Trade Union Stadium

Trade Union Stadium

Location	Novinářská 3178/6, 702 00Ostrava,Czechoslovakia
Coordinates	49°49′59″N18°15′57″E
Capacity	60,000
Construction
Opened	1954
Closed	1976
Demolished	c. 1999

Trade Union Stadium(Czech:Stadion odborářů) was a 60,000 capacity multi-use stadium inOstravain today's Czech Republic. It was located where the Futurum shopping center is today.

History

In the early 1950s, it was discussed that a large public sports field would need to be built for the ever-growing Ostrava. The plan would require tennis and volleyball courts, a sports hall for ball games and a swimming pool. In addition, the sports ground was to be dominated by one of the largest stadiums in Czechoslovakia (for 60,000 spectators), which would later be named the Stadion odborářů (Trade Union Stadium). The location chosen was a former brick factory on the border of Mariánské Hory and Fifejda.

The construction began in 1952 to be ready for theSpartakiadin 1955. The architect of the stadium was Rudolf Šajdek. The stands could accommodate 60,000 spectators, making the stadium the second largest in Czechoslovakia (after theStrahov Stadium). On 26 September 1954, the firstmotorcycle speedwayraces were held in the stadium and the Spartakiad was held there in 1955 and 1960.

A qualifying round of theSpeedway World Championshipwas held in the stadium in 1962, 1975 and 1976.

Speedway competitions finished in September 1976 and afterwards the stadium fell into disrepair.During the 1980s and 1990s, plans surfaced to modernise the stadium but they came to nothing. The stadium was demolished at the end of the 1990s, and in its place the development company of Libor Adámek built the Futurum shopping center in May 2000.

Ostrava speedway team

The Ostrava speedway team first competed in theCzechoslovak Team Speedway Championshipduring 1957 and as KAMK Ostrava won the 2.Liga. The team adopted theSvazarmprefix before the North Moravian name was also added. The team won a second 2.Liga title in 1961 before competing for one final season in 1962.