Stadion Energa Gdańsk


The Stadion Energa Gdańsk, previously called the Baltic Arena and PGE Arena Gdańsk is a football stadium in Gdańsk, Poland. It is used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Lechia Gdańsk currently playing in the Ekstraklasa. The Stadium is located on ul. Pokoleń Lechii Gdańsk in the northern part of the city. The capacity of the stands is 41,620 spectators, all seated and roofed. The stadium is the second largest arena in Ekstraklasa and the third largest in the country.
Construction of the stadium started in 2008 and was completed mid-2011. The opening match was between Lechia Gdańsk and Cracovia and ended with 1–1 draw. Its first international match was between Poland and Germany, took place on 6 September 2011 and ended 2–2. The match was relocated from Warsaw because the National Stadium was not ready. It is used by Lechia Gdańsk since 'the White-and-Green' relocated there from MOSiR Stadium.
The stadium was also one of the designated venues for the finals of UEFA Euro 2012. It hosted four matches during the tournament; three matches in Group C and one quarter-final match were played there. It was originally scheduled fo host the 2020 UEFA Europa League Final as the Gdańsk Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations, however following the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe the final was postponed and later rescheduled to August at the RheinEnergieStadion in Germany behind closed doors; Gdańsk will now host the 2021 final instead.
In 2010 the official name of the stadium changed to PGE Arena Gdańsk on the basis of a sponsorship agreement with Polska Grupa Energetyczna. The contract ended, however, on 30 September 2015, after PGE chose not to renew the contract. On 9 November Energa was revealed as the new stadium's sponsor. The song 'Macho' from Tamil film Mersal was shot here.

Stadium characteristics

Overall

The stadium measures some 236 metres long, 203 metres wide and 45 metres high.
The arena's exterior is designed to resemble amber which has long been extracted on the Baltic coast. Whole roof construction is based on 82 girders. Roof structure has a total area of 44 000 m². The facade and the roof are covered with 18 000 plates of polycarbonate multiwall sheet, in 6 shades, with a total area of 4.5 hectares. Two logos, are made in LED technology, with a height of 8 meters and length of 35 meters.
The pitch has dimensions of 105x68 meters, and its distance from the grandstand is 10.5 m behind the goals, and 8.5 m from the sidelines. The grandstands under the standards of FIFA and UEFA are covered, the center which is hovering over the field however will be uncovered. The issue of installing a sliding roof was considered, but the idea was abandoned due to costs and limited time to complete the construction. Remaining space is reserved for the other participants of the event. The stadium meets the criteria for UEFA Category 4.

Capacity

Stadium capacity is 43,615 seats during league matches. However the total number of seats is approximately 44,000. During the UEFA European Football Championship in 2012 capacity was reduced to approximately 40 000 seats.
At the stadium there are 40 boxes behind glass where full catering is provided. Eight of them have an area of 60 m² and the remaining 32 have an area of 30 m². In addition to the sky-boxes, stadium offers 1383 seats of higher standard for the more affluent guests. Each of them is equipped with a comfortable seat and located just below the sky-boxes. Both sky-boxes and VIP places have a separate entrance with dedicated foyer.
The seats were provided by Polish company Forum Seating belonging to the Nowy Styl Group located in Krosno. Moreover, the stadium has 50 extra seats for disabled persons.

Name

In December 2009, the stadium's name was purchased by the Polish Energy Group for 35 million złoty for a duration of five years. The city of Gdańsk sold the naming rights in order to cover some of the costs of its construction. The only stipulation was that the name must include the word "Arena". The oil company Lotos and power company PGE were the final competitors for the sponsorship contract which also includes the display of the firm's logo in at least two locations at the top of the stadium, along with internal advertisements. The stadium was originally known as the Baltic Arena. The contract with PGE ended, however, on 30 September 2015, after PGE chose not to renew the contract. On 9 November 2015 Energa was revealed as the new stadium's sponsor until 2020.

T29 Sports Bar & Restaurant

On 20 January 2012 after several months of preparation, a special club bar named T29 Sports Bar & Restaurant was opened to the public. This name is not a coincidence - it originates from the abbreviation of the previous Lechia Gdańsk stadium's address: Traugutta 29 and it is seen as a tribute for a venue where the history of 'the White-and-Green' was made. Whole interior design is related to the different events which refers to the history of the club. The most distinctive parts of the design are two tremendous murals located opposite to each other on the sidewalls of the pub. Both paintings show an artistic interpretation of the panorama of the old Lechia stadium. T29 Sports Bar & Restaurant is situated in the north part of the stadium, just below the visiting team's supporters sector. The pub is a two-level construction with the total area of 800m2. There are 39’ TV- sets located on both stories of the pub. Every match of Lechia Gdańsk and other important sport events are broadcast there every day. T29 Sports Bar & Restaurant is open for the visitors 7 days a week.

Construction history

The stadium was built specifically for the UEFA European Football Championship, which was held in 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. The first conceptual design of the stadium has been presented by the city of Gdańsk before the tournament host's choice. On 31 January 2008 architect who had designed the stadium was selected. It was a company of Rhode-Kellermann-Wawrowsky from Düsseldorf, which designed such stadiums like Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen and the AWD-Arena in Hannover. First part of construction documents were consisted of 92 volumes and the second one included next 137 volumes. Stadium specialist HPP Architects from Düsseldorf also contributed to the design development.
On 2 April 2008, work began on preparing the ground for the construction of the stadium, including liquidation of allotments, felling of trees and shrubs. On 15 December 2008 work started on the ground exchange and density of land for the construction of the stadium.
The official opening of the offers from companies willing to build new stadium took place on 25 March 2009. The offers prices varies form about 522 mln zł to 635 mln zł. Two days later contract with the company who introduced the cheapest offer was signed. It was a consortium of companies: Hydrobudowa Polska S.A, Hydrobudowa 9, Alpine Bau Deutschland AG Berlin, Alpine Bau GmbH Austria, Alpine Construction Polska Sp. z o.o.
One of the most important days in history of Stadion Energa Gdańsk was 28 May 2009 when the main construction began. In mid-July the cornerstone was laid. Within the next year main steel and concrete structure was completed and the ceremony of topping out took place at 24 July 2010.
The original date of completion of the stadium was the end of 2010. On 9 June 2011, a match between the national teams of Poland and France was planned. Due to security reasons, the match was moved to Warsaw.
The stadium was opened at 19 July 2011. The first official football event on PGE Arena Gdańsk, as the Stadion Energa Gdańsk was then known, took place on 14 August 2011. The match between Lechia Gdańsk and KS Cracovia ended in 1:1 draw and the first goalscorer on the new stadium was Fred Benson.

Location & transport

The stadium is located in the northern part of the city, across the Martwa Wisła River, in the Letnica district. The main entrance is located on the side of newly created ul. Pokoleń Lechii Gdańsk.
Main roads that leading to the stadium are the ul. Marynarki Polskiej and the ul. Uczniowska. Getting to the stadium is easily possible by public transport, mainly due to tram lines # 1, 7, 10 leading to tram stops called Mostostal or Stadion Energa Gdańsk. However, they are not available on the match days, due to the fact that tram platforms are not prepared to handle such an increased number of passengers. Therefore, additional tram lines are available for the football fanatics during every match day. Their final destination is tram stop Kliniczna located about 3 km away from the stadium.
Moreover, on every match day, special free of charge SKM line leads from Gdańsk Główny railway station to Gdańsk stadium Expo station located near the stadium. This line was modernized especially for the UEFA European Football Championship in 2012. It has been used for the first time, before and after the Ekstraklasa match between Lechia Gdańsk and Legia Warszawa which took place on May 3, 2012. It is worth noting that this line is also available for passengers in the days when the trade exhibition takes place in the new headquarters of the MTG SA Gdańsk International Fair Co. located next to the Stadion Energa Gdańsk.

Euro 2012 matches

The stadium was one of the venues for the UEFA Euro 2012. Three group C matches were played there, as well as one quarterfinal. During the finals, it was known as the 'Arena Gdansk' for sponsorship reasons.
The following matches were played at the stadium during the UEFA Euro 2012:
DateTime Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundScored
10 June 201218:00 Spain1-1 ItalyGroup CAntonio Di Natale 61'
Cesc Fàbregas 64'
14 June 201220:45 Spain4-0 Republic of IrelandGroup CFernando Torres 4',70'
David Silva 49'
Cesc Fàbregas 83'
18 June 201220:45 Croatia0-1 SpainGroup CJesús Navas 88'
22 June 201220:45 Germany4-2 GreeceQuarter-finalsPhilipp Lahm 39'
Georgios Samaras 55'
Sami Khedira 61'
Miroslav Klose 68'
Marco Reus 74'
Dimitris Salpingidis 89'

Poland national football team matches

So far, Poland national football team has played 8 matches in the arena. The stadium's opening match was due to be played against the French national football team on 9 June 2011, but was moved to the Polish Army Stadium, as the stadium wasn't fully prepared. Instead, the match against Germany national football team, which had been scheduled to be played at the National Stadium was moved to Gdansk.
NrCompetitionDateOpponentResultAttendanceScorers for Poland
1Friendly6 September 20112–238,000Robert Lewandowski, Jakub Błaszczykowski
2Friendly14 November 20121–339,460Ludovic Obraniak
3Friendly14 August 20133–234,952Mateusz Klich, Waldemar Sobota, Piotr Zieliński
4Friendly6 June 20142–133,074Arkadiusz Milik, Robert Lewandowski
5Friendly16 June 20150–037,192–––
6Friendly1 June 20161–240,392Artur Jędrzejczyk
7Friendly13 November 20170–132,736–––
8Friendly15 November 20180–123,851–––

Concerts

Controversies

Seat colour

Along initial design by Rhode-Kellermann-Wawrowsky, all seats were to create a mosaic of yellow and orange in various tones, which was to match the 'amber' facades and roof. However, after the final proposed layout was presented, Lechia Gdansk supporters launched a protest to block the move. As they argued, the stadium should be associated with their club's colours, not those of the arch-rival Arka Gdynia, who aren't tenants at the stadium. In a move to satisfy these claims, architects were asked to rethink the colours and came up with various tones of green. This was accepted by supporters and stayed intact with the overall concept as amber can also be greenish.
Later, in October 2012, some seats were also painted white to read "LECHIA GDANSK" in order to allow fans to identify with the venue more.

Ban on bananas

In July 2012, the stadium became Poland's only to have bananas on the list of items prohibited inside. Decision was made by Lechia Gdansk safety manager in order to prevent racist incidents. In April of that year, two black players of Lechia had bananas thrown at them.
This incident was a one-off, however, and was soon condemned by supporters as well as authorities. Even the attacked players expressed their lack of understanding for such a measure.