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AS WE CELEBRATE THE OPENING OF THE TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM, ANDY
GREEVES TAKES A LOOK AT OTHER 'NEW' STADIA WE HAVE PLAYED AT, WHICH
HAVE OPENED SINCE THE INCEPTION OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE IN 1992 THIS
EVENING, HE EXPLORES THE HISTORY OF VITESSE ARNHEM'S GELREDOME.
A//-kki
NEW GROUND
Designed by Alynia Architecten and built
between 1996 and 1998 at a cost of €75m,
Vitesse Arnhem's GelreDome is notable as the
first football stadium in the world to have a
retractable pitch and the second, after Ajax's
Johan Cruyff ArenA, to have a sliding roof.
Vitesse played their first match at the venue on 25
March, 1998, beating NAC Breda 4-1 in an Eredivisie fixture
in front of a crowd of 26,600, which remains to this day a
record for a football match at the stadium. The Dutch side
won all seven of their matches at the ground towards the
end of the 1997/98 season, claiming the scalps of Ajax and
Feyenoord along the way. Bordeaux were the first visiting
side to claim a competitive victory at the GelreDome,
winning 1-0 in a UEFA Cup second round, first leg tie on
20 October, 1998. Arnhem finally lost an Eredivisie game
almost a year after the stadium's opening.
Vitesse Arnhem-whose official name is Stichting Betaald
Voetbal Vitesse or SBV Vitesse - moved to GelreDome
from the Nieuw Monnikenhuize in the north of the city,
which had previously served as their home ground between
1950 and 1997. With an opening capacity of around 29,000,
the club's new stadium had almost double the capacity of
their old one.
Shortly after opening, the GelreDome - which holds a
four-star UEFA rating- hosted its first international match
as the Netherlands drew 0-0 with Cameroon on 27 May, 1998.
The 'Oranje' were also involved in goalless draws against
Ghana there in October 1998 and Scotland in April 2000.
The GelreDome was selected as one of the eight host
venues for UEFA Euro 2000, with the tournament held jointly
in Belgium and the Netherlands. The first tournament match
to be played there saw Italy beat Turkey 2-1 in a Group B
fixture on June 14, with strikes from Antonio Conte and a
Filippo Inzaghi penalty while Okan Buruk got the Turks'
consolation. A stoppage time goal from Costinha saw
Portugal to a 1-0 win over Romania there three days later.
The last of the stadium's three games in the competition was
OFFICIAL MATCHDAY PROGRAMME
