Exbud Arena – stadium description

The stadium at one of Kielce's main arteries dates back to 1930's, though nothing is left of that historic ground. It, despite efforts to upgrade its standard in 1980s and 90s, fell into disrepair and was left significantly below requirements. Together with rapid growth of Korona, this prompted the decision of building a brand new stadium.

Groundbreaking took place in November of 2004 and by April 2006 the stadium was ready for its first ever game, played between Korona and Zagłębie Lubin. Official opening saw the famous Borussia Dortmund arrive for a friendly and return defeated 4:1.

It's widely considered to be the very first modern stadium to be opened in Poland and it thus soon attracted nationwide attention. Just a few months after opening the very first game came as part of the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign. It soon saw a record-breaking 10:0 against San Marino with Poland's fastest ever goal (23rd second). In 2012 the building hosted its first Polish Cup final between Legia and Ruch Chorzów. First ever sell-out crowd came, to no surprise, during the first game against Legia Warszawa in September of 2006.

Due to spatial constraints of the site, the stadium has some quirks. First, the main stand is in the east rather than west. Second, the stands are double-tiered despite limited capacity, in order to minimise the blueprint. Third, the roof is elevated in order to find a common ground between floodlight requirements and local height limit. With no tall individual masts allowed, the raised roof serves as basis for the lighting. This spares nearby residents the excess in lighting pollution, while sound insulation in the west mitigates matchday roar.

First international football event came rather late, when Poland hosted Euro 2017 (U21) and Kielce was one of 6 host cities. On that occasion the VIP zone, lighting and giant screens were improved. Starting in 2014 the stadium has been subject to naming rights deals. First, local giant in press distribution Kolporter took the name until 2018, then Suzuki took over as one of Korona's crucial sponsors. In summer 2022, the seats in the west stand were replaced. The new ones have Korona's colours – they are yellow and red.