Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium


Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. It is currently used mostly for association football matches. The stadium holds 28,000 and was opened in 1984. It was named after Bruneian Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

Construction

Unusually for a public building in Brunei, members of the public donated and contributed towards the building of the stadium. Although the final collection of $1,102,761.57 accounted for a little more than 1.1 percent of the total building cost, the public participation showed the Bruneians' great interest and support for this project. The entire project cost for the stadium is about $100 million.

Opening

It was opened on 23 September 1983, the date was chosen to celebrate the 69th birthday of Bolkiah's father and predecessor Omar Ali Saifuddien III. On the evening of the opening day, a friendly football match was played between the Brunei national football team and an invited English Football League team, Sheffield United. Despite the jet lag and the humid weather, Sheffield United won 1–0. The next day another match was held between United and a Brunei invited team which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Major events

1999