Ljudski vrt

Full name	Stadion Ljudski vrt
Location	Maribor, Slovenia
Coordinates	46°33′45″N 15°38′26″E / 46.562401°N 15.640497°E / 46.562401; 15.640497Coordinates: 46°33′45″N 15°38′26″E / 46.562401°N 15.640497°E / 46.562401; 15.640497
Built	1962
Renovated	1994, 1998, 1999, 2008
Expanded	2008
Owner	City of Maribor
Capacity	12,435
Field dimensions	105 × 68 metres
Tenants
NK Maribor Slovenia national football team (2008-Present) 2013 Winter Universiade

The Ljudski vrt stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in the city of Maribor, Slovenia. It is a landmark of Maribor and lies on the left bank of the river Drava.

The stadium is the home ground of football club NK Maribor. The current capacity of the stadium is 12,435 covered seats , being the largest stadium in Slovenia.

Besides football the stadium is also the host of many cultural events.

Contents 1 History 2 Football 3 Culture 4 Records 5 External links

[edit] History

The stadium received its name after the public park (German: Volksgarten) of Maribor which was planted in 1873.

The park was later turned into a practice range and in 1920 the first football field was built upon it. The meaning of Ljudski vrt is People's garden.

The pitch on the present day area was built in 1952, while the stadium itself was not built until 1962. Since then the stadium went through four renovations. The most notable was the last one from 2006 to 2008 when the stadium was completely renovated and now holds a capacity of 12,435 covered seats.

The number of seats will be increased to a total of 13,000 seats in the next phase of the renovation which should be completed by 2010, for the club 50th anniversary.

[edit] Football

The stadium is mainly used for football and is the home ground of football club NK Maribor. It is the symbol of the club and one of the most recognizable sport landmarks in Slovenia. Beside being the home ground of NK Maribor, the stadium also hosted some matches of the Slovenia national football team and will be the main venue for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifications.

For local supporters, the stadium is known as Nogometni hram (Football temple) and the pitch itself as Sveta trava (Holy grass)^{[citation needed]}. This is most likely due to the tremendous success the club has had on this stadium, but perhaps also because a cemetery was located on the area before the stadium was built.

[edit] Culture

Due to excellent acoustics the stadiums is a popular choice for concerts and other cultural performances. One of the most recent was the Greek Zorba musical which had an attendance of around 6,000 people.

[edit] Records

The biggest attendance on a football match in Ljudski vrt is around 20,000 achieved in the days of SFR Yugoslavia.

The stadiums is a record holder for the most spectators on a Slovenian league football match. This was achieved on the last match of 1996/97 season against NK Beltinci. 14,000 people gathered to see that match.

Ljudski vrt also holds the record for average attendance in a Slovenian league season (6,000).

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Stadion Ljudski vrt

• Ljudski vrt Ljudski vrt on Football Stadiums of Slovenia
• Stadion LJUDSKI VRT