Stadionul Dan Păltinișanu

Dan Păltinișanu

Ovalul
Full name	Dan Păltinișanu
Former names	1 Mai (1963–1996)
Location	Timișoara , Romania
Coordinates
Owner	Timiș County Council
Operator	ACS Poli Timișoara
Capacity	32,972
Field size	105 m × 68 m (344 ft × 223 ft)
Surface	Grass
Scoreboard	Yes
Construction
Broke ground	25 July 1960
Built	1960–1964
Opened	1 May 1964
Renovated	1985, 2002, 2008
Architect	Unknown
Tenants
Politehnica Timișoara (1964 - 2012) Poli Timişoara (2012 -) Timișoara Saracens (2014 -)

Dan Paltinisanu Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Timișoara, Romania. It is currently used mostly for football matches by the local team, Poli Timișoara. The stadium is named after Politehnica Timișoara's legend Dan Păltinișanu who played 271 matches in 10 years for the club and scored very important goals, including the qualification goal in UEFA Cup against Celtic and Atlético Madrid. He is considered the best Centre back who ever played for Poli. He died in 4 March 1995 at the age of only 43. The stadium has a capacity of 32,972 seats.

History

The original capacity was 40,000 on benches, but in 2005 when the plastic seats were installed, the capacity dropped to 32,972. The floodlighting system, with a density of 1400 Lux, has been inaugurated in 2004 in a match against Petrolul Ploieşti. Today, following two general renovations in 2002 and 2008 in order to host UEFA Champions League games, Dan Păltinișanu is one of the most modern stadium in Romania offering some state-of-the-art facilities such as: a four-star establishment with all the facilities required for the team, internet for the press-room, 30 cameras for video surveillance, electrically heated pitch, an automated irrigation system, and a modern scoreboard which was the first ever in Romania. The Romanian national football team is also a tenant. The first game played by the national team at Dan Păltinișanu was in March 1983 against Yugoslavia when the stadium's name was 1 Mai. Since then other 6 games were played, the last one in March 2010 against Israel. Recently it was proposed to local authorities to build a new stadium with a capacity of around 50,000.

On 17 April 2014 Romanian rugby union champions RCM Timisoara played their first official game on this ground, defeating Farul Constanta by 35 - 13.

Concerts

• 10 August 1984 - Lepa Brena - 65,000. people.
• 17 July 2006 - Shakira - 23,000. people.

Matches

Romanian national football team

The following national team matches were held in the stadium.

#	Date	Score	Opponent	Competition
1.	30 March 1983	0–2	Yugoslavia	Friendly match
2.	28 August 1985	2–0	Finland	1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.	23 April 1986	2–1	Soviet Union	Friendly match
4.	20 November 2002	0–1	Croatia	Friendly match
5.	6 June 2007	2–0	Slovenia	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
6.	3 March 2010	0–3	Israel	Friendly match

External links

• Stadium image

See also

• List of football stadiums in Romania.
• List of places in Timișoara.