Gradski Vrt Stadium, Football stadium in Osijek, Croatia
Gradski Vrt Stadium is a football ground in Osijek, Croatia, built in an octagonal shape with several tiers of concrete seating arranged around the pitch. It holds around 18,800 spectators and is the largest sporting venue in the city.
Plans for the stadium were drawn up in 1949, but construction was slow and the ground only opened in 1980. It was built during a period when Yugoslav football was growing in popularity across the country.
Gradski Vrt is home to NK Osijek, the city's main football club, and matchdays transform the surrounding streets into a lively meeting point for supporters. The blue and white colors of the club are visible everywhere around the ground on game days.
The stadium is about a mile (roughly 1.5 km) from the main railway station and is easy to reach by public transport. Tram line 2, departing from Zupanijska street in the city center, goes directly to the ground.
In the 1980s, a single match against Dinamo Zagreb drew a crowd of around 40,000 people, more than double the stadium's current capacity. Supporters packed every corner of the ground, well beyond what would be considered safe by today's standards.
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