Rostov-on-Don is my next step on my tour around Russia, inspired by World Cup host cities. Rostov is just under 700 miles south of Moscow and is on the Don river.
Unlike Kaliningrad and Ekaterinburg I had heard of Rostov because of their football team, and that was the only reason, like with Tromso in Norway, that I knew of the place. In the 2016-17 season FC Rostov beat Ajax to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League. Their first ever group stage win was against none other than Bayern Munich, a 3-2 home win a lot more memorable than the 5-0 defeat in Germany.
Rostov-on-Don is not to be confused with Rostov which lies 800 miles to the north, and where I can not find any details of a football team.
FC Rostov will be happy to move into their new stadium. In March 2017 the Russian Premier League banned the team from hosting league matches because of the terrible state of their pitch at the Olimp-2 stadium. This was just after Manchester United had played against FC Rostov in the Europa Lague and Jose Mourinho had questioned whether it could even be called a pitch.
The construction of the new stadium started in 2013 but was delayed for about a year after intact shells from World War II were found where the foundations were to be laid.
The design of the stadium is inspired by the "kurgans", ancient burial mounds, used for pagan burial rituals, along the banks of the Don river.
No comments:
Post a Comment