St. Jakob-Park


is a Swiss sports stadium in Basel. It is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. "Joggeli", as the venue is nicknamed by the locals, was originally built with a capacity of 33,433 seats. The capacity was increased to 42,500 for Euro 2008, which was hosted by Switzerland and Austria. After the Euro 2008 a number of seats were removed, thus creating more space between them. The capacity was therefore reduced to 38,512 for Swiss Super League matches or 37,500 seats for international matches The maximum capacity for concerts is 40,000.
The stadium is named after the village of St. Jakob an der Birs, which stood on the site. The name "Joggeli" is the diminutive of "Jakob" in the local dialect, making it the equivalent of "Jake".

Overview

The stadium is divided into four main blocks, A, B, C and D, each block covering one side of the stadium, and block G, consisting of the upper balcony added later. St. Jakob Park is a fairly modern stadium; construction started on 13 December 1998, replacing the former St. Jakob Stadium. The re-opening game took place 15 March 2001.
The "Genossenschaft S.J.P" officially owns the stadium, while the stadium itself is managed by "Basel United". The stadium cost around CHF 220 million to build.
Within the stadium, there are 32 shops on three different floors, as well as two restaurants. It has parking spaces for 680 cars on two different floors.
The stadium can be reached either by bus, tram or train.
The stadium has been awarded 4 stars by UEFA, which is the highest number of stars that can be awarded to a stadium of that size.
In 2006, there was a riot after a match between FC Basel and FC Zürich. See 2006 Basel Hooligan Incident for more details.

UEFA Euro 2008

For Euro 2008, the St. Jakob Park hosted six games – three group games, two quarter-finals and one semi-final. Torrential rain during the 11 June match left the pitch in such a poor state that the entire grass surface was re-laid, the first time such a decision was made at a tournament of this size.
DateTime Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundSpectators
7 June 200818:000–1
Group A
39,730
11 June 200820:451–2
Group A
39,730
15 June 200820:452–0
Group A
39,730
19 June 200820:452–3
quarter-finals
39,374
21 June 200820:451–3
quarter-finals
38,374
25 June 2008
20:45
3–2
semi-final
39,374

UEFA Europa League Final 2016

The stadium hosted the 2016 final of the Europa League. Sevilla beat Liverpool 3–1.
This was the first European club final hosted at the stadium, although the previous stadium of the same name, the St. Jakob Stadium, which opened in 1954 for the 1954 FIFA World Cup and closed in 1998, hosted four European Cup Winners' Cup finals in 1969, 1975, 1979 and 1984.

Panorama

International matches

DateResultCompetition
21 August 20023–2Friendly
8 September 20022–0UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
7 June 20032–2UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
11 October 20032–0UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
2 June 20040–2Friendly
4 September 20046–02006 FIFA World Cup Qualification
8 September 20041–12006 FIFA World Cup Qualification
3 September 20051–12006 FIFA World Cup Qualification
1 March 20063–2Friendly
27 May 20061–1Friendly
2 September 20061–0Friendly
6 September 20060–1Friendly
15 November 20061–2Friendly
2 June 20071–1Friendly
17 October 20070–1Friendly
26 March 20080–4Friendly
12 August 20090–0Friendly
5 September 20092–02010 FIFA World Cup Qualification
14 October 20090–02010 FIFA World Cup Qualification
7 September 20101–3UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
12 October 20104–1UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
6 September 20113–1UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
11 October 20112–0UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
26 May 20125–3Friendly
14 August 20131–0Friendly
8 September 20140–2UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
5 September 20153–2UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
6 September 20162–02018 FIFA World Cup Qualification
7 October 20175–22018 FIFA World Cup Qualification
12 November 20170–02018 FIFA World Cup Qualification
26 March 20193–3UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying