Moruleng Stadium is a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stres ...

in the village of

Moruleng Saulspoort (also known as Moruleng) is a village in South Africa, at the northern foot of the Pilanesberg, about 65 km north of Rustenburg. It was named after a former baKgatla chief, Tsheole, called Saul by the early settlers. It was estab ...

, a small mining community located approximately from

Rustenburg Rustenburg (; , Afrikaans and Dutch language, Dutch: ''City of Rest'') is a town at the foot of the Magaliesberg mountain range. Rustenburg is the most populous city in North West (South African province), North West province, South Africa (549 ...

in the

North West Province North West ( ; ) is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre and province of Gauteng and south of Botswana. History North West was incorporated after the end of ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is currently used mostly for

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 ...

matches and serves as the home stadium of

Platinum Stars Platinum Stars was a South African football club based in Phokeng near Rustenburg, North West Province that played in the Premier Soccer League. The club was nicknamed ''Dikwena'', the Tswana name for ''Crocodiles''. The team's best finish in ...

. The stadium was part of Rustenburg's World Cup 2010 host city proposals and was also used as a training venue for the

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth FIFA Confederations Cup, Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton ...

Construction

The stadium was constructed by South African companies ''Stefanutti Stocks'' and ''Omnistruct Nkosi'' with help from structural engineers Arup of Durban. The stadium was designed by the Durban-based architectural firm Paton Taylor Architects to comply with FIFA stadium regulations, in order for it to be utilised for the

as a training venue. The quantity surveyors on this project were BTKM - Bham Tayob Khan Matunda. The stadium was built by the Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela tribe, which is scattered across 32 villages in the North West province. The tribe's main source of wealth comes from mining platinum.

Use

The stadium was opened in September 2009 and the first match that took place at the stadium was contested between Mochudi Centre Chiefs of

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

and Platinum Stars F.C. of South Africa. The first

Premier Soccer League The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is the administrative body for professional soccer leagues and cups in South Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, and was founded in 1996 following an agreement between the National Soccer League and the remnant ...

game that took place at the stadium was between Platinum Stars, who use the stadium as a home venue, and

Ajax Cape Town Cape Town Spurs F.C. (formerly known as Ajax Cape Town) is a South African professional football club based in Parow in the city of Cape Town that plays in the National First Division. Dutch Eredivisie club AFC Ajax was their parent club and ma ...

. It was used by the

New Zealand national football team The New Zealand men's national football team () represents New Zealand in men's international Association football, football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Football (NZF), whic ...

as a training venue during the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. The

England national football team The England national football team have represented England in international Association football, football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by the Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in Eng ...

played Platinum Stars as a warm-up game before the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

on 7 June, with England running out 3–0 victors.

References

{{Reflist Soccer venues in South Africa Rustenburg Sports venues completed in 2009 Sports venues in North West (South African province) 21st-century architecture in South Africa