Stadium
Hajduk's home ground is the Poljud stadium. It has 35,000 seats and is one of the two largest stadiums in Croatia. The stadium was built for the 1979 Mediterranean Games. The stadium was also a venue for the 1990 European Championships in athletics and for the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup. The stadium is affectionately known to the locals as the "Poljudska ljepotica" or "Poljud beauty". Its architect Boris Magaš, was chosen among 20 others in a 1975 competition. The largest crowd recorded was in 1980 at a match against Hamburg SV - 52,000 people. Two years later, after the stadium was fully completed its capacity was increased to 62,000 for a derby against Dinamo Zagreb.
From 1911-1979. Hajduk played in a stadium called "Kod stare Plinare"; it is used today by RK Nada rugby club. The stadium's first name was "Krajeva njiva". Since Hajduk moved to Poljud, the old ground has become known in Split as the "Stari Plac" or "Staro Hajdukovo" (Old Hajduk's place).
It also hosted a match between Yugoslavia and the Netherlands in the UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying tournament. Supporters who would later reestablish the once forbidden name of Torcida, were situated in the east stands. 3,148 games were played on it, with 9,542 goals scored, 11 championships and six cups have been won.
Hajduk is by far the most popular sports team in the Croatian region of Southern Croatia, better known by its historical name Dalmatia. It also has a strong fan base throughout the rest of Croatia, especially in coastal areas and Slavonia.
Read more about this topic: HNK Hajduk Split
Famous quotes containing the word stadium:
“It’s no accident that of all the monuments left of the Greco- Roman culture the biggest is the ballpark, the Colosseum, the Yankee Stadium of ancient times.”
—Walter Wellesley (Red)
“The final upshot of thinking is the exercise of volition, and of this thought no longer forms a part; but belief is only a stadium of mental action, an effect upon our nature due to thought, which will influence future thinking.”
—Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914)
“In their eyes I have seen
the pin men of madness in marathon trim
race round the track of the stadium pupil.”
—Patricia K. Page (b. 1916)