Toše Proeski Arena

(Redirected from Toshe Proeski Arena)

National Arena Toše Proeski (Macedonian: Национална арена „Тоше Проески“) is a sports stadium in Skopje, North Macedonia. It is currently used mostly for football matches, but also for concerts or athletics. It is the home stadium of Vardar and Rabotnichki from Skopje, who compete in the Macedonian First League, as well as the home ground of the North Macedonia national football team on almost all occasions (the other venues rarely chosen being the Goce Delčev Stadium in Prilep, or SRC Biljanini Izvori in Ohrid).

National Arena Toše Proeski
Национална Арена Тоше Проески
Night shot
Map
Former namesCity Park (1947–2009)
Arena Philip II (2009–2019)
LocationSkopje, North Macedonia
Coordinates42°0′20″N 21°25′32″E / 42.00556°N 21.42556°E / 42.00556; 21.42556
OperatorJPSSO
Capacity33,011
Record attendance32,120
Field size105 m × 68 m (344 ft × 223 ft)
SurfaceGrass
ScoreboardLED
Construction
Opened1947
Expanded2011
Tenants
FK Vardar (1947–2021) (2024-)
FK Rabotnički
North Macedonia national football team (1994–present)

The stadium was previously known as the City Park Stadium (Macedonian: Cтадион Градски парк; Stadion Gradski Park) until 2009 and Philip II National Arena (Macedonian: Национална арена "Филип Втори") until 2019. By an executive decision of the government of North Macedonia adopted on 9 April 2019, the National Arena was renamed "National Arena Todor Proeski" in honour of the Macedonian pop icon Todor "Toše" Proeski and as result of the Prespa agreement's obligation to de-antiquization.[1][2][3][4][5] With the capacity of just over 33,000, the National Arena is the largest stadium in the country and one of the largest in Southeastern Europe.[6]

The stadium hosted the 2017 UEFA Super Cup.[7]

Reconstruction and expansion

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The project for the City Park stadium was designed in 1975 by architects Dragan Krstev and Todorka Mavkova from BetonConstruction Company. The South Stand started with construction in 1977. Construction of the South stand took 2 years and it was finished in 1978. The whole stadium was supposed to be finished the same year. Somehow the money from the budget were transferred to the federal budget and used for other projects. The reconstruction and expansion started after a long delay in project implementation in January 2008. The construction of a new north stand was finished in August 2009 and was put in use on 2 August 2009, the Macedonian national holiday "Ilinden". Ten days later, on 12 August, the North Macedonia national football team played a friendly match against then European Champions Spain, as part of the 100-year anniversary of football in the country.[8]

The reconstruction of the southern stand started in 2009, which was put into operation on 30 July of that year for the match between FK Rabotnički and Liverpool FC.[9]

On 8 September 2009, the construction of the new western and eastern stands started. The two new stands were open for the public on 24 April 2011.[5] By mid July 2012, the majority of the stadium was completed with the reconstruction of the new pitch and athletic track. On 25 July 2012, FK Vardar played FC BATE Borisov in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League to re-open the stadium.[10][11] On 8 September 2012, the Independence Day of North Macedonia, a celebration was held when almost 50,000 visitors attended the event (in the stands and on the field).[5] This event set the record of attendance for the stadium.[5]

(Main Stand)-NORTH Stand-(10.338) VIP-(494),PRESS (284),Wheelchairs(48)
SOUTH Stand-(10.713)
WEST Curve-(5.962)
EAST Curve-(5.962)
Total Capacity:33.011

Construction cost

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Since 2008, the stadium has seen investment of about two billion denari, or €32 million. The second phase, which got underway in November 2011, saw the reconstruction of the pitch and athletic track. The athletic track around the pitch, from the original 6 was extended to 8 running tracks and it uses Tartan track surface. Total cost for this phase is €3.5 million.[12] The stadium was finished in 2013 with the completion of a new illuminated outer facade. The total construction cost for all actions related to the stadium in the period 2008–2013 reached over €60 million.[13]

Notable matches

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Concerts

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References

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  1. ^ Dymitrow, M. (2020). Cultural Atavism in the Face of an Environmental Disaster: Skopje 2014 in the limelight. In: Mihaylov, V. (eds) Spatial Conflicts and Divisions in Post-socialist Cities. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61765-3_8
  2. ^ Skopje renames national football stadium from “Philip II” to “Tose Proeski”. Protothema, April 9, 2019.
  3. ^ However, the Prespa agreement not only stipulates a new name for Macedonia, but Article 8 also requires that Macedonia ‘review the status of the monuments, public buildings and infrastructures on its territory […] insofar as they refer in any way to ancient Hellenic history and civilization’ and effectively ban the Vergina flag from public usage. Article 8(2) demands a six months period in which the Second Party will re-examine the status of its monuments, public buildings and infrastructure on its territory to determine if they, in any way, call upon the ancient Hellenic history and civilization. The Second Party will then have to correct these objects to ensure respect for the Greek cultural heritage and history. For more see: Reef, Paul. "Macedonian Monument Culture Beyond ‘Skopje 2014’" Comparative Southeast European Studies, vol. 66, no. 4, 2018, pp. 451-480. https://doi.org/10.1515/soeu-2018-0037
  4. ^ "Не било мајтап: "Филип Втори" и официјално преименуван во Арена "Тоше Проески"!". Sport1.mk. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d "Историјат на Национална Арена Тоше Проески – АДСДП на РМ". Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  6. ^ "Стадион – Капацитет – АДСДП на РСМ". Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  7. ^ UEFA (9 August 2016). "FYR Macedonia to host 2017 UEFA Super Cup game". UEFA.
  8. ^ "Home – Macedonian Football". Macedonian Football.
  9. ^ Echo, Liverpool (22 July 2010). "Liverpool FC to face FK Rabotnicki in UEFA Europa League qualifier". liverpoolecho.co.uk.
  10. ^ "Home – Macedonian Football". Macedonian Football.
  11. ^ "UEFA.com Vardar-BATE 0:0". UEFA. 25 July 2012.
  12. ^ "Теренот на "Филип Втори" како на "Емирати"". vest.com.mk. Archived from the original on 22 April 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  13. ^ Beton, IKT. "HISTORY". beton.com.mk.
  14. ^ Vardar-Dinamo Bucureşti 1:0; UEFA Cup First round
  15. ^ Vardar-Porto 0:3; European Cup First round
  16. ^ Vardar-Pelister 1:0; Macedonian Cup final
  17. ^ Macedonia-Denmark 1:1; UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
  18. ^ Macedonia-Spain 0:2; UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
  19. ^ Pobeda-Parma 0:2; UEFA Cup First round
  20. ^ Vardar-CSKA Moscow 1:1; UEFA Champions League 2nd qual. Round
  21. ^ Vardar-Sparta Prague 2:3; UEFA Champions League 3rd qual. Round
  22. ^ Macedonia-England 1:2; UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
  23. ^ Vardar-Roma 1:1; UEFA Cup first round
  24. ^ Macedonia-Netherlands 2:2; FIFA World Cup qualification
  25. ^ Rabotnički-Lokomotiv Moscow 1:1; UEFA Champions League 2nd qual. Round
  26. ^ Rabotnički-Lille 0:1; UEFA Champions League 3rd qual. Round
  27. ^ Rabotnički-Bolton 1:1; UEFA Cup first round
  28. ^ Macedonia-Croatia 2:0; UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
  29. ^ Macedonia-Scotland 1:0; FIFA World Cup qualification
  30. ^ Rabotnički-Liverpool 0:2; UEFA Europa League 3rd qual. Round
  31. ^ Macedonia-Ireland 0:2; UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
  32. ^ Rabotnički-Lazio 1:3; UEFA Europa League Play-offs
  33. ^ Vardar-BATE Borisov 0:0; UEFA Champions League 2nd qual. Round
  34. ^ Vardar-APOEL 1:1; UEFA Champions League 2nd qual. Round
  35. ^ Rabotnički-Rubin Kazan 1:1; UEFA Europa League Play-offs
  36. ^ Macedonia-Spain 0:1; UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
  37. ^ Macedonia-Italy 2:3; FIFA World Cup qualification
  38. ^ Macedonia-Scotland 2:0; UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification
  39. ^ Vardar-Fenerbahçe 2:0; UEFA Europa League Play-offs
  40. ^ Vardar-Zenit 0:5; UEFA Europa League Group stage
  41. ^ North Macedonia-Kosovo 2:1; UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-offs
  42. ^ North Macedonia-Malta; UEFA Euro 2024 Qualifying.
  43. ^ North Macedonia=Ukraine; UEFA Euro 2024 Qualifying.
  44. ^ Шекеровска, Катерина (19 June 2007). "Таркан – професионалец за спектакли". Utrinski vesnik. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  45. ^ "61.000 гледачи на Филип Втори – спектакуларна прослава на Денот на независноста". Bukvar.mk. 9 September 2012. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
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Preceded by UEFA Super Cup
Match venue

2017
Succeeded by