The U. J. Esuene Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Calabar, Nigeria. It is used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Calabar Rovers and previously Dolphins F.C.Dolphins to maintain Esuene stadium The stadium has a capacity of 16,000 and was opened in 1977.
History The UJ Esuene Stadium was inaugurated on 2 April, 1977 with a match between Benin's Bendel Insurance F.C. and newly formed Calabar Rovers of Calabar. Two weeks later, the stadium hosted an international encounter between Enugu Rangers and Tonnerre Yaoundé - a game that featured the likes of Roger Milla, Christian Chukwu and Emmanuel Okala.
Games at the 2003 All-Africa Games were also played at the U. J. Esuene Stadium in October 2003, as were Nigeria's qualifiers for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. It was also shortlisted as a stadium for the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup and hosted eight games, including the South Korea-Nigeria quarterfinal.Calabar Okayed for United, Pompey Clash
The stadium has been further upgraded to include an ultra-modern electronic video-matrix scoreboard, with impressive floodlights.
Notable football matches hosted 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship Date Team 1 Result Team 2 Attendance Round5 April 19994–312,000Group F2–08 April 19990–08,00014 April 19994–012,000Round of 16
2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup Date Team 1 Result Team 2 Attendance Round25 October 20092–09,200Group C2–110,10028 October 20092–16,8000–08,60031 October 20092–26,1001–17,000Group D5 November 20091–2 3,600Round of 169 November 20091–39,100Quarter-final
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