Tampere Stadium

Ratina Stadium
Panoramic view of the stadium
Full name	Tampere Stadium
Location	Ratina, Tampere, Finland
Coordinates	61°29′33″N 023°45′51″E / 61.49250°N 23.76417°E / 61.49250; 23.76417
Owner	City of Tampere
Operator	City of Tampere
Capacity	16,800
Field size	105 m × 68 m (344 ft × 223 ft)
Surface	Grass
Construction
Opened	1965
Renovated	2004
Architect	Timo Penttilä
Tenants
Finland national football team (2016–present) Ilves (on occasion) Tampere United (2004–2010)

Tampere Stadium^[1] (Finnish: Tampereen stadion),^[2] also known as Ratina Stadium (Finnish: Ratinan stadion), designed by architect Timo Penttilä and completed in 1965, is a multi-purpose stadium in Tampere, Finland, with a seating capacity of 16,800 people, and up to 32,000 people for concerts. In 2018, the stadium hosted the IAAF World U20 Championships. The pitch and main stand were originally completed for the 1952 1952 Summer Olympics when Ratina hosted five qualification and preliminary round matches. In 2009, Ratina was one of the stadiums of the UEFA Women's Euro 2009. Ratina has also hosted several matches of the Finland national football team.

Football

The stadium primarily hosts football matches. It served as Tampere United's home stadium and it was the home stadium for Finnish national team between 2016 and 2018 due to the renovation of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. The stadium was is also used by Ilves, who holds the record attendances for football matches in both European and domestic competitions: 24,873 against Juventus on 19 September 1984 in the European Cup and 15,000 against Kokkolan Palloveikot on 9 October 1983 in the Finnish League.

Music

Over the years the stadium has hosted several music events. In addition to standalone concerts, it serves as the main arena for the annual hip hop festival Blockfest.

Speedway

Tampere Stadium is also used as a venue for motorcycle speedway. It was first used for international competition in 1974 as the host of the Nordic Final as part of the qualifying for the Speedway World Championship. The Nordic Final was also held in Tampere in 1977 and 1989. It also hosted the Scandinavian round as part of the 1976 Speedway World Team Cup,^[3] 1979 Speedway World Team Cup,^[4] 1981 Speedway World Team Cup and 1984 Speedway World Team Cup.

The stadium also hosted the Finland National Championship on occasions.

The stadium played host to the 1995 World Under-21 Championship Final won by Australia's Jason Crump, and in 2014 the stadium hosted the inaugural Speedway Grand Prix of Finland won by Slovenian rider Matej Zagar. Speedway returned to Ratina the following year, with the Finnish Grand Prix as Round 2 of the 2015 Speedway Grand Prix series. The speedway track is laid out over the stadium’s 400 metres (440 yards) athletics track.

See also

• Blockfest
• Ratina (shopping centre)
• Tampere Arena

References

External links

• Media related to Tampere Stadium at Wikimedia Commons
• City of Tampere – Tampere Stadium