The Municipal Stadium in Poznań, commonly known as INEA Stadion for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Poznań, Poland. It took 12 years for the complete construction of the stadium, and was completed in 1980.
From its inauguration in August 1980, Lech Poznań has used the ground as its main venue. Since 2010, it has also been used by Warta Poznań, a multi-sport club with one of the most successful field hockey and tennis teams in the country.
This is the fifth-largest stadium in Poland and had a grand opening after final renovation took place in September 2010, with Sting’s Symphonicity Tour concert.
The Inea Stadion has the total capacity of 43,269 had its highest attendance of 45,000 in the match against Widzew Łódź in 1984.
History
Construction works of the stadium began in 1968. Like most stadiums in those times, it was built on artificial hills, on which concrete benches and crown of the stadium were later formed.
In August 1980, Lech Poznan played their first match on the new stadium in front of 18,000 fans. The first goal scorer for the home team at this stadium was Mark Skurczyński.
In 1986, the most specific elements of the stadium were built - four 56-meters height masts with floodlights whose total illuminance was 1890 lux. This was first used in a match between Poland and Greece.
Major Matches
The stadium was one of the venues for the group stages of the 2012 UEFA Euro Championships. Three Group C matches were played there: Croatia v. Republic of Ireland on 10 June, Croatia v. Italy on 14 June, and Republic of Ireland v. Italy on 18 June.
Recent Matches
The team played its last UEFA Champions League match at the 3rd Qualifying round in the 2015-16 season against Basel, and last played their UEFA Europa League at the 3rd Qualifying round against Utrecht which they lost to them due to away goals on aggregate.
