Avanhard Stadium

Avanhard Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Rivne, Ukraine. It is currently used mostly for football matches, and is the home of FC Veres Rivne. The stadium holds 4,650 spectators.

History

Sokol stadium (Polish period)

The preceding original stadium was built sometimes in 1920s as part of Polish Sokol sports society (Polish: Sokol) where the local Sokol Rowne team played. At first here played games of the Lublin District League and later the Volhynia District League. It had capacity of about 4,000 spectators. The stadium itself was located right next to the Lubomirski Palace in Rivne. After the World War II, the territory of eastern Poland was annexed by the Soviet Union and passed on to the Soviet Ukraine. The stadium was renamed as Avanhard and its capacity was increased to 5,000.

Avanhard Stadium

In 1960 the local football team Kolhospnyk was granted a status of masters and admitted to the Soviet Class B competitions for the Ukrainian SSR. The stadium was closed down for a complete reconstruction and reopened sometime in 1970 reaching its capacity to 25,000 spectators. During that time Kolhospnyk and later Horyn and Avanhard played at the smaller adjacent field right next to the stadium. In 1980s Avanhard Stadium was among the best in the republic. Following dissolution of the Soviet Union, Veres reached the Vyshcha Liha (top division) and the stadium was filled to the maximum almost at every game.

Sometimes in 1990s seats at the stadium were replaced with plastic seats and the stadium's capacity fell to 20,000. In 2002 the city authorities tried to renovate the stadium, but the project was not finished due to lack of funds. Since then the capacity of Avanhard is 4,500 spectators. In 2011 the main club of Rivne Oblast Veres Rivne was disbanded due to bankruptcy.

In 2013 there was a project for complete restructuring of the stadium, but was never realized.

In 2015 on the efforts of local community and