National Stadium (Singapore)

Posted by mama Yeo

Papa Yeo said that our National Stadium (Singapore) will soon be torn down to make way for a new Sports Hub.

World Cup Qualifier,
Third Round, Group 4
Singapore v Saudi Arabia
National Stadium, Saturday 7.30pm

Papa Yeo holds tickets for the match at the grand stand balcony. 3 of went together to honoured the final match held in the Grand Old Lady. Our National Stadium

The Singapore National Stadium (Chinese: 国家体育场; Malay: Stadium Nasional Singapura) is located in Kallang. Opened in July 1973, the National Stadium was officially closed on 30 June 2007 and will be demolished in late 2008 to make way for the Singapore Sports Hub which is expected to open in 2011.

The stadium was used for many sporting, cultural, entertainment and national events, such as the Southeast Asian Games (when it was hosted in Singapore), the Singapore Armed Forces Day, the Singapore Youth Festival Opening Ceremony Parade, and the finals of the 2004 Tiger Cup. The National Stadium has been the venue for the National Day Parade 18 times (in 1976, 1980, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996 to 1999, 2001 to 2004, and 2006).

Ever since the stadium opened in 1973, the stadium has been kept busy mainly due to being host of Singapore's national football team's home matches and other football matches such as the Singapore Cup finals since 1996.

Redevelopment
Plans have been made to demolish the stadium and build the multi-purpose, 35.6 hectare Singapore Sports Hub in its place. Demolition works are expected to begin in the second half of 2007, and the new Sports Hub planned for completion in 2011. Three finalist consortia have submitted their plans, which are currently being evaluated.

[edit] Closure
On 30 June 2007, a closing ceremony titled Field of Dreams – A Tribute to the National Stadium was held at the National Stadium.[6] 45,000 people attended the event, together with President S R Nathan, members of the Cabinet and Singapore athletes, past and present.[7] Before the ceremony, a football match featuring ex-internationals from Singapore and Malaysia like Quah Kim Song, T. Pathmanathan, Samat Allapitchay, V. Sundramoorthy, David Lee, Dollah Kassim, Soh Chin Aun, Santokh Singh, Chow Siew Wai and K. Gunalan was played.[8]

The match was followed by the highlight of the evening, an international friendly between ASEAN champions Singapore and the Asian Cup bound Australian team, the Socceroos. The Australians won 3-0 with goals scored by English Premier League players Mark Viduka (50, 86 mins) and Harry Kewell (75 min). This was, however, not the last football match to be played in the stadium as it would still be used for some 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification matches for AFC Zone.