Gradski vrt Stadium () is a multi-use stadium in

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

, Croatia. It is located in the Gradski vrt neighbourhood in Novi grad city district. With a capacity of 18,856, it has been best known as the home ground of Croatian

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 ...

club

NK Osijek Nogometni klub Osijek (), commonly referred to as NK Osijek (), is a Croatian professional association football, football sports club, club from Osijek. Founded in 1947, it was the club from Slavonia with the most seasons in the Yugoslav First Le ...

History

Construction started in 1949, but works were stopped several times. The first match played on the ground of Gradski Vrt was played between

and FK Sloboda Tuzla on 7 September 1958. In 1980, the stadium was officially opened. In 1982, the record of stadium attendance was broken, on the football match between

and

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

. At that match, there were 40,000 attendants. The result was 1–2. In 1998 seats and reflectors were installed. In 2005, the stadium was renovated. Under the west stand, VIP rooms were set and the lodge was rearranged, adding 1,000 new seats. The athletics track was reconstructed, repainted from red to blue. After this renovation, the stadium has fulfilled

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

's stadium criteria. In the same year, the stadium was a part of

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

's failed bid for the 2012 European Football Championship. At that time a project of a new stadium with a larger capacity was presented. In 2010, the stadium was again repaired: the pitch was relaid, fences were painted and the seats were numbered. The reason was a friendly match between

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, which was held on 23 May that year. In May 2016, the stadium hosted the Croatian Cup final.

Future

In April 2018,

president

Ivan Meštrović Ivan Meštrović (; 15 August 1883 – 16 January 1962) was a Croatian and Yugoslav sculptor, architect, and writer. He was the most prominent modern Croatian sculptor and a leading artistic personality in contemporary Zagreb. He studied at Pa ...

released plans for a new stadium for the club. A new state of the art stadium will be built at the Pampas neighbourhood in Osijek as part of the new NK Osijek training centre. The capacity of the new stadium will be 13,000, with all of the seats covered. The stadium will be UEFA category four and is supposed to be finished in Autumn 2022. During the stadium construction, NK Osijek will play their home games at the current stadium, which is in the future going to be used as the main stadium for the NK Osijek B squad.

International fixtures

Gallery

File:Gradski vrt stadium, Osijek.JPG, West stand (before 2005 renovation) File:Stadion NK Osijek 2 rujna 2008 1.jpg, East stand (after 2005 renovation). File:Posljednja utakmica Osijeka u Gradskom vrtu, 27.5.2023. (3).jpg, Last match at stadium Gradski vrt, May 2023 File:Posljednja utakmica Osijeka u Gradskom vrtu, 27.5.2023. (14).jpg, Fireworks by fans of the football club Osijek after the last game played at the Gradski vrt stadium

References

External links

Stadion Gradski vrt at Stadium Guide
NK Osijek Sports venues in Osijek Football venues in Croatia Athletics (track and field) venues in Croatia Buildings and structures in Osijek-Baranja County 1980 establishments in Yugoslavia Sports venues completed in 1980 Yugoslav Croatian architecture {{Croatia-sports-venue-stub