Baku
Tofİq Bahramov Republican Stadium
Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium · after the 2011-12 reconstruction.
Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium is a football ground in Baku holding 31,200, opened in 1951. It is the 2nd largest of the 21 grounds listed here.
Updated
- City
- Baku
- Opened
- 1951
- Home to
- Qarabağ (UEFA and selected league matches) · formerly Neftçi and the national team
- Location
- 40.3931, 49.8547Opens in OpenStreetMap
The story
Named in 1993 after Tofiq Bahramov — the linesman who signalled that Geoff Hurst's shot had crossed the line in the 1966 World Cup final, making it the first stadium in the world named after a referee. English newspapers called him "the Russian linesman"; he was Azerbaijani, and a former Neftçi player whose career a leg injury had ended. A full-length statue by Mamednijat Salakhov was unveiled outside on 13 October 2004, inaugurated by Hurst himself with Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini in attendance.
Built 1939-51, partly by German prisoners of war after the war interrupted construction. Named for Stalin (1951-56), then Lenin (1956-93). Record crowd 50,000, Neftçi v Galatasaray, 1960. Renovated 2011-12.
