers pipe and a length balancing Heat exchanger. In addition, the groundwater pumping station was renewed. After the renovation work was completed, new artificial turf was applied. The World Athletics Federation (IAAF) classified the stadium with its eight-lane synthetic track as first class.

gallery

Left of the main stand Center of the stadium Right of the main stand The marakana under floodlights
inside view inside view inside view The marakana at dusk under floodlights

See also

Web links

Commons : Stadion Rajko Mitić  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Stadium Rajko Mitić (English)
  2. a b Дом Црвене звезде , website of the Red Star Belgrade football club (Serbian)
  3. Belgrade: Red Star stadium to change name - no more Marakana? , stadiumdb.com, December 21, 2014 (English)
  4. a b Географски положај , website of the city of Belgrade (Serbian)
  5. a b c d e f g h КАКО ДО СТАДИОНА? ( Memento of the original from September 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Website of the Red Star Belgrade football club (Serbian) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.crvenazvezdafk.com
  6. Official website of Nikola Tesla Airport: Аутобуски превоз (Serbian)
  7. a b c d e JUBILEJ: Marakana - 50 godina! ( Memento of the original from September 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Mozzart (Serbian) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mozzartsport.com
  8. Звездин стадион - од "Авале" ка "Звезданом граду" , Politika (Serbian)
  9. Crvena Zvezda - Dynamo Dresden 3-0 (1991.) First leg in the European Cup of National Champions 1990/91.
  10. Red Star Belgrade - Bayern Munich 1991. The Bengalo show around the entire stadium in the semi-final second leg of the 1991 European Cup
  11. ^ RS Belgrade - Bayern Munic. The Bengalo show around the entire stadium in the semi-final second leg of the 1991 European Cup - excerpt from the BBC documentary about the club.
  12. Crvena Zvezda - Bayern 2: 2 (1991.) Semi-final second leg of the 1991 European Cup (short version).
  13. a b c IBSA Athletics European Open, Belgrade 2012 , on: ibsasport.org, accessed October 28, 2016