Ljudski Vrt Stadium

Ljudski Vrt Stadium

Ljudski vrt (English: People's Garden, German: Volksgarten) or simply LV, is an association football stadium located on the left bank of the river Drava in the district of Koroška Vrata, Maribor, Slovenia, with a seating capacity of 12,994. The ground has been the home of NK Maribor for every season since their formation on 12 December 1960, with the exception of two short periods in early 1961 during the construction of the new stands and early 2008, when the stadium underwent a major reconstruction. Opened in 1952, it was originally the home of Branik Maribor, an association football club which folded and was disbanded in 1960. Used as one of the main venues of the national team, the ground has hosted nineteen Slovenia internationals at senior level, the first in 1994 and the most recent in 2012. Ljudski vrt has hosted more Slovenian football cup finals than any other stadium, having hosted ten matches in total (six Slovenian Cups and four Slovenian Supercups). In addition, the stadium was one of the four venues, which hosted the 2012 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship.

The area where Ljudski Vrt is situated was used for burial purpuses for centuries before it was first used for football in early 1920s. Over the course of its history the stadium has gone through various stages of renovation and development, resulting in the current configuration. The record attendance at the stadium is 20,000, which was set in a match between Maribor and Proleter Zrenjanin in 1973. This record was set before the ground's conversion to an all-seater stadium in 1998; the changes, a result of UEFA safety regulations, include greatly reduced capacity. Notable feature of the stadium includes the main stand 129,8 meters long and 18,4 meters high concrete arch that is protected by the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia (Slovene: Zavod za varstvo kulturne dediščine Slovenije) as an architectural and historical landmark.

Future plans for Ljudski Vrt include the construction of a nearby underground parking garage that would solve the current parking problems and the redevelopment of the outdated main stand, which was built in 1962 and has not received a major renovation since then. The stadium is a landmark of the city of Maribor and is considered as one of the most beautiful smaller stadium in the world.