„Karađorđe“ Through Decades
Karadjordje Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Vojvodina FC. The stadium is one of the most modern stadiums in Serbia and has one of the best pitches in the country. The stadium has a total of 14,458 seats after new renovations were made in 2013. The stadium is also the home ground for the Serbian U-21 football team.
In the late May of 2007, the stadium was the site of Siniša Mihajlović’s testimonial match. In 2009, the stadium was given a new athletic track, the southeast stand and a modern Philips scoreboard. After the reconstruction in 2009, it was the venue of the 2009 European Athletics Junior Championships and the 2011 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship. In 2011, Vojvodina FC installed floodlights with the strength of 1,700 lux. The largest attendance was on 1 March 1967 when Vojvodina played against the Scottish side Celtic in the 1966–67 European Cup quarter-final. There were about 30,000 spectators at the match.
Formerly, it was known as the Vojvodina Stadium or City Stadium. In 2007, the stadium was renamed to Karadjordje Stadium after Karadjordje “Black George”, the leader of the First Serbian uprising. However, Karadjordje Stadium was in fact the older, and original name of the stadium that was used from its foundation in 1924 until the end of the Second World War.
In early 2012, the executive board announced further reconstructions of the Karadjordje stadium. Original plans included the construction of a new south stand, the reconstruction of the eastern and southwest stand. Finally, in May 2013, as a result of UEFA requirements for obtaining a license for UEFA Europa League participation, the city of Novi Sad agreed to an upgrade of the stadium which took place through June 2013 in time for Vojvodina FC to host Europa League qualifying matches.