Ambergris Stadium is a 1,500-seat

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

stadium in

San Pedro Town San Pedro is a town on the southern part of the island of Ambergris Caye in the Belize District of the nation of Belize, in Central America. According to the 2024 mid-year estimates, the town has a population of about 20,000. It is the second-la ...

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

which meets

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

international standards. It is the home stadium of San Pedro Pirates FC of the

Premier League of Belize The Premier League of Belize is the highest competitive football league in Belize. It was founded on 28 December 2011 after the merger between the Belize Premier Football League and the Super League of Belize. League games usually take place in ...

History

By July 2014, the former Ambergris Stadium was in a state of disrepair and unusable despite a multi-million dollar investment. The surface was uneven and prone to flooding. Local authorities began planning for a redevelopment of the site with the design phase expected to be complete by October 2014 with the goal of making it Ambergris Caye's top sporting venue. The objective was to create the facility with a particular emphasis on football. Renovation work was expected by begin by January 2015. The former structure was completely demolished and construction of the new 800-seat, $2.3mil BZD stadium commenced on September 18, 2015 with the construction contract awarded to AM Construction Co, Ltd. of

Orange Walk District Orange Walk is a Districts of Belize, district in the northwest of the nation of Belize, with its district capital in Orange Walk Town. Demographics Main settlements The Orange Walk District, with an area of 1,829 square miles (4,636 square km), ...

. By November 2016, the stadium was expected to be complete by the end of the month or first week of December. Initially, an inauguration ceremony was planned for September 2016. However, the project suffered setbacks pertaining to lighting installation. The project was also delayed because of the decision to install an

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

surface which required filling, grading, trenching, and installing the underground drainage system. The synthetic surface would prevent flooding of the pitch during the rainy season. The inauguration ceremony was set for November 26, 2016 and was expected to feature San Pedro Pirates FC taking on UPSL club Real Chutemoc F.C. from

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. Completion was eventually delayed again with the inauguration ceremony finally held on May 21, 2017. Despite delays, the project finished on budget. The final design featured synthetic turf, stage lighting, VIP area/media booth, bleachers to accommodate 1,500 people, concession stands, and locker room and bathroom facilities. The final program for the rescheduled inauguration featured football matches, but the team from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

did not participate. The biggest match of the day saw San Pedro Pirates FC draw with fellow Premier League club Police United 2–2. On August 4, 2018 the stadium hosted the

Belize national football team The Belize national football team represents Belize in international football and is controlled by the Football Federation of Belize, a member of the Central American Football Union of CONCACAF. Although Belize has never qualified for a FIFA ...

in an international friendly against

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

in preparation for

2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League qualifying The qualifying phase of the 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League was a one-off tournament that took place from 6 September 2018 to 24 March 2019. The qualifying determined the seeding for the group phase of the inaugural tournament, as well as deter ...

. Belize won 1–0 with the match's only goal scored by Krisean Lopez in the 79th minute.

References

{{reflist

External links

National Football Teams profile
Belize Premier Football League home stadiums Football venues in Belmopan Multi-purpose stadiums in Belize Buildings and structures in Belize