St. Jakob-Park

For the previous stadium, see St. Jakob Stadium.
St. Jakob Park
Joggeli
Location Basel, Switzerland
Coordinates 47°32′29.67″N 7°37′12.65″E / 47.5415750°N 7.6201806°E / 47.5415750; 7.6201806Coordinates: 47°32′29.67″N 7°37′12.65″E / 47.5415750°N 7.6201806°E / 47.5415750; 7.6201806
Owner Genossenschaft Stadion St. Jakob-Park
Operator Basel United AG
Capacity 38,512 (Football)[1]
(37,500 for international matches)[2]
60,000 (Concerts)
Surface Grass
Construction
Broke ground 1998
Opened 15 March 2001
Construction cost CHF 220 million (2001)
Architect Herzog & de Meuron
Tenants
FC Basel (Super League) (1998–present)

 St. Jakob Park  is a Swiss sports stadium in Basel. It is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. "Joggeli", as the venue is nicknamed by the locals, was originally built with a capacity of 33,433 seats. The capacity was increased to 42,500 for Euro 2008, which was hosted by Switzerland and Austria.[3] After the Euro 2008 a number of seats were removed, thus creating more space between them. The capacity was therefore reduced to 38,512[1] for Swiss Super League matches or 37,500 seats for international matches[4] The maximum capacity for concerts is 60,000.

The stadium is named after the village of St. Jakob an der Birs, which stood on the site. The name "Joggeli" is the diminutive of "Jakob" in the local dialect, making it the equivalent of "Jake".

Overview

The stadium is divided into four main blocks, A, B, C and D, each block covering one side of the stadium, and block G, consisting of the upper balcony added later. St. Jakob Park is a fairly modern stadium; construction started on 13 December 1998, replacing the former St. Jakob Stadium. The re-opening game took place 15 March 2001.

The "Genossenschaft S.J.P" officially owns the stadium, while the stadium itself is managed by "Basel United". The stadium cost around CHF 220 million to build (US$132 million, 143 million in March 2001[5]).

Within the stadium, there are 32 shops on three different floors, as well as two restaurants (the "Restaurant UNO" and "Hattrick Sports Bar"). The stadium has parking spaces for 680 cars on two different floors. The stadium can be reached either by bus, tram or train (the stadium has its own train station).

The stadium has been awarded 4 stars by UEFA, which is the highest number of stars that can be awarded to a stadium of that size.

In 2006, there was a riot after a match between FC Basel and FC Zürich. See 2006 Basel Hooligan Incident for more details.

UEFA Euro 2008

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008

For Euro 2008, the St. Jakob Park hosted 6 games – 3 group games (including the opening match), two quarter-finals and one semi-final. Torrential rain during the June 11 match left the pitch in such a poor state that the entire grass surface was re-laid, the first time such a decision was made at a tournament of this size. [6]

Date Time (CET) Team #1 Result Team #2 Round Spectators
7 June 2008
18.00
  Switzerland
01
 Czech Republic
Group A
39,730
11 June 2008
20.45
  Switzerland
12
 Turkey
Group A
39,730
15 June 2008
20.45
  Switzerland
20
 Portugal
Group A
39,730
19 June 2008
20.45
 Portugal
23
 Germany
quarter-finals
39,374
21 June 2008
20.45
 Netherlands
13 aet
 Russia
quarter-finals
38,374
25 June 2008
20.45
 Germany
32
 Turkey
semi-final
39,374

UEFA Europa League Final 2016

The stadium hosted the 2016 final of the Europa League. Sevilla beat Liverpool 3–1.

This was the first European club final hosted at the stadium, although the previous stadium of the same name, the St. Jakob Stadium, which opened in 1954 for the 1954 FIFA World Cup and closed in 1998, hosted four European Cup Winners' Cup finals in 1969, 1975, 1979 and 1984.

Panorama

See also

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St. Jakob-Park.
Preceded by
National Stadium
Warsaw
UEFA Europa League
Final Venue

2016
Succeeded by
Friends Arena
Solna
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