Yuexiushan Stadium越秀山体育场

The Yuexiushan Stadium (simplified Chinese: 越秀山体育场; traditional Chinese: 越秀山體育場; Jyutping: Jyut⁶sau³saan¹ Tai²juk⁶coeng⁴) is a multi-purpose stadium in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, named for its location at the foot of Yuexiu Hill. It is currently mostly used for football matches and also sometimes for athletics. It is located on 4 Yingyuan Road. The stadium is owned by the Guangzhou Sports Bureau.

The original stadium at the same location opened before 1926. In 1950, it was completely rebuild with a capacity for 35,000 people. However, following renovation and the installation of fixed seating in 2012, the capacity is now 18,000.

The stadium is best reached by taking Guangzhou Metro Line 2 to Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall Station.

History

In the Qing dynasty, it was originally the location of the ammunition depot. When the Republic era came, Chen Jiongming planned to turn the area into a sports venue. The playground opened before 1926, and had muddy ground and few facilities.

In 1950 the new government refresh the playground as both a sports stadium and arena for civic celebrations. As the home stadium of first the Guangzhou city side and later the Guangdong provincial side, Yuexiushan hosted a large number of friendly matches with international opposition in the late 1950s and early 1960s including against Algeria, Sweden and Soviet champions Spartak Moscow. These games would come to be known as 'foreign battles' and would see both Cuba and Albania play at Yuexiushan in the early 1970s and, after the end of Cultural Revolution, visiting sides included the West German Olympic Team.

Yuexiushan was also the venue for Guangzhou's National Day celebrations, although an event to mark the 40th anniversary of the Russian October Revolution ended in disaster when 33 people were killed in a crush.

The Yuexiushan Stadium hosted the inaugural Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup match in early 1979, which Guangdong won 1-0.

By the late 1980s Yuexiushan was no longer the premier groun

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