St. Jakob Park
Joggeli
Location	Basel, Switzerland
Coordinates	47°32′29.67″N 7°37′12.65″E / 47.541575°N 7.6201806°E / 47.541575; 7.6201806Coordinates: 47°32′29.67″N 7°37′12.65″E / 47.541575°N 7.6201806°E / 47.541575; 7.6201806
Broke ground	1998
Opened	15 March 2001
Owner	Genossenschaft Stadion St. Jakob-Park
Operator	Basel United AG
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	CHF 220 million (2001)
Architect	Herzog & de Meuron
Capacity	38,512 (Football)[1] (37,500 for international matches)[2] 60,000 (Concerts)
Tenants
FC Basel (Super League) (1998–present)

 St. Jakob Park (help·info) (German: St. Jakob-Park) is a Swiss sports stadium in Basel. It is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. "Joggeli", as the venue is nicknamed by the locals, was originally built with a capacity of 33,433 seats. The capacity was increased to 42,500 for Euro 2008, which was hosted by Switzerland and Austria.^[3] After the Euro 2008 a number of seats were removed, thus creating more space between them. The capacity was therefore reduced to 38,512^[1] for Swiss Super League matches or 37,500 seats for international matches^[4] The maximum capacity for concerts is 60,000.

Overview[link]

The stadium is divided into four main blocks, A, B, C and D, each block covering one side of the stadium, and block G, consisting of the upper balcony added later. St. Jakob Park is a fairly modern stadium; construction started on 13 December 1998, replacing the former St. Jakob Stadium. The re-opening game took place 15 March 2001.

The "Genossenschaft S.J.P" officially owns the stadium, while the stadium itself is managed by "Basel United". The stadium cost around CHF 220 million to build (US$132 million, €143 million in March 2001^[5]).

Within the stadium, there are 32 shops on three different floors, as well as two restaurants (the "Restaurant UNO" and "Hattrick Sports Bar"). The stadium has parking spaces for 680 cars on two different floors. The stadium can be reached either by bus, tram or train (the stadium has its own train station).

The stadium has been awarded 4 stars by UEFA, which is the highest number of stars that can be awarded to a stadium of that size.

In 2006, there was a riot after a match between FC Basel and FC Zürich. See 2006 Basel Hooligan Incident for more details.

Euro 2008[link]

For Euro 2008, the St. Jakob Park hosted 6 games – 3 group games (including the opening match), two quarter-finals and one semi-final. Torrential rain during the June 11 match left the pitch in such a poor state that the entire grass surface was re-laid, the first time such a decision was made at a tournament of this size. ^[6]

Date	Time (CET)	Team #1	Result	Team #2	Round	Spectators
7 June 2008	18.00	Switzerland	0 – 1	Czech Republic	Group A	39,730
11 June 2008	20.45	Switzerland	1 – 2	Turkey	Group A	39,730
15 June 2008	20.45	Switzerland	2 – 0	Portugal	Group A	39,730
19 June 2008	20.45	Portugal	2 – 3	Germany	quarter-finals	39,374
21 June 2008	20.45	Netherlands	1 – 3 aet	Russia	quarter-finals	38,374
25 June 2008	20.45	Germany	3 – 2	Turkey	semi-final	39,374

Panorama[link]

See also[link]

• List of football stadiums in Switzerland

References[link]

External links[link]

• Basel United Website
• FC Basel Website
• Saint Jakob and Me from JustCantBeatThat.com
• St. Jakob-Park