Teddy Stadium


Teddy Stadium is a sports stadium in the Malha neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Four football teams currently use the stadium: Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem, Beitar Nordia Jerusalem, and the Israel national football team for select home matches.
The stadium is named after long-time Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek, who was in office during the time of its construction and was one of its prominent advocates.

History

For Beitar, the stadium was a major upgrade after years of playing at the YMCA Stadium, nicknamed "The Sandbox". In the first stage, only the west and east sides of the stadium were built, giving it a capacity of over 14,000. In 1999, work was finished on a north side that increased capacity to 21,600.
The stadium itself is one of the newest in Israel and one of the few that are close to meeting all European standards. It is accessible to the disabled, has modern bathrooms, and has ample concession stands, a combination that is very difficult to find in many Israeli stadiums. The stadium has 5,000 parking spots on its premises, and is connected to the Malha Mall and its parking facilities by a pedestrian bridge.
The stadium is located at the Begin Expressway and just past the Malha Train Station, which ensures convenient road and rail access to the rest of Israel.
With stands close to the pitch and excellent acoustics, Teddy Stadium has hosted several Israel national football team matches, the Maccabiah Games opening ceremony, and other public events.
A south side stand was completed on June 3, 2013, increasing seating capacity to 31,733.
Teddy Stadium was one of the venues for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and hosted the tournament's
final match.
The first official match of the Israel national football team in the new stadium was played on March 31, 2015. Israel hosted the Belgium national football team in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match and lost the match by a score of 0–1.

Supporters

During Beitar matches, the La Familia group occupies the eastern sections of the stadium. They are known for being the most vocal and controversial of fans in the venue.

Renovations

In September 2016 a new solar system which can produce 685 KW per hour has been installed on the roof of Teddy stadium.
In the middle of 2018 Teddy stadium has been started to be renovated, as Jerusalem municipality announced that it will assign 25 million ₪ for upgrading the stadium.
List of things that have been completed until the end of this year:
In February 2019 the second phase of the renovation has been started, and after one year - on May 2020 it has been completed:
In January 2020, Jerusalem municipality have decided to allocate more 30 million ₪ for further improvements and features:

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