Stadion Letná

The Letná Stadium (Czech: Stadion Letná [ˈstadjonˈlɛtnaː]), is a football stadium in Prague. It is the home venue of AC Sparta Prague and often hosts the home matches of the Czech Republic national football team. The stadium's capacity is 18,887 seats.

History

The first wooden stadium at its location opened in 1921. The origins of motorcycle speedway in Prague can be traced back to races held at the stadium, starting on 9 June 1928. It is unknown as to when the track was removed.

In 1930, it hosted the third Women's World Games. The stadium burned in 1934 and a new main reinforced concrete grandstand was built in 1937. In 1969 all the other grandstands were replaced by reinforced concrete ones and capacity was extended to 35,880 spectators. The 1994 reconstruction into its present form saw Letná closed for nine months, until the stadium met all international standards. The running track was removed and all spectator places were now seated.

Letná has frequently hosted international matches, in October 1989 the venue saw a crowd of 34,000 watch home side Czechoslovakia defeat Switzerland in a qualifying match for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, Letná continued as an international stadium, hosting matches of the Czech Republic national football team from 1995, including qualification matches for UEFA Euro 1996, in which the Czechs defeated the Netherlands and Norway.

The playing surface was renovated in 2001, including the installation of a new under-soil heating and watering system. This necessitated Sparta playing league matches at the end of the 2000–01 season at the nearby Stadion Evžena Rošického.

In 1994, the stadium was reopened after a complete modernization. The capacity was lowered to 20,854 seats. In 2009 major changes took place at the stadium – barriers between sections were removed, two video screens were installed and infrared radiators were installed to heat the eastern stand. The capacity has been 18,887 since 2009.

Czech Republic national football team matches

Development of the name

• 1917–2003: Letná Stadium
• 2003–2007: Toyota Arena
• 2007–2009: AXA Arena
• 2009–2020: Generali Arena
• 2020–2022: Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena
• September 2022–November 2022: Letná Stadium
• November 2022–present: epet ARENA

Non-football activities

Since the beginning the stadium has been used as a speaking tribune for events that took place in front of it, in/around the Milada Horaková street and the large "Letná Plain". During the Velvet revolution in 1989, some 800,000 people assembled for anti-government demonstrations at the Letná plain. The speaking tribune was later removed.

Transport connections

The stadium is served by the tram lines 1, 2, 8, 12, 25 and 26. The tram stop Sparta is in front of the stadium in Milada Horáková Street. The nearest metro stations are Vltavská to the east and Hradčanská to the west.

See also

• List of football stadiums in the Czech Republic
• Lists of stadiums

External links

• (in Czech)