Iraklis Thessaloniki F.C. - Stadium

Stadium

For more details on this topic, see Kaftanzoglio Stadium.

The first ground of the team was placed in the centre of Thessaloniki, nearby the White Tower. Its construction was funded by the members of G.S. Iraklis, but, after Thessaloniki became a part of Greece, the club was ousted from its owned ground, so a park could be created in its place. In 1915, Iraklis rented an area in the centre of Thessaloniki for a ten years period, but the club was unable to use its facilities until 1919, due to World War I. In 1927 the club renewed the contract for the use of the area, but in 1930, the newly founded Aristotle University of Thessaloniki tried to take the ownership of the field. For almost two decades the ground was used by both the athletes of Iraklis and the students of the university, until in the 1950s the university managed to get the ownership of the ground, so it could demolish it to construct a square, that is nowadays known as Platia Chimiou. On 6 November 1960 Iraklis played its first match in Kaftanzoglio Stadium, to record a 2-1 win against M.G.S.S. Thermaikos Thessalonikis. Kaftanzoglio has been the home ground of Iraklis ever since, including the 2011-12 season, when both the G.S. Iraklis and the A.E.P. Iraklis team used it as their home ground. There were plans for Iraklis to construct a new 22,000 seat stadium, in a club owned area in the eastern extremities of the city, in Mikra. The training facilities, including three football fields and a gym, and the administration building of Iraklis FC were placed in the area that the club's new stadium was planned to be built.