Sammy Ofer Stadium

The Sammy Ofer Stadium (Hebrew: אצטדיון סמי עופר‎), also known as Haifa Municipal Stadium (האצטדיון העירוני חיפה), is a 30,780 seats multi-purpose stadium in Haifa, Israel.[2] Construction began in late 2009 and was completed in 2014. The stadium was developed and built by the Haifa Economic Corporation, managed by Adv. Gal Peleg.

Sammy Ofer Stadium
Avi Ran Stadium, Haifa Stadium
Full nameHaifa International Stadium
LocationHaifa, Israel
OwnerHaifa Municipalit
OperatorHaifa Municipalit
Capacity30,780[1]
Field size22,000 m2 (240,000 sq ft)
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Broke ground2009
Opened27 August 2014
Construction cost₪530 million
ArchitectKSS Design Group
Tenants
Maccabi Haifa (2014–present)
Hapoel Haifa (2014–present)
Israel national football team (2014–present)

Currently, the stadium is used mostly for football matches, hosting the home games of Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Haifa F.C. The stadium replaced Kiryat Eliezer Stadium, which was closed in 2014 and demolished in 2015. The stadium is named after the late Israeli billionaire Sammy Ofer, who donated $20,000,000 to build the stadium. Ofer's contribution was 19% of the total cost of the stadium. The stadium also serves the Israel national football team for some select home matches.

History
Sammy Ofer Stadium of Haifa. The second largest stadium of the Israel national football team
Main entrance to the stadium

On September 16, 2008, the Haifa Construction Committee approved the stadium's plans and gave it the green light.

In August 2009, official plans of the stadium released.

In September 2009, it has been announced that the works on building the foundations of the stadium would begin at the end of September 2009. The first official match ever at Sammy Ofer Stadium was played on August 27, 2014. Hapoel Haifa hosted Hapoel Acre (TOTO CUP) and won 2–0. The first historic goal in the new stadium was scored by Hapoel Haifa striker Tosaint Ricketts. The first league match was played on September 15, 2014. Maccabi Haifa hosted Bnei Sakhnin F.C., who they defeated by a score of 4–2. The historic first goal by a Maccabi Haifa player was scored by Israeli national team midfielder Hen Ezra during stoppage time of the first half. Over 31,000 supporters were in attendance.[3] The first UEFA Champions League match was played on September 30, 2015 by Maccabi Tel Aviv against Dinamo Kiev,[4] Dinamo won 2–0 by goles Andriy Yarmolenko and Júnior Moraes .

The first match of the Israel national football team was played on November 16, 2014. Israel hosted the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match and won 3–0. The stadium was sold out, which resulted in an atmosphere beyond compare, helping Israel win their 3rd game in a row in the tournament.[5]

Sammy Ofer Stadium

The first concert at the stadium was of Omer Adam on May 24, 2018.

International matches
DateResultCompetitionAttendance
16 November 2014 Israel3–0 Bosnia and Herzegovina2016 Euro qualifying group stage28,300
28 March 2015 Israel0–3 Wales2016 Euro qualifying group stage30,200
3 September 2015 Israel4–0 Andorra2016 Euro qualifying group stage22,650
5 September 2016 Israel1–3 Italy2018 FIFA World Cup qualification29,300
11 June 2017 Israel0–3 Albania2018 FIFA World Cup qualification15,150
2 September 2017 Israel0–1 North Macedonia2018 FIFA World Cup qualification11,350
11 October 2018 Israel2–1 Scotland2018–19 UEFA Nations League C10,234
21 March 2019 Israel1–1 SloveniaUEFA Euro 2020 qualifying12,430
24 March 2019 Israel4–2 AustriaUEFA Euro 2020 qualifying16,150

Gates
Gate Entrance Area
Silver Club A, B 301–305, 307, 309-312
Press Box A, B 306, 308
Gold and Diamond Club VIP 401–410
Sky Box VIP 501–536
North Tribune C, D 101–109, 201-212
Family Tribune E, G 110–113, 119–122, 213–217, 223-227
East Tribune F 114–118, 218-222
South Tribune H, J 123–128, 228-234
Guest Tribune K 129–132, 235-240

See also

References
  1. Official stadium website
  2. www.kssgroup.com
  3. http://maccabi-haifafc.walla.co.il/?w=/3036/2785849 Archived 2014-12-25 at the Wayback Machine
  4. http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2016/matches/round=2000634/match=2015685/postmatch/report/index.html
  5. https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2014/11/16/europe/european-championship-qualification/israel/bosnia-herzegovina/1653243/?ICID=PL_MS_24

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