Strahov stadium in Prague seems to be largest soccer stadium ever built. Does anyone use it? Has it ever been used, extensively or sporadically? Are there plans to do anything with it today?
I have no idea to most of the questions you asked. According to worldstadiums.com the capacity was/is 250,000. Strahov was first built for mass gymnastic displays. Picture of Strahov from 2001. http://www.netleyabbeytartanarmy.net/cz_strahov.jpg According to the Tartan Army link above, the stadium was recently used as a drive-in theatre.
They've occasionally used it for tennis tournaments- they can put tons of courts down. And there were rumors that Slavia (I think) was going to buy it and turn it into a training area, but the structure was so "well-built" that they couldn't tear it down to build a more useful structure. The last time I saw it (2 years ago) it was overgrown with weeds and in very bad condition.
I've tried to find out info on this stadium before, so I was glad to see this thread. I believe the "official" records for highest attendance go to the Maracana in Rio for the 1950 WC and a match at Hampden Park (it used to be big) back in the 1930's (Scotland vs. England?). These matches had somwhere in the neighborhood of 200,000. I've never been able to find info about a soccer match being played at Strahov. Is there a possibility that some were played during the days of communist Czechoslovakia with huge crowds that the western world never heard about?
Here's some links for more info...enjoy: http://grad.ch/prag.html http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/europe/czech_republic/prague_strahov.shtml http://www.radio.cz/en/article/47317 http://www.sokol-cos.cz/English/History/places/places.html I think that this is the new Strahov stadium? http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Parc/5901/strahov.html
[QUOTEI think that this is the new Strahov stadium? http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Parc/5901/strahov.html [/B][/QUOTE] That's actually Sparta's stadium- though it looks like a pretty old picture. In answer to the earlier post about maybe big crowds there in the communist era, I doubt it. The communists would have almost certainly publicized "the world's biggest..." I'm not sure it's ever been used for football- mostly for political events (mass gymnastics).
Zizkov, You're probably right. The link below mentions that the field area is big enough to fit 9 football pitches inside. http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadiu...e_strahov.shtml This just would not make it practical to watch a game. From some of the links that I read, it looks like the stadium's original purpose was the dancing festivals. It is more of a gathering place than a sport stadium.
When I was over for the recent Slavia vs. Levski UEFA game, I had a look and was shocked to find it had been redeveloped by Sparta with 8 (IIRC) training pitches which are used by their various youth sides. It was used previously for Spartakaid mass gymnastic displays as suggested and also hosted a U2 concert amongst other things. Hope this helps ... http://www.praguepost.com/P03/2003/RE/1211/re3.php