Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
| The Protea | |
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| Full name | Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium |
|---|---|
| Location | 70 Prince Alfred Road North End Port Elizabeth South Africa |
| Coordinates | 33°56′16″S 25°35′56″E / 33.93778°S 25.59889°ECoordinates: 33°56′16″S 25°35′56″E / 33.93778°S 25.59889°E |
| Owner | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality |
| Operator | Access Facilities and Leisure Management (Pty) Limited |
| Capacity | 42,486 (2010 FIFA World Cup) 46,000 (Football and Rugby) |
| Field size |
Football – 105m x 68m Rugby – 125m x 70m |
| Surface |
Desso GrassMaster (2010 - present) Grass (2009 - 2010) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 2007 |
| Opened | 6 June 2009 (first event) 16 June 2009 (first match) 28 February 2010 (official opening) |
| Renovated | 2009 |
| Expanded | 2009 |
| Construction cost |
Rand 2.05 billion (USD $ 270 million) |
| Architect | Architectural Design Associates(Pty)Ltd & Dominic Bonnesse Architects cc |
| Tenants | |
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Chippa United (PSL) (2014–) Eastern Province Kings (Currie Cup) (2010–) Southern Kings (Super Rugby) (2013–) South Africa Sevens (2011–2014) |
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The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is a 46,000-seater stadium in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
The five-tier, R2 billion (approximately $159 million) Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was built overlooking the North End Lake, at the heart of the city. It is one of three coastal stadiums built to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It regularly hosts large-scale rugby union and football (soccer) matches. The stadium has also been used as a concert venue.
This is the first time a world-class football stadium has been built in the Eastern Cape province. The city of Port Elizabeth did not have a large-scale football facility, as under the apartheid government, football was not given much funding. Football clubs in the city had to make use of smaller scale venues throughout the city. Before this stadium was built, most large football matches were played at the EPRU Stadium, the city's rugby ground. The EPRU Stadium was often problematic for football, as it normally hosts rugby matches, thus the playing surface was not of a great standard. When Port Elizabeth was chosen as a host city for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the city decided against upgrading the EPRU Stadium. This was because it would have needed to be almost completely rebuilt in order to meet FIFA requirements. The city then decided on building a brand new, multipurpose stadium, in the heart of the city.
Inevitably, there was a great deal of speculation about the status of stadium construction in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the requirement that all the FIFA World Cup host stadiums had to be completed by January 2010. The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was the first of five new stadiums to start construction. The other new stadiums are in Cape Town, Durban, Polokwane and Nelspruit.
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