South Africa hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup, leaving behind a legacy of world-class stadiums. These venues not only served as the stage for thrilling matches but also became iconic landmarks. Let's explore some fascinating facts and features of these architectural marvels.
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is a cool place in Gqeberha, South Africa, where people play soccer and rugby union. It's famous for hosting games during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, including the match for third place!
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
This amazing stadium cost about R2 billion (that's a lot of money!) and was built right by the North End Lake. It was one of three new stadiums built along the coast for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Before this stadium, the city of Port Elizabeth didn't have a big soccer field. Soccer wasn't given much support in the past. So, big soccer games often happened at the EPRU Stadium, which was mainly for rugby.
When Port Elizabeth was chosen to host World Cup games, they decided to build a brand new stadium instead of fixing up the old rugby one. The old stadium would have needed too many changes to meet FIFA rules. The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was the first of five new stadiums to start being built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The other new stadiums were in Cape Town, Durban, Polokwane, and Nelspruit.
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The stadium is named after the area it's in, the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality. This area itself is named after Nelson Mandela (1918-2013), who was a very important former President of South Africa. Sometimes, people mistakenly call it the 'Nelson Mandela Stadium'. But there's already a Nelson Mandela Stadium in Uganda!
The stadium's design was inspired by a winning idea from students at Holy Cross High School in 2006. The stadium has a special roof that looks like a flower with white 'petals'. This is why its nickname is The Protea, named after South Africa's national flower!
The building is about 40 meters tall and has many levels. There are three main gates to enter the stadium: Gate A-B on Milner Avenue, Gate B-C on Prince Alfred Road, and Gate C-D on Fettes Road. The stadium can hold 46,000 people for soccer and rugby games. For the 2010 FIFA World Cup, they even added 4,000 extra seats! The seats are different shades of orange and red.
The stadium has special rooms for important guests, business meetings, and even a gym! It's easy to get around with four ramps for wheelchairs and several lifts for VIPs and staff. There are 32 turnstiles to help people get to their seats quickly. Two large screens (12.7m x 7.2m) show all the action on the field. The grass on the field was grown somewhere else and then brought to the stadium. The areas around the main field are made of artificial turf.
After the World Cup, a special system called Desso GrassMaster was put in. This helps the grass stay strong because both soccer and rugby are played there often. A team of five people works hard day and night to keep the field in top shape. For soccer, the field is 105 meters long and 68 meters wide, which is approved by FIFA.
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The stadium was built by a group of companies called Ibhayi JV. The roof is made of strong materials like aluminum and a special fabric called polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), supported by a steel frame. An Australian company helped put this unique roof together. Building the stadium helped local businesses and created many jobs. About 6,800 jobs were made during the construction. It also helped improve the area around the stadium, bringing new life to the North End neighborhood.
The stadium cost about R2.1 billion to build. The stadium's running costs are about R18 million each year. The stadium has also hosted big international matches for the Springboks (South Africa's national rugby team) and Bafana Bafana (South Africa's national soccer team). The stadium also hosted the South African part of the IRB Sevens World Series rugby tournament from 2011 to 2014. It was also one of the places where games were played for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament.
The stadium is located along the city's new BRT bus network. Special bus lanes have been built to make it easy for people to get to and from the stadium on game days. There are also 'park and ride' areas where you can leave your car and take a bus. These are at King's Beach, St George's Park, and Andrew Rabie High School. You can also 'park and walk' from Cilliè High School and Dr Viljoen Primary School.
Inside the stadium area, there's a park that used to be part of the old Prince Alfred Park. The stadium hosted eight exciting games during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The stadium also hosted eight games during the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations tournament. In July 2009, the stadium hosted the Premier's Cup, with teams like Supersport United and Kaizer Chiefs playing.
Later that month, 30,000 fans watched Orlando Pirates play Kaizer Chiefs in the 2009 Vodacom Challenge. On Women's Day in South Africa (August 9, 2009), a special day of games was held. It included women's teams and a match between Brazilian and South African soccer legends. The stadium hosted its first international soccer match on November 14, 2009. The first Premier Soccer League game at the stadium was on November 20, 2009.
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The stadium also hosted a friendly match between local team Bay United and the South Korea team in January 2010. In February 2010, Orlando Pirates played Gaborone United in a CAF Champions League game. The Eastern Province Rugby Union moved its main office to the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium after the 2010 FIFA World Cup. On June 16, 2009, the stadium hosted a tour match between the British & Irish Lions and the new Southern Kings team. In January 2010, the stadium hosted a Super 14 warm-up match between the Cheetahs and an Eastern Province invitational team.
The stadium has hosted several international rugby test matches. In August 2011, South Africa played New Zealand. In June 2012, South Africa played England, which ended in a 14-all draw with 45,000 fans. On June 6, 2009, an open day was held for everyone in the city to see the new stadium. In March 2010, a group of South African churches held a mass prayer around the stadium. In October 2010, there was an attempt to set a world record for the most women in bikinis in one place to help the Cancer Association of South Africa.
A distinct 106-meter high central arch - inspired by the Y-shape of the South African flag and representing the unification of the nation through sport - supports the lightweight cable-stayed roof which covers 85% of the seats in the stadium. At ground level, the main gateway to the stadium is identified by the two legs of the arch on the south side and connected to the city with a 1.5km long linear park.
It was incredibly important to us that the operational phase adopted the same high standards applied during design and construction. Between practical completion and the kick-off for the opening World Cup match, we were managing and coordinating three different programmes; snagging, overlay installation for the tournament and the round the clock steady-state stadium operation.
In 2013 we handed over the stadium again. This time, the handover was to the city of Durban, following three successful years of operation, and including a detailed operations manual and a fully-trained staff team who knew the facility inside out.
DHL Stadium (Cape Town Stadium)
Cape Town Stadium was officially handed over to the City of Cape Town on schedule on 14 December 2009. During the planning stage, it was known as the Green Point Stadium, which was the name of the older stadium on an adjacent site, and this name was also used frequently during World Cup media coverage. It is the home ground of WP Rugby and the Stormers (since 2021), and Premiership club Cape Town City (since 2016).
DHL Stadium (Cape Town Stadium)
The stadium is adjacent to the site of the original 18,000 seater stadium Green Point Stadium. The previous stadium, originally constructed in 1897 and which was partly demolished in 2007 and rebuilt in 2013 as the Green Point Athletics Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium used for cycling, athletics, cricket and soccer. Later used mainly for soccer matches, it was the home ground of Santos Football Club and Ajax Cape Town at different points.
The project architects were an association between GMP Architects of Germany and local firms, Louis Karol Architects and the joint venture practice Point Architects comprising Comrie Wilkinson Architects and Urban Designers, Jakupa Architects and Urban Designers, Munnik Visser Architects and Paragon Architects.
A consortium consisting of South Africa's Sail Group and French-based Stade de France were awarded the service contract to operate the stadium and ensure that it remains a sustainable multi-purpose venue after the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The consortium, called Business Venture Investments 1317, was involved in the management of the stadium from January 2009 onwards. However, in December 2010 the Sail/Stade de France consortium cancelled the lease. Reports in the media at the time said that the consortium considered the agreement as non-viable.
Following the World Cup, temporary rows of seating on either side on the top tier were replaced by events suites and clubrooms, reducing the stadium's capacity to 58,300. The stadium features corporate hospitality suites, medical, training, and conferencing and banqueting facilities. The Greenpoint Park was completed within a year of the World Cup ending as was promised to the people of Cape Town during the public consultation process preceding stadium construction.
Ajax Cape Town used the stadium as their home ground from the 2010-11 season. Due to the stadium's ongoing financial problems, the City of Cape Town had sought to acquire Western Province rugby as an "anchor tenant". In late 2020, Western Province RFU announced that they were selling their longtime home of Newlands Stadium to developers, who planned to demolish the ground and convert it to a mixed-use development. In 2021 the Entity entered into a sponsorships agreement with DHL, granting naming rights to the company. Since then the stadium has officially been known as the DHL Stadium.
South Africa World Cup legacy
The first game to be hosted at the new Cape Town Stadium was a Cape Town derby between Ajax Cape Town and Santos on 23 January 2010 as part of the official inauguration of the stadium. Only 20,000 tickets were made available for the event and were sold out by Friday 15 January 2010. The second of three 'dry runs' at the new Cape Town Stadium was another Cape Town derby. Local Cape Town rugby teams, The Vodacom Stormers and the Boland Inv. XV battled it out at the Cape Town Rugby Festival that took place on 6 February 2010. The Rugby Festival had entertainment from local band Flat Stanley. Only 40,000 tickets were made available for the event. Boland Inv.
Cape Town Stadium hosted its third test event on Monday 22 March, during which all 55,000 permanent seats were available for the first time. Cape Town Stadium hosted its fourth and final test event on Saturday 10 April. This was the first time that the stadium was utilised at night, for the International Under-20 Soccer Challenge between South Africa, Brazil, Nigeria and Ghana.
On 17 November 2010, the Cape Town Stadium hosted its first international friendly. The stadium hosts numerous rugby matches each year. Prior to 2021, the stadium hosted several Stormers matches when they couldn't play at their previous home ground in Newlands. Western Province Rugby and the Stormers have used the stadium as their home ground for both the domestic Currie Cup and international United Rugby Championship (URC) competitions. During their first season at their new home, the Stormers defeated their South African rivals, the Bulls, to win the URC Final at the stadium. The Stormer's success in the URC qualified the team to compete in the European Rugby Championship during the 2022/23 season with several matches being hosted at the stadium, in addition to those for the Currie Cup and URC.
The stadium has also hosted international rugby union matches played by South Africa's Springboks. In July 2021 the Springboks defeated the British & Irish Lions in a 3 match series that were hosted at the stadium. No fans were permitted to attend due to COVID-19. In July 2022, the Springboks defeated Wales in what was South African lock Eben Etzebeth's 100th test for the national team.
The World Rugby Sevens Series hosts a tournament each year in Cape Town, traditionally in December. It was played annually from 2015 to 2019. However, no tournaments took place during 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2022, DHL Stadium played host to the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The men's tournament was won by Fiji, who defeated New Zealand in the Final.
The Cape Town Stadium hosted the sixth edition of Roger Federer's Matches for Africa, a series of charity tennis matches. It took place on 7 February 2020 and featured Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Federer confirmed the date, location, and opponent during the 2019 edition of Wimbledon. South Africa is the birth country of Federer's mother and the focus of his charitable foundation. The doubles match consisted Roger Federer and American tycoon Bill Gates versus Rafael Nadal and South African entertainer Trevor Noah. Federer and Gates won the match 6-4. In singles, Federer beat Nadal with the score 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Cape Town Stadium was featured in the film Safe House (2012). Prior to 2021, several individuals and groups called for the stadium to be demolished due to its under-utilization after the World Cup. Effective utilization and use of the stadium was a political issue in the city. However, beginning in 2021, use of Cape Town Stadium increased significantly when it became the home ground of Western Province Rugby and the DHL Stormers.
Stadium Capacities
Here's a comparison of the seating capacities for each stadium:
| Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|
| Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium | 46,000 (4,000 extra seats added for 2010 FIFA World Cup) |
| DHL Stadium (Cape Town Stadium) | 58,300 |
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