The history of Chernihiv Stadium dates back to 1936 for 3,000 spectators in eastern portion of a city park that exists since 1804. The territory of the city garden was chosen for the construction of the stadium. At the end of the 18th century there was a dacha of the Archbishop of Chernihiv on this territory. At the beginning of the 19th century, namely in 1804, a city garden was formed on the site of the modern stadium. During World War II, the Chernihiv Stadium was heavily damaged and in the 1950s was completely reconstructed, included stadium walls and two stands for 11,000 spectators. In 1961, it was named after the Russian Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. On 25 May 1964, Gagarin in person attended the stadium. In the mid 1980s, the stadium capacity was increased to 14,000. In 2005, the reconstruction of the stadium began, which was completed in 2008 with the assistance of the then sponsor of FC "Desna" Oleksiy Savchenko, in particular, plastic seats were installed on the west stand. In October 2011, the stadium received almost five million hryvnias for renovations. In the summer of 2016, a large-scale reconstruction of the stadium began. The vice-president of the club Igor Bazalinsky said that the work on the stadium will be carried out in two stages: “Our plan for the reconstruction of the stadium includes two stages. The first is a training and main field, a hotel and a medical and rehabilitation center, a basement, locker rooms, new high-quality football gates, both for the main field and for the training field. This is what we have planned for this year - to create optimal living conditions and training for our team. The second stage is the tidying up of the stands, installation of plastic chairs, and the issue of possible covering of the stands. We will put in order the territory of the stadium, a children's town will be installed, under which the playground is ready. We will also decide on the North Stand, we have invited experts who will assess its condition, whether it can be reconstructed or will have to be rebuilt, after which we will make the final decision. In the first stage, the spare and main fields will be completely replaced. Modern drainage systems, automatic lawn watering systems will be installed on both fields and a new lawn will be laid that will meet all the necessary standards. At the same time, the hotel for athletes is being renovated. ” The training ground is ready, after the match with Skala, which took place on September 26, Chernihiv footballers returned home, where they held their first full training session on the new field. In mid-May 2017, the stadium completed the laying of the lawn. Chernihiv City Council officially committed itself after the transfer of the stadium to the municipal property of the city. Gagarin to use it for its intended purpose and not to alienate it to private property. Also, to preserve this sports facility as a base for Olympic training and to ensure certification in accordance with the requirements of the International Association of Athletics Federations IAAF. The transfer of such an object is carried out by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the basis of the consent of the body authorized to manage state property, the decision of the session of the local council and in coordination with the Ministry of Finance, State Property Fund. "Chernihiv Regional Football Federation" proposed to held the "Winter Championship 2020" tournament and the Women's Football Committee of the Ukrainian Football Association accepted the proposal. They will be held in Gagarin Stadium on November 17-21, 2020.
Description
Beside its main arena, the football field, the center houses four sports schools and several sports sections. There are a boxing hall, a running track, a fitness room, a massage room, an electronic scoreboard, a controlled-access entrance. The field has a water sprinkle system and floodlights. The center conducts competitions in athletics, football, boxing, and weightlifting. There is a prospective project on reconstructing the center into a sports city "Luchisty" which beside the football stadium would include an ice arena, a fitness-recreational complex, and a beach club. The sports complex also would include a hotel complex with 175 rooms. The stadium houses the Chernihiv boxing club "Ring", sports school "Atlet" specializing in athletics and weightlifting, as well as specialized sports school "Desna" specializing in association football.
