Netanya Stadium


The Netanya Stadium, commonly known as The Diamond Stadium, is a multi-use stadium in Netanya, Israel. It is used as the permanent home ground of Maccabi Netanya, and it has been used as the temporary homeground of Hapoel Hadera.

History

The first game was played on November 4, 2012, in front of a sold-out crowd as Maccabi Netanya defeated Hapoel Tel Aviv 2–1. Netanya's Achmad Saba'a became the first player to score a goal in the new stadium.
The stadium hosted the 2012–13 Israel State Cup finals in front of 8,621 people. A week later the Youth State Cup finals were held in the stadium in front of 4,600 people.
It was one of four venues for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, holding three group matches and a semi-final.
It was also one of four stadiums to host the 2015 UEFA European women's under-19 Football Championship and the final of the tournament.
The stadium played host to two open day and the championship game of the 2018 World Lacrosse Championship.
The first friendly match of the Israel national football team was played on February 6, 2013. Israel hosted the Finland national football team and won the match by a score of 2–1.

Planning

Financing of the stadium came from the sale of the land where the old Sar-Tov Stadium was on before being demolished to be used for a housing project.
On 30 September 2003 Minister of Internal Affairs, Avraham Poraz, approved the plan to build the stadium in an area called Birkat Hanoun. The plan was for a 24,000-seat stadium, consisting of four separate stands. The first two stands under construction will be the main east and west grandstands. It will house 36 private boxes, a VIP section and the press areas. This will be followed by construction of the remaining stands, along with training grounds.
Spread out over 163 dunams, the entire complex will be connected by train and have a parking lot for around 1,000 cars. The architects of the stadium are GAB Architects, one of Israel's leading sport architecture firms based in Jerusalem. Construction is being managed by the Netanya Development Company, who handled planning of the project for three years before construction.

Average attendance

International matches

DateResultCompetitionAttendance
6 February 2013 U-210-0 U-21Under-21 Friendly100
6 February 20132-1Friendly6,150
5 June 2013 U-212-2 U-212013 Euro U-2110,850
9 June 2013 U-210-1 U-212013 Euro U-2111,750
12 June 2013 U-211-2 U-212013 Euro U-218,134
15 June 2013 U-213-0 U-212013 Euro U-2112,048
5 March 20141-3Friendly7,200
6 June 20171-1Friendly5,000
24 March 20181-2Friendly7,925
15 November 20187-0Friendly5,900