text: FC Slovan Liberec | Stadium | History
  Football has been played on the present U Nisy Stadium since 1933; in that year, the town hall designated the plot for the Czech SK Liberec Club (called Slavia Liberec from 1934) that finally got its own facilities by that step. At that time, the current name of the stadium was not used; it was called "Pod chudobincem" ("Under the Poorhouse"), based on the current Youth Home in Zeyerova Street above the current Main (South) Tribune. The First League competitions premiered on the U Nisy Stadium on May 24, 1953 when Slavoj, one of the predecessors of current Slovan hosted a match with Slavia (Dynamo at that time) from Prague in front of ten thousand spectators.
  During more than fifty years of its history, Slovan alternated the Městský stadion (Town Stadium)) in Jeronýmova Street and the U Nisy Stadium as its home post several times. The U Nisy Stadium underwent significant reconstruction in the second half of 1970's and it was reopened in April 1978 before the derby against Jablonec. Another return from the Town Stadium to which Slovan had been moved as from the 1982/83 season came in the 1986/1987 season.
  After Slovan had advanced to the highest competition in 1993, the Club got an exception and it could play the first season on the U Nisy Stadium, although the condition of the stadium was insufficient for the First League: the stadium could hold 5575 spectators, with only 500 seating places (on the old small tribune that later gave way to the current Northern Tribune). The first home League match of Slovan sold out the U Nisy Stadium on August 14, 1993 when Viktoria Žižkov came to play to Liberec. In the same season, namely on April 30, 1994, the first match, against Union Cheb, was transmitted by television from the U Nisy Stadium. But in the 1994/1995 season, Slovan had to move to the Town Stadium, while the U Nisy Stadium underwent great changes: a big part of a nearby rock massif was demolished and the new Main Tribune with more than 2000 sitting places was built, increasing the total capacity of the stadium to 7052 places. Due to the bad condition of the pitch of the U Nisy Stadium, that often led to forced postponement of League matches, particularly in the spring part of the League, Slovan played several matches on the Town Stadium in spring 1996 too.
  The historically lowest visit to the U Nisy Stadium - let' s believe the lowest visit for good - was recorded at the match of the 4th round of the 1996/1997 season against Viktoria Plzeň that had to be played without spectators due to rowdyism at the preceding home match. In summer 1997, the first training area with artificial surface was built on the U Nisy Stadium. The spring part of the 1997/1998 season brought a new move to the Town Stadium because of another reconstruction of the U Nisy Stadium, including, among other things, the necessary enlargement of the pitch, building of drainages, completion of the in-building in the Main Tribune and construction of new tribunes behind the goals (Eastern and Western Tribunes, so far without roofs). But since the 7th round of the 1998/1999 season (October 18, 1998), Slovan has been playing its home matches exclusively on the U Nisy Stadium.
  Thanks to the entry into the European Cups, specifically thanks to the home match against FC Liverpool (on November 9, 2000), our stadium has finally got artificial lights too. They were erected during only one month! Another significant improvement to the stadium consisted in the construction of the new Northern Tribune with a capacity of more than 2500 sitting places under roof, from which the spectators can watch football matches since the legendary 2001/2002 season. At that time, new training areas with lights were added to the grounds too. In 2002, the so needed lawn heating was installed, as well as V.I.P. spaces on the Main Tribune and the new area for player warming-up under the Main Tribune. A year later, the stadium got also a large-screen display, as one of the first ones in the Czech League.
  The last great reconstruction during which the U Nisy Stadium got its current look took place in the 2004/2005 season. The town administration first did not approve the subsidy for completion in April 2004, but a month later, it approved it, although in reduced amount. Thanks to that, the Western and Eastern Tribunes finally got roofs, and new facilities for the Club management, including fan shop, children's playroom, fan area and later a restaurant were built in place of the old administration building behind the Eastern Tribune. Today, the U Nisy Stadium is a modern and pleasant football centre with a capacity slightly below 10 000 places that, additionally to big European clubs like FC Liverpool, AC Milano or FC Schalke 04, has twice hosted the matches of the Czech football national team.