 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
 | |
 Interactive map of Abe Lenstra Stadion | |
| Full name | Abe Lenstra Stadion |
|---|---|
| Location | Heerenveen,Netherlands |
| Owner | Sportstad Heerenveen |
| Capacity | 27,224[1] |
| Surface | Grass |
| Scoreboard | Yes |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1993 |
| Opened | 20 August 1994 |
| Architect | Alynia Architecten Harlingen B.V. |
| Tenants | |
| SC Heerenveen | |
Abe Lenstra Stadion (Dutch pronunciation:[ˌaːbəˈlɛnstraːˌstaːdijɔn]) is afootball stadium, located inHeerenveen,Netherlands. It is currently used mostly as a home ground forEredivisie clubHeerenveen. The current capacity is 27,224.
The stadium is named afterAbe Lenstra, generally considered to be the greatest Heerenveen player in the history of the club. Abe was born on November 27, 1920, in Heerenveen and joined the club at the age of 15. After almost 17 years at Heerenveen, he joinedSC Enschede in 1954. He left this club in 1960 to join SC Enschede's archrivalEnschedese Boys. In 1963, he stopped playing football at the age of 42. In total, he scored 700 goals in about 730 matches. Abe died on 2 September 1985, at the age of 64, on the eve of what was to become the only international match played in the community sports park that would later become the (old) Abe Lenstra Stadium.
Construction of the stadium began in 1993. The plan was to build a stadium with open corners, but when the construction was well underway, the club decided to close the gaps. At the time the building was finished, it had a maximum capacity of 14,500.
On 20 August 1994, the stadium was officially opened byPrince Willem-Alexander of the Dutch royal family. He made the symbolic first kick-off in this stadium. After the opening the first match started between SC Heerenveen andPSV Eindhoven. At the timeRonaldo played at PSV, this match was his first one in Europe.
As SC Heerenveen continued to grow and improve its results year after year, the club planned its first stadium expansion in 2002. The stadium's capacity was almost doubled to 26,100 seats.
Throughout the years, empty spots in the stadium were filled with seats. In conjunction with other changes to the stadium, the seating capacity increased to its current 26,800.
In 2011, a plan was proposed to expand the stadium, increasing its capacity to 32,000. The construction should be ready for the start of the2012–13 Eredivisie season. The reason for the expansion is the ever-growing waiting list for the club's season tickets.
Additionally, the presence of more people in the stadium translates to increased revenue, which in turn leads to a larger budget for the club to work with. However, this expansion was seen as too risky and financially unfeasible.
There were plans to expand the stadium to 29,000 seats over the summer of 2012; however, the economic downturn shelved these plans.
The stadium was one of five stadiums in the Netherlands selected by theKNVB to host games as part of the combinedBelgium–Netherlands 2018 FIFA World Cup bid. A successful bid would have meant that the stadium capacity would have been increased to the minimum required seating of 44,000[2] In December 2010FIFA announced that Russia would host the 2018 World Cup. Just before the announcement of the World Cup, the club announced that the next expansion would be postponed.
The other four selected host cities in the Netherlands wereAmsterdam (Amsterdam Arena andOlympisch Stadion),Rotterdam (Feijenoord Stadion De Kuip andDe Nieuwe Kuip),Eindhoven (Philips Stadion) andEnschede (De Grolsch Veste).
The stadium was one of three selected to host the2024 UEFA Women's Nations League Finals matches. It will host 1 match.
| Date | Team No. 1 | Result | Team No. 2 | Round |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 February 2024 |  Netherlands | 0–2 |  Germany | 3rd place |
52°57′31″N5°56′10″E / 52.95861°N 5.93611°E /52.95861; 5.93611
