„Karađorđe“ Through Decades

Karadjordje Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Vojvodina FC. The stadium is one of the most modern stadiums in Serbia and has one of the best pitches in the country. The stadium has a total of 14,458 seats after new renovations were made in 2013. The stadium is also the home ground for the Serbian U-21 football team.

Karađorđe Stadium in 1930

In the late May of 2007, the stadium was the site of Siniša Mihajlović’s testimonial match. In 2009, the stadium was given a new athletic track, the southeast stand and a modern Philips scoreboard. After the reconstruction in 2009, it was the venue of the 2009 European Athletics Junior Championships and the 2011 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship. In 2011, Vojvodina FC installed floodlights with the strength of 1,700 lux. The largest attendance was on 1 March 1967 when Vojvodina played against the Scottish side Celtic in the 1966–67 European Cup quarter-final. There were about 30,000 spectators at the match.

Formerly, it was known as the Vojvodina Stadium or City Stadium. In 2007, the stadium was renamed to Karadjordje Stadium after Karadjordje “Black George”, the leader of the First Serbian uprising. However, Karadjordje Stadium was in fact the older, and original name of the stadium that was used from its foundation in 1924 until the end of the Second World War.

City Stadium in 1976

In early 2012, the executive board announced further reconstructions of the Karadjordje stadium. Original plans included the construction of a new south stand, the reconstruction of the eastern and southwest stand. Finally, in May 2013, as a result of UEFA requirements for obtaining a license for UEFA Europa League participation, the city of Novi Sad agreed to an upgrade of the stadium which took place through June 2013 in time for Vojvodina FC to host Europa League qualifying matches.

Today, Karađorđe stadium has four tribunes and the capacity of 14.458 seats (west tribune 4302, east 2772, north 3994, and south 340). The west tribune contains the VIP sections (capacity of 149 seats), Gallery 66 (67 seats), and Gallery 89 (88 seats), as well as the press box which can receive a total of 48 media representatives.

In 2024, Karađorđe stadium celebrated 100 years of existence. In the year of the jubilee, on June 24^th began the works on the new pitch with hybrid grass. They implemented drainage systems, as well as irrigation systems, and the works were finished in the first week of September 2024.

Here, you can take a look at the interview TurfBusiness had with the stadium manager about the new pitch.

Today, Karađorđe stadium has a new hybrid turf according to the highest European standards.