National Stadium, Singapore - History - Timeline

Timeline

The stadium's 44-year history is as follows:

• 1966
  • December: Work begins on the S$50 million complex.
• 1971
  • 4 June: President Benjamin Sheares visits stadium before completion.
• 1973
  • 17 June: First event at the stadium – an international hockey friendly between Singapore and Australia. Australia wins 3-0.
  • 24 June: First football match – Sultan's Gold Cup final between Singapore Malays and Kelantan Malays. Singapore wins 4-1 in front of a 32,000-strong crowd.
  • 21 July: Official opening by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
  • 1–8 September: Hosts the 7th Southeast Asian Peninsular Games. Singapore wins 45 golds, 50 silvers and 45 bronzes. Singapore football team reach semi-finals before losing 3-5 on penalties to South Vietnam, after a 1-1 draw in extra-time.
  • 17 September: Practice track and tennis courts are open to public.
  • 24 October: Boxing great Muhammad Ali fights in a five-round exhibition bout.
• 1976
  • 28 January: Former Philippines first lady, Imelda Marcos, visits in a Rolls Royce.
  • 9 August: Stadium hosts first National Day Parade (NDP).
• 1977
  • 13 May: Tragedy at stadium, as a mass stampede occurs at the ticketing booths before the Malaysia Cup final between Singapore and Selangor. One man dies as he suffers a fatal heart attack, and 44 are injured.
  • 13 July: Scottish football giants Celtic beat Singapore 5-0 in Metro Quadrangular.
• 1983
  • 28 May-6 June: Singapore hosts the Southeast Asian Games, winning 38 golds, 38 silvers and 58 bronzes. Football team, led by Fandi Ahmad and V. Sundramoorthy, reach their first final but are beaten 1-2 by Thailand.
  • Friday, 2 December: David Bowie performs with his band, Carlos Alomar, Carmine Rojas, Tony Thompson, Earl Slick, Frank Simms, George Simms, Lenny Pickett, Stan Harrison, Steve Elson, and David Lebolt in The Serious Moonlight Tour. Tour promoter, Dr Goh.
• 1986
  • 26 July: Rock star David Bowie performs.
  • 20 November: Pope John Paul II makes first visit to Singapore, and conducts mass.
• 1988
  • 18 May: Pop star Stevie Wonder performs.
• 1990
  • 30 March: Arsenal beat South Korea 2-1 in the Caltex Cup, a match to commemorate Singapore's 25th year of independence.
• 1993
  • 18 March: Singapore beat J-League club Nagoya Grampus Eight 4-3 in a friendly.
  • 12–20 June: Singapore hosts Southeast Asian Games, winning 50 golds, 40 silvers and 74 bronzes. Football team lose 4-5 to Myanmar in semi-finals on penalties. They lead 2-0 before Lim Tong Hai scores two own goals.
  • 29 August: The Late King of Pop, Michael Jackson, performs, drawing 90,000 spectators and S$9 million in ticket sales.
  • 2 October: American rock legends Bon Jovi perform at the stadium on their I'll Sleep When I'm Dead Tour.
• 1995
  • 8 May: American rock legends Bon Jovi perform at the stadium on their These Days Tour.
  • 20 May: English football club Nottingham Forest beat Singapore 3-1 in a friendly.
  • 26 May: Singapore beat English football club Tottenham 4-2 on penalties in a friendly, drawing 1-1 at full-time.
• 1996
  • 1 April: Then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong is guest-of-honour at S-League's opening ceremony.
  • 1 August: English football club Newcastle United beat S-League All-Stars 5-0 in a friendly.
  • 25 October : Michael Jackson performed his HIStory World Tour with an attendance of 35,000.
• 1997
  • 3 September: J-League club Kashima Antlers beat Geylang United FC 2-1 in an Asian Club Championship (predecessor of AFC Champions League.)
• 1998
  • 4 March: Billy Joel and Elton John perform together.
  • 31 October: Singapore lift first international rugby union trophy, beating Sri Lanka 25-13 in the plate final of the Standard Chartered Asian Rugby Championships.
• 1999
  • 1 May: Taiwanese diva A*Mei, she the first Asian artise perform at Singapore National Stadium .
• 2000
  • 13 March: International phenomenon Mariah Carey performs for the first time in Singapore.
• 2001
  • 1 February: Fire at stadium causes damage to a media room above the grandstand.
  • 16 July: English football club Liverpool beat Singapore 2-0 in a friendly.
  • 24 July: English football club Manchester United thrash Singapore 8-1 in a friendly.
• 2002
  • 24 July: Fire at National Stadium, as the NDP's main stage catches fire because of an electrical fault.
  • 18 December: Singapore are beaten 0-4 by Malaysia in the Tiger Cup. Singapore, who were joint hosts with Indonesia for the group stages, were eventually knocked out of the competition after only managing a 1-1 draw with Thailand on 22 December.
• 2005
  • 16 January: Singapore clinch Tiger Cup at National Stadium, beating Indonesia 2-1 (5-2 on aggregate), in the second leg of the final.
• 2006
  • 9 August: Stadium hosts last National Day Parade.
• 2007
  • 31 January: Singapore beat Thailand 2-1 in the first leg of the Asean Football Championship final. They clinch their third Asean title on 4 February, drawing 1-1 in Bangkok to win 3-2 on aggregate.
  • 30 June: Official closing ceremony, as the stadium was scheduled to be torn down by the end of 2007 to make way for the new Singapore Sports Hub.
• 2008
  • 26 March: The National Stadium sees the hosting of a World Cup third round qualifying match for the first time, and Singapore beat Lebanon 2-0.
  • 3 April: The Sports Council announces that the stadium would host at least two more football games, due to ongoing delays in securing the paperwork for the Sports Hub construction.
  • 2 June: The stadium hosted the second home game for the World Cup third round qualifying match, but saw the hosts thrashed 3-7 by Uzbekistan.
  • 14 June: The stadium hosted the third home game for the qualifying, but the hosts lost 0-2 to Saudi Arabia.
  • 28 July: With the project for the new Sports Hub delayed, the stadium hosted a friendly against the Brazil Olympic team which saw the samba kings winning 3-0.
  • 21 December: In the Suzuki Cup semi-finals, the renamed Asean Football Championship, one leg of the game against Vietnam was played at the National Stadium, but Singapore lost 0-1 to ten-man Vietnam to a goal by Nguyễn Quang Hải, and lost 0-1 on aggregate and were eliminated.
• 2009
  • 27 January: The stadium hosted the first Group E Asian Cup qualifiers match and the Lions beat Jordan 2-1.
  • 26 July: English football club Liverpool makes their second visit to Singapore and the Reds beat the Singapore national team 5-0.
  • 12 August: Singapore held the Chinese national team to a 1-1 draw in a special National Day Challenge but lost 4-3 in the penalty shootout.
  • 4 November: The Singapore national team beat the Indonesian national team 3-1 in a friendly.
  • 14 November: The second Group E qualifier on home soil for the Asian Cup results in a 1-3 reverse to Thailand.
• 2010
  • 6 January: The third Group E qualifier for the Asian Cup was a 1-3 defeat to Iran.
  • 17 April: Taiwanese pop group May Day's series of 2010 concerts' Singapore leg, initially scheduled to be held at the Padang was rearranged to the National Stadium, due to overwhelming response. This is the first non-football event to be held at the stadium since the official closure.
  • June: The grass pitch was stripped bare and the grass has been transplanted to other fields under the Sports Council such as the Kallang Practice Track. This was the first sign of the demolition of the stadium after a three-year delay.
  • 29 September: The National Stadium started its demolition and making way for the construction of the Sports Hub.
• 2011
  • February: The demolition of the entire stadium was completed.