Poland's preparations for Euro 2012 took another major step forward on Sunday, August 14, as the new Municipal Stadium Gdansk hosted its first match, a 1-1 Polish First Division draw between resident side KS Lechia Gdansk and MKS Cracovia Krakow, reads a statement posted on UEFA's official Web site.
A total of 34,444 spectators got their first feel of the venue, which will stage three group games and a quarter-final at next summer’s UEFA European Championship, co-hosted by Ukraine.
The arena has been built specifically for Euro 2012, with the designs drawn up by the architects behind the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen and Hannover 96’s home ground.
Located in Gdansk’s Letnica neighbourhood, the venue is situated in the middle of a triangle formed by the Old Town, the famous shipyards and the airport, and its curved exterior consists of 18,000 plates designed to resemble amber, which has long been extracted along the Baltic coast.
"Today, we are taking football in Gdansk to a new level. This stadium came into being thanks to all the citizens of Gdansk. They can all feel like co-owners because they all funded this construction. I would also like to thank the prime minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, for the Polish government’s financial support," the city’s mayor, Pawel Adamowicz, said.
The construction of a new football stadium in Gdansk for 42,000 spectators began in December 2008 and was worth over PLN 630 million (about EUR 160 million).
