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Municipal Stadium Poznan
2012 European Championships Stadiums: Municipal Stadium (Poznan)
Although the only stadium of Poland's foursome for Euro 2012 that has been refurbished as opposed to rebuilt, the grand Municipal Stadium in Poznan is still set to be the country's biggest football ground when completed.
The €160 million redevelopment of the home of reigning Polish champions and current Europa League participants Lech Poznan has been a mammoth project with renovation work starting in 2003 and only finishing earlier this month. Poznan supporters are known for their exuberance and for originating "The Poznan" dance, where supporters turn their backs, link arms and bounce up and down in a bizarre goal celebration.
However, locals and Uefa dignitaries thought the seven-year wait worthwhile when British rock star Sting graced the official opening ceremony alongside Polish band Indios Bravos and singer Anna Maria Jopek to unveil the 43,000-capacity state-of-the-art stadium in central Poland.
The first match in the redesigned arena was on September 30 when Lech Poznan entertained Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg in the Europa League. Appropriately, second-half goals from Manuel Arboleda and Sławomir Peszko handed the hosts a 2-0 victory.
After being used for the current domestic season in Poland, three matches will be played in Poznan during the Euro 2012 group phase next summer.
Stadion Miejski © Klapi
Klapi Creative Commons License
Stadion Miejski © Roger Goraczniak
Roger Goraczniak Creative Commons License
Municipal Stadium Poznan Access
The city's obvious green and yellow buses are the current best way to reach the ground from the city centre, although a second Poznan Fast Tram line to complement the current one running to the north of the city is under construction ahead of the tournament.
Lawica Airport is 7km west of the city and has daily flights to Warsaw as well as other major terminals across northern Europe, especially the UK and Germany. Meanwhile, the city's Glowny railway station offers about 20 daily services to Warsaw (three to four hours). Frequent trains also run to fellow Euro 2012 hosts Wroclaw (two-and-a-half hours), Gdansk (four hours) and Kyiv (18 hours).
Follow all the games and results from all the qualifying groups in our Euro 2012 qualification section.
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