This article will talk about the oldest football stadium located in the Russian Federation. The oldest football arena is the Baltika stadium, which is located in the westernmost city of Russia - in Kaliningrad.
Stadium History
As you know, Kaliningrad previously belonged to Germany. In those days it was called Koenigsberg. In 1892, a sports facility called Walter-Simon Platz was built on the site of the city park. This name was awarded to the stadium thanks to its founder. By the way, Walter Simons was a respected and very wealthy German lawyer and public figure. This stadium sheltered two German football teams.
After the end of World War II, Koenigsberg became part of the USSR. After this, a real leapfrog with the name of the stadium began. Initially, it was called Dynamo, after it was renamed, and it received the name "The Nutcracker." And only in 1958, the arena received the name, which it has preserved to this day. The teams were renamed along with the stadium. Accordingly, since 1958, this football arena has been called “Baltika”.
The Kaliningrad Stadium Baltika in 1960 was subjected to a general reconstruction. A very big gift for the city was that they built the northern and western stands. Now the matches of the favorite team could be attended immediately by 15 thousand Kaliningraders and guests of the city. Over the years, the stadium has been improved. They installed a visor over the South Stand, which made it possible to comfortably watch football in rainy weather. That for Kaliningrad is a very frequent weather phenomenon. After they installed an electronic display, improved drainage, installed plastic seats and made many other positive changes.
The main football battles in the stadium
FC Baltika in the final round of their debut season in the highest division of the domestic championship was hosted by FC Energia-Tekstilshchik. This event took place on November 3, 1996. Despite the Kaliningrad weather, that is, heavy rain combined with cold, the stadium was crowded with spectators. The Baltika stadium accommodated 20 thousand spectators. Naturally, these were mainly Kaliningraders.
The match ended with the score 4: 1 in favor of the Baltics, which allowed FC Baltika to take the final 7th place. This caused a huge celebration in Kaliningrad. In all the bars and restaurants of the city this achievement was celebrated until the morning. The 7th place in the Premier League is to this day the main achievement of FC Baltika. Also, the highest achievements of the club include victory over the Moscow Spartak. Such a victory for any Russian club is a great achievement. The match ended 1-0 in favor of the hosts, which caused great joy among the audience present at the match. By the way, there were more than 20 thousand people. It is worth noting that on this day the maximum number of people came to watch football at the Baltika stadium.
Farewell to the Baltika stadium
In 2018, Russia hosted the World Cup. One of the cities hosting this tournament was Kaliningrad. It is obvious that the capacity of the Baltika stadium does not meet the requirements of the World Cup. Therefore, in 2010 in Kaliningrad, the construction of a football arena was started, which was named after the city - the “Kaliningrad Arena”.
The last match of the professional teams of the Kaliningrad Stadium Baltika was held on May 2, 2018. On this beautiful sunny day, the stadium was visited by more than 10 thousand spectators. This attendance is a record in recent years. This fact was justified by the fact that this match was the last at the Baltika stadium. True, the match did not give the audience any special emotions: it ended with the score 0-0.
At present, the Kaliningrad stadium Baltika is hosting matches of the major league championship of the Kaliningrad region. The host team is Baltika M (youth team). By the way, a fairly decent number of spectators attend these matches, and football players regularly delight them with a spectacular game.
Kaliningrad stadium "Baltika". Description
The address of the stadium "Baltika": Kaliningrad, st. Dmitry Donskoy, d. 2. Its capacity is 14 660 spectators. The size of the field is 105 mx 68 m.
The fate of the stadium "Baltika"
Currently, the Kaliningrad Stadium Baltika is an object of cultural heritage. You don’t have to worry about the fact that the stadium can be demolished and build anything in its place, since at the end of 2017 the governor of the Kaliningrad region said that the stadium would function. The only thing that can be done is to dismantle the northern stand, to increase the sports facilities in the stadium. But even this solution will be applied together with the townspeople.
Such caution in handling this facility is due to the fact that Kaliningraders love Baltika Stadium. By the way, the governor also noted that a sports park will be organized on the territory of the stadium. But the Baltika stadium continues to function for the benefit of the sporting life of Kaliningraders.