Bloomfield Stadium () is a football stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel, with a capacity of 29,400. It is the home stadium of Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Tel Aviv. The stadium also serves the Israel national football team for some select home matches.
History
Bloomfield Stadium was built in Eastern Jaffa, on the land where Basa Stadium, home to Hapoel Tel Aviv since 1950, once stood. Finance for the stadium project came from the Canadian Association of Labour, Israel, a Canadian charity supporting the charitable works of the Hapoel Sports Movement of the Histadrut Labour Organization in Israel, the Bloomfield family of Montreal, Canada, directly and through their family foundation called the Eldee Foundation. The project was financed in Canada and intended to honor the names of brothers Bernard M. Bloomfield and Louis M. Bloomfield, Q.C. of Montreal, Canada for their lifelong dedication to the ideals of sport in Israel. The first match at the new stadium was a 1–1 draw between Hapoel and Shimshon Tel Aviv on 13 October 1962. The stadium officially opened on 13 December 1962 on a friendly match between Hapoel and Dutch club Sportclub Enschede.
In 1963, Maccabi Tel Aviv moved into Bloomfield Stadium after hosting of their matches at the Maccabiah Stadium, in 1985 Maccabi left Bloomfield Stadium for the Ramat Gan Stadium and in 2000, Maccabi returned to host at Bloomfield Stadium.
In 1964, Bloomfield Stadium hosted the 1964 AFC Asian Cup.
In 2004, Bnei Yehuda moved into Bloomfield Stadium making it the only stadium in the top three divisions of Israeli football to have three tenants.
In September 2010, Bloomfield Stadium was granted Category 4 status by UEFA, which will allow it to host Champions League Group stage matches.
It was one of four venues at the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, holding three matches in Group A.
Between 2016 and 2019, it was closed due to renovations for expansion to 29,000 seats. As a result, the three clubs had to play their home matches in Petah Tikva and Netanya up until August 2019.
When Israel allowed concerts to take place again after the COVID-19 pandemic, Bloomfield Stadium was one of the first arenas to let people in for live shows.
On 1 August 2021, Bloomfield Stadium hosted the 2021 Trophée des Champions between Lille and Paris Saint-Germain.
On 31 July 2022, Bloomfield Stadium hosted the 2022 Trophée des Champions between Paris Saint-Germain and FC Nantes.
Location The stadium is located between "Hatkuma", "She'erit Israel" and "Hathiya" streets and to the west of "Groningen Garden".
Transportation The stadium is served by the "Bloomfield Stadium station" on the Red Line, located southwest of the stadium. It is also served by bus routes 1, 25, 40, 41, 42, 46, 125, 142 and 418.
Concert venue The stadium has hosted musical acts such as Pixies, Soundgarden, Phil Collins, the Black Eyed Peas, Scorpions, Andrea Bocelli, Barbra Streisand, and Rihanna.
Gates Gate Entrance Area Seating capacity Notes 1/VIP 24–27 204–206, 304–306, 404–406 1,316Gold Tribune, Platinum Tribune, Press Tribune and Sky Box 2 28–30 207–209, 307–310 3,130Home stand for Hapoel and Maccabi 4/5 41–48 214–217, 311–318 4,842Home stand for Hapoel fan organization Ultras Hapoel. In Maccabi matches, this stand is used for visiting supporters. 7 71–74 221–224, 319–324, 419–424 5,338Home stand for Hapoel and Maccabi 7/8 75–76 225, 325, 425 1,130Home stand for Hapoel and Maccabi 8 77–80 226–229, 326–331, 426–431 5,342Home stand for Maccabi and Hapoel 10/11 101–108 233–236, 332–339 4,861Home stand for Maccabi fan organization Maccabi Fanatics. In Hapoel matches, this stand is used for visiting supporters 13 21–23 201–203, 300–303 3,149Home stand for Hapoel and Maccabi
International matches Date Result Competition Attendance 29 May 1964 2–0 1964 AFC Asian Cup 22,000 2 June 1964 3–1 1964 AFC Asian Cup 5,000 17 March 1968 7–0 1968 Summer Olympics qualification 14,000 22 March 1968 4–0 1968 Summer Olympics qualification 10,000 28 March 1979 0–2 1980 Summer Olympics qualification 17,000 30 October 1983 1–0 1984 Summer Olympics qualification 8,000 20 November 1983 0–1 1984 Summer Olympics qualification 17,000 11 October 1995 2–0 UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying 7,000 26 March 2011 2–1 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying 10,801 29 March 2011 1–0 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying 13,716 2 September 2011 0–1 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying 13,100 25 March 2021 0–2 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 5,000 28 March 2021 1–1 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 5,000 24 September 2022 2–1 2022–23 UEFA Nations League 29,200 25 March 2023 1–1 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying 28,935 12 September 2023 1–0 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying 28,435
Gallery
See also
List of football stadiums in Israel Tel Aviv derby Football in Israel
References
External links
Bloomfield Stadium the official website Bloomfield Stadium on stadiumdb.com Bloomfield Stadium on worldstadiums.com Bloomfield Stadium on The Stadium Guide