Metalist Stadium: FC Metalist 1925 Kharkiv
roadmap [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
To suggest that life has been complicated for Shakhtar Donetsk in recent times would be something of an understatement. They moved into their newly built stadium, Donbass Arena, in 2009 and three years later basked in the praise as the ground was used to host matches in the 2012 European Championships, including quarter-final and semi-final matches. Sadly war broke out in the Donbass region in 2014 and Shakhtar moved their footballing operations to Lviv Arena, more than six hundred miles away in the city of Lviv. They played their games there until 2016 and at that point they moved to Metalist Stadium in Kharkiv.
Kharkiv is slightly closer to the Donbass region, but we’re still talking a distance of around one hundred and fifty miles, so it’s not exactly home. The stadium was previously the home of of the Ukrainian club Metalist Kharkiv, but they went out of business at the end of 2016 and folded. At the start of 2017 a new club named Metalist 1925 was formed and began playing games there alongside Shakhtar Donetsk, but given the club played its first season in the Ukrainian Football Amateur League and moved to the Ukrainian Second League, we won’t be covering the new side for the moment. All club information on this page, therefore, will be solely about Shakhtar Donetsk.
Stats
| Metalist Stadium Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Opened | 1926 |
| Capacity | 40003 |
| Average Attendance | 10124 |
| Record Attendance | 41973 (Metalist v Tavria (1980)) |
| Pitch Size | 105 x 68 (7140) |
| Nickname | OSC Metalist |
| Former Name | Tractor Stadium, Dzerzhinets Stadium |
| Owner | Kharkiv city council |
| Clubs Hosted | Metalist Kharkiv, Shakhtar Donetsk, Metalist 1925 |
| First Fixture | Metalist v Dnipropretovsk (12/09/1926) |
Metalist Stadium Photos
By Валерий Дед (Стадион ÐœеÑ‚аллиÑÑ‚ 2009) [CC BY 3.0]
By Валерий Дед (Стадион ÐœеÑ‚аллиÑÑ‚) [CC BY 3.0]
By Vi Ko (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0]
Metalist Stadium Seating Plan and Where to Sit
Metalist Stadium is designed in a bowl-style, with two tiers of seating. The largest sections are at the Northern and Southern ends of the ground, behind the two goals. The major hospitality section is located within the West stand, running alongside the pitch.
Getting To Metalist Stadium
Train – If you’re looking to get the train to Kharkiv then do bare in mind that the journey will take you over two days. That might sound like fun at the beginning of the journey but the fun’s likely to wear off! Once you’re in the city itself you’ll find the stadium to the South-East of the centre. The closest station on the Metro is Sportyvna, which is on the Red Line.
Bus – If the bus is more your sort of thing then there are a number of options available to you. Bus numbers 251e, 626, 1155, 1167, 1181,1316 and 1622 are amongst numerous others that stop within walking distance of the ground.
Car – If you’d rather drive then you’ll find that the M18 is the nearest major road close to the stadium. Get on that you should find it’s sign posted well enough.
By Air – Kharkiv International Airport is, as the name suggests, the nearest airport to the centre of the city of Kharkiv. It’s only about a mile away, so it’s the ideal place to head to if you’re on your way to watch a Shakhtar Donetsk match.
Taxi – A trip to the ground in a taxi will take about fifteen minutes to complete its journey and should cost you somewhere in the region of 30 Hryvnia.
Parking Near Metalist Stadium
There are numerous areas to park at in and around the stadium, so get there early enough and you’re unlikely to struggle to find a space.
Useful Resources
Metalist Stadium Hotels
Mirax Boutique Hotel - £30+
Iris Art Hotel - £40+
Chichikov Hotel - £50+
Pubs and Bars Near Metalist Stadium
Two Nines
Patrick Irish Pub
01:00
Hospitality
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Metalist Stadium might not be the original home of Shakhtar Donetsk, but that doesn’t mean that the hospitality options are limited. There are eighteen Sky Boxes at the ground, for example, with the ability to host between six and twenty people in them. The Shakhtar Lounge, on the other hand, can host about three hundred people and you’ll get excellent food whilst you’re in there. The Roof Club is, as the name suggests, close to the stadium’s roof and is also a restaurant. Finally, about four hundred people can be housed in Club 1936, the stadium’s own sports bar.
Private Hire
If you’re in Kharkiv and you’re looking for a venue to host events then it’s worth getting in touch with the club to see if there’s anything they can do for you. Their facilities are excellent, so meetings and other private occasions are easily accommodated.
Stadium Tours & Museum
It’s not currently possible to do a tour of Metalist Stadium, but if anything changes then we’ll let you know as soon as we can.
Metalist Stadium History
Metalist Stadium is actually located within a larger area known as Metalist Oblast Sports Complex. A sports venue of some form or another has existed on the same sport ever since 1926 when one was built on the site of he Holy Spirit Cemetery and had the name Tractor Stadium, owing to sponsorship by a local tractor production company. In 1940 it was given the new name of Dzerzhynets Stadium in honour of the first head of the Russian state security organisation the Cheka, Felix Dzerzhinsky. It didn’t get its current name until 1967, the year in which it was also expanded to offer a capacity of around 10,000.
Three years later and there was a major renovation to the stadium, adding an additional 20,000 seats when the North and South stands were built. Arguably the biggest change to the ground took place towards the end of the 2000s, when huge renovations were carried out in order to prepare the stadium to host matches in the European Championships in 2012. This involved the completion of the South stand and a completely new East stand being built. On top of that, numerous renovations and cosmetic changes were also undertaken. It meant, conveniently enough, that the ground was up-to-scratch to host a Ukrainian Premier League side when Shakhtar came calling in 2016.
Future Developments
There are unlikely to be an major changes to the stadium moving forward unless it seems as though Shakhtar are going to be there for the foreseeable future. In the event that that happens, we’ll obviously update this section accordingly.