Stadiums of St. Petersburg: not a single football

In the northern capital of Russia, there are many sports arenas. All the stadiums of St. Petersburg have their own special charm and great history.

Sports and Concert Complex "Petersburg"

Construction of the stadium began in 1970. The arena was put into operation ten years later. This sports facility is one of the largest sports facilities in Europe. The capacity of the complex is 25 thousand seats. Inferior SSK "Petersburg" only to Moscow arena "SK Olympic", which can accommodate 35 thousand spectators.

Almost every year in the arena were major events both sports and cultural. In 1980, the complex was given a concert by the Russian rock band "Time Machine". A year later Valery Leontiev made a concert. Also in 1981, the USSR Fencing Cup was held.

In 1982, the sports and concert complex saw performances by famous figure skaters in the framework of the "Stars of the World" program and basketball matches of the Cup Winners' Cup. In 1983, 28 concerts in the "Petersburg" gave Yuri Antonov. A year later, a similar story was repeated - in July 13 concerts by Alla Pugacheva were held here. Also, the arena hosted matches of the USSR football championship.

During the last 25 years concerts of the Scorpions, "Kino", "Alisa", "Nautilus Pompilus", "Lube" and others were held at SSK "Petersburg". In 1993, a concert was held in memory of John Lennon. In 2017, as part of the world tour, a concert in St. Petersburg will be given by the British cult band Depeche Mode.

Zenit Palace

This St. Petersburg sports complex was built in 1976. The project of the Palace of sports games was founded two years earlier. The arena can accommodate 3 thousand 500 spectators.

Due to the lack of intermediate supports in the building was placed a football field of standard size with a synthetic coating. Illuminated arena due to stained glass windows, which ensure that the palace gets natural light. Entrance to the "Zenith" is highlighted by an ornament on which there is an image of a soccer ball.

Stadium "Petrovsky"

St. Petersburg is rich in football stadiums. In the city there are two teams that perform in the Russian Football Premier League: FC "Zenit" and FC "Tosno". The latter went to the highest football division for the first time in his history. Until 2017, "Petrovsky" was the home arena of "Zenith", but this year the construction of a new club stadium was completed on the eve of the 2018 World Cup. Thus, "Petrovsky" became home in a match of the football club "Tosno".

There is a stadium on the Petrovsky Island of the Little Neva. Its capacity is almost 21 thousand people. Until 1992, the arena was called the "Lenin Stadium."

Games of the Russian national team in St. Petersburg

"Petrovsky" is one of the best stadiums in St. Petersburg and Russia. It hosted many key matches of the national team. The first match the country's main team in this arena held in 1997. The rival was the team of Yugoslavia, which won a minimal victory in the fight.

In early summer of 2005, the Russian national football team held its first game at the official level in St. Petersburg at the Petrovsky stadium. It was a match of the selection for the World Championship 2006, in which the Russians beat the national team of Latvia with a score of 2-0.

In total at this stadium the Russian national team held 8 official matches. The Russian national team won in all fights.

St Petersburg Arena

The stadium project was developed in 2007. It took 9 years to build. At the moment it is the best stadium in St. Petersburg. It accommodates almost 65 thousand spectators at football matches and 80 thousand - at concert events.

The customer of the main stadium of St. Petersburg is the City Construction Committee. The bowl of the stands is covered with a dome, whose diameter is more than 280 meters. The dome is supported by 8 masts and can be moved apart. The height of the entire building is 79 meters. The area of all premises is 287.6 thousand square meters. M. For construction was spent 48 billion rubles. This stadium is located in St. Petersburg on the Krestovsky Island and is the home arena of the football club Zenit.

At the end of summer 2007 Valentina Matvienko stated that the first game in the arena will be held in 2009. A year later the date of the debut match was postponed to 2010. Already in 2010, the press service of the corporation "Transstroy" stated that the arena will be opened at the end of 2011. In November, it was reported that the stadium will not be commissioned before the end of 2013, and in 2012 they said that the arena will not be held until 2015.

Up to the beginning of 2016 the date of putting the stadium into operation was delayed. The final permission to use the arena was issued at the end of 2016, but the work to improve the stadium continued. In the spring of 2017, the first match was played at the stadium. The "Ural" and "Zenith" took part in the match. The St. Petersburg club won the game, but the first 90 minutes showed the poor quality of the "St. Petersburg Arena" lawn. In this regard, it was decided to postpone the match of the Russian Premier League "Zenit" - "Krasnodar" to the former stadium of the St. Petersburg club.

After one of the matches of the Confederations Cup in 2017, the Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo complained about the quality of the lawn. According to the fourfold owner of the "Golden Ball", it is difficult to show high-quality football on such a field.

"Winter Stadium"

The northern capital of the state is known not only for its football arenas. The "Winter Stadium" in St. Petersburg is one of the best track and field athletics arenas in Russia.

In this complex there is a skating rink, a covered walkway, the length of which is 333 meters, straight tracks for running at 100 meters and playgrounds for basketball. Also on the territory of the "Winter" is a former arena for riding on horseback.