 | |
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| Former names | Komsomoli Staadion |
|---|---|
| Location | Tallinn,Estonia |
| Owner | Sports Association Kalev |
| Capacity | 12,000 (9,908 seated) |
| Record attendance | 21,100 (Tallinna JK Dünamo vs Stockholm IK Sture, 6 June 1956) |
| Field size | 100 m × 68 m (328 ft × 223 ft)[1] |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 12 July 1955; 69 years ago (1955-07-12) |
| Renovated | 2019–2022 |
| Architect | Erika Nõva Peeter Tarvas |
| Tenants | |
| Tallinna Kalev (1955–1961, 2002–2016) Tallinna Sport (1985–1989) Tallinna Sadam (1992–1998) | |
Kalevi Keskstaadion is amulti-purpose stadium inTallinn,Estonia. Opened in 1955 and having a capacity of 12,000, it is the traditional venue of theEstonian Dance Festival and the former home ground ofJK Tallinna Kalev. The address of the stadium is Staadioni 8, 10132 Tallinn.
Since 1955, all of theEstonian Dance Festivals have been held there.[2]
The stadium was built during the Soviet occupation of Estonia and was opened on 12 July 1955. It was the first new large-scale sports complex built in Tallinn afterWorld War II. The initial plans were grandiose: the first blueprints saw the stadium have a 30,000 capacity seating area and a 16,000 capacity standing area, as well as a 6 meter tall statue depictingEstonian folklore heroKalevipoeg.[3] However, the project was later scaled-down and saw the stadium have a capacity of 12,000.
The record attendance of 21,100 was set in friendly match betweenTallinna Dünamo and Swedish third tier club Stockholm IK Sture in 1956. It was the first time since the country's occupation when an Estonian football club was able to face a foreign opponent coming outside of theSoviet Union.[4][5]
In 1960,Tallinna Kalev joined theSoviet Top League and in the following two years, the stadium hosted numerous high-profile football matches. The match againstDynamo Moscow on 5 August 1960 brought around 20,000 people onto the stands and among the players playing was Dynamo'sLev Yashin, who along with a number of his teammates had beencrowned European champions less than a month before and who won theBallon d'Or three years after said match, while being widely regarded as the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the sport.[6]
The 2000s saw the stadium's condition worsen to the point that in 2007, theEstonian FA declared the grass pitch unusable for top-flight football.[7] In 2015, it was announced that Kalevi Keskstaadion will undergo a major renovation and the concept design also included a possibility to increase the capacity to 30,000 in the distant future.[8][9] The renovation works began after the 2019 Estonian Dance Festival and the stadium was re-opened in 2022.[10] Despite that, Tallinna Kalev has not returned to the stadium due to a dispute with the owner of the stadium complex, theEstonian Sports Association Kalev, which evolved into a court case.[11]
The sports complex of the Kalevi Keskstaadion also has anartificial turf ground namedKalevi kunstmurustaadion. Located at the southwest corner of the main stadium, the field is home to Kalev's youth teams. It also served as the home to Kalev's first team from 2017 until 2019 and in 2021.
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59°25′32.98″N24°45′53.16″E / 59.4258278°N 24.7647667°E /59.4258278; 24.7647667
