Stadion Sokoła Ostróda – stadium description

New stadium in Ostróda was built on the site of previous football stadium in town, which offered only 800 seats on landfill stands. The option of multiplying its size came with EU funding and Poland being selected to host Euro 2012, along with Ukraine.

The aspiration of Ostróda was to become a training base for one of the teams. The area has good hotel infrastructure and quite picturesque landscape, with the stadium itself lying less than 100 meters away from the waters of Drwęckie Lake.

Initial plan suggested a 4,000+ stadium with entirely covered auditorium. However, despite capacity having grown to nearly 5,000 over the design process, growing cost estimates forced withdrawal from the covering of east side. Early estimate talked of some PLN 25 million, all expense included, while final pre-construction estimate put the stadium at over 32 million, cost-cutting included.

Despite only partial covering, over 2,000 people are protected from the elements, enough to house home crowds on matchdays. Interestingly, the stadium actually has six independent stands, three on each side of the field. Artificial lighting is provided by four tall masts, which pertrude the woodland landscape.

Along with the football stadium there was a training field created behind the north end, while behind the south side there's an ice rink, two tennis courts and a climbing wall. In total, the stadium received external funding of over PLN 20 million from the EU.

The city's hopes of hosting a Euro 2012 team unfortunately were let down as no football association opted to stay in Ostróda. That same year the stadium was supposed to host Poland's Super Cup game, however the mayor withdrew the bid after pitch invasion in the preceding Polish Cup final. For that reason the stadium has only hosted friendly games and the official fixtures of Sokół.