Botswana National Stadium, Multi-purpose stadium in Gaborone, Botswana
Botswana National Stadium is a multi-purpose sports complex with capacity for approximately 22,000 spectators and features both covered and open grandstand sections. A running track surrounds the main playing field to accommodate various sporting activities.
The stadium closed in 2008 for a renovation won by Hitecon, intended to host teams training for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in neighbouring South Africa; the plan fell through and the venue sat unused for about five years. It reopened in June 2013, hosting Township Rollers against Extension Gunners that August. In 2016 it closed again, raising capacity from 22,000 to 25,000 ahead of the 50th independence celebrations on 30 September 2016.
This venue serves as the home ground for Township Rollers FC and regularly hosts national team competitions that draw crowds from across the country. Visitors can feel how football brings the community together during match days.
The stadium sits in Gaborone and is reached by the city's main roads; the pitch is ringed by an athletics track, with the three covered stands on the west side and one large open stand to the east. The north and south ends each hold three stands joined into one block since the 2016 works. Beyond match days it also hosts police and defence force days, Independence celebrations, music festivals and church services, so check which event is on before travelling.
The three covered stands sit on the west side, not at the ends: the north and south ends each hold three large stands, joined into one block in the 2016 renovations, while the east end is a single giant uncovered stand. A giant screen went up in the middle north stand in August 2014.
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