Štadión Tatran – historical stadium description

What is a brief description of the former Tatran Prešov stadium?

The history of the former Prešov stadium began in 1899, making it the oldest stadium in Slovakia. On December 20, 1944, the facility was damaged by Soviet bombing, which destroyed the wooden grandstand built in 1907.

After the war, the destroyed stadium was rebuilt, and its demise did not come until the 21st century – between 2023 and 2025, a new stadium, Futbal Tatran Aréna, was built partly on its site.

For years, the facility served as the home of Tatran Prešov, the oldest football club in Slovakia. It also hosted numerous events, including the Czechoslovak and Slovak cup finals and one international friendly match.

What is the history of the old Tatran Prešov stadium?

The history of the facility began in 1899, when the city donated a meadow to athletes for the construction of a sports facility. Initially, the stadium was equipped with wooden benches, changing rooms, as well as a small club building, and students from Prešov schools planted some 200 birch trees around it.

In 1907, the first wooden grandstand was built, which could accommodate 400 spectators. During World War II, German soldiers used the stadium as a car park.

On December 20, 1944, Prešov was bombed by the Soviet air force. Bombs also fell on the stadium – the wooden grandstand burned down completely, and three craters were left on the pitch.

The pitch was restored to use in 1945. A year later, construction began on a new grandstand with 1,500 seats, and in 1947, two more side tribunes were added.

The stadium was modernized in the 1950s and 1990s. In the past, the facility was equipped with an athletics track, which was eventually removed. In 2009, plastic seats were installed on the terraced stands, which were located on three sides – on the east and behind the goals – reducing the capacity of the venue to 5,410 spectators.

When was the old Tatran Prešov stadium replaced with a new venue?

In 2016, the city and the Prešov Self-Governing Region established Futbal Tatran Aréna s.r.o., a company tasked with completely rebuilding the stadium. The design was selected at the turn of 2016 and 2017, and in early 2018, three stands were demolished, leaving only the main stand.

Due to the planned reconstruction, Tatran Prešov moved out of the stadium in 2017, but since no further work was carried out apart from the demolition of the three stands, it returned to the facility in 2019. Tatran's last matches at the old stadium took place in 2020.

Construction of the new stadium finally began in mid-2023, with the organization of the Euro U-21 tournament in Slovakia in 2025 providing an additional impetus for the investment. The new stadium was opened on May 3, 2025.

What happened to the main stand of the old Tatran Prešov stadium?

The new stadium was only partially built on the site of the former facility, also occupying the area of the adjacent training ground – the pitch of the new stadium was moved slightly eastward from the previous one.

Therefore, the construction of the new stadium did not require the demolition of the old main stand (the only one that was not demolished in 2018) – throughout the construction work, it stood on the side, behind the new main stand that was being built, and the area around it was slowly overgrown with wild vegetation.

The stand was finally demolished in the spring of 2025, when the new facility was almost complete. The land on which it stood belongs to a company associated with the former owner of the club, who plans to build apartment buildings and commercial facilities.

What events took place at the old Tatran Prešov stadium?

For many years, the facility served the Tatran Prešov, the oldest football club in Slovakia (founded in 1898). In addition, the stadium hosted a number of other interesting events – below are the most notable ones:

• On October 5, 1952, for the only time, the route of the famous Košice marathon led from Prešov to Košice, and the race started at the Prešov stadium
• On May 13, 1990, the stadium hosted the final of the Czechoslovak Cup (Dukla Prague – Inter Bratislava 1–1, p. 5–4)
• On May 8, 2000, the stadium hosted the Slovak Cup final (1. FC Košice – Inter Bratislava 1–1, p. 2–4)
• On May 14, 2002, the Slovak national football team played at the stadium. It was a friendly match against Uzbekistan, which the Slovaks won 4–1