The Metallurg Stadium () is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

Samara Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev (1935–1991), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 ...

, Russia, and is home to

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club FC Krylia Sovetov. Built in 1957, Metallurg Stadium has a capacity of 33,001 seats since its latest renovation. It has also been repeatedly awarded the VCSPS Diploma, which rates the quality of all sport complexes in Russia.

History

Construction

On 7 November 1956, a

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

company, 'Metallurgist', performing a construction of a factory at the time, announced that a new stadium was to be built. The stadium was then partially completed in 1957. The rapid completion of the stadium was due to the compatibility of two projects being completed at the same time: raw materials were being manufactured in the Lenin Kuibyshev Metallurg Factory and were delivered to the stadium directly. Metallurg's official opening took place on 10 August 1957 with the uncompleted tribune being replaced by wooden benches, the capacity of which was around 8,000. The benches were not removed from the stadium until 1976.

First matches and tenants

When ''Metallurg'' was first completed, it was the home stadium of FC Metallurg Kuibyshev and one of the home stadiums of Krylya Sovetov Samara reserve squad. On 6 July 1965, Metallurg became the official home stadium of Krylya Sovetov Samara, when ' Krylya' played their first official game on the stadium. The match took place in the Quarterfinals of the 1965 USSR Football Cup, where Krylya defeated Dinamo Saint Petersburg by three goals to one. Metallurg became Krylya's domestic league home stadium on 2 May 1970.

Renovations and upgrades

On 1976, the wooden benches were replaced by reinforced concrete seats on the stadium's tribune. During the following two off-seasons, the Western and the Northern sectors were constructed. The capacity of the stadium reached 38,000 seats. The first match with a heated pitch was played on 1 November 1997.

Awards

Metallurg Stadium was repeatedly awarded the VCSPS Diploma in the period from 1970 to 1990. It was also assigned a 'category B' class by the

Russian Football Union The Russian Football Union (, ''Rossiyskiy Futbolnyy Soyuz'' or RFS) is the official governing body of association football in the Russian Federation. With headquarters in Moscow, it organizes Russian amateur and professional football, includi ...

, which allowed the Metallurg Stadium to host any competitions, held by the aegis of the Russian Football Union. The certificate expired on 1 June 2012. Metallurg stadium plan

References

{{FC Krylia Sovetov Samara Sports venues completed in 1957 PFC Krylia Sovetov Samara Football venues in Russia Buildings and structures in Samara Oblast 1957 establishments in Russia