Xanthi FC Arena
Princess Palace (because Skoda Xanthi is usually called the Princess of Xanthi | |
 | |
| Former names | N/A |
|---|---|
| Location | Kimmeria GR-671 00 Xanthi Greece |
| Owner | Skoda Xanthi FC |
| Operator | Skoda Xanthi Holdings Inc. |
| Capacity | 7,361 |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | October 21, 2003 |
| Opened | May 30, 2004 |
| Closed | Open |
| Demolished | N/A |
| Construction cost | € 6,5 million (Euros) |
| Architect | Santiago Calatrava Pierre de Modjuon |
| Tenants | |
| Skoda Xanthi (Alpha Ethniki) Skoda Xanthi B (Youth Championship) | |
Skoda Xanthi Arena is a new Stadium built by Skoda Xanthi in Xanthi ,Thace ,Greece.It was built in a record time of ten months in 2004.It is a multipurpose stadium and it is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Skoda Xanthi FC.It hold up to 7,500 spectators and 95% of the seats are under the roof.
Capacity
The stadium's official capacity is 7,361 (all seated).The seats are first-class and among the best in Europe.They were specially designed for this stadium in the USA and they are similar to those used in the new Allianz Arena.
Location
The stadium is located near Pigadia, a village 5 km east of Xanthi. This city is in the region of Thrace (230 km east of Thessaloniki). You may get there by train. Xanthi does not have an airport, but it is served by the international airport of the nearby city of Kavala (45 km away). To get to the stadium itself on a matchday, you may use the special buses that are arranged for fans. They leave the central square of Xanthi one hour before the scheduled kick-off time. If, however, you want to drive to the stadium yourself, you should follow the directions below: - Coming from within Xanthi, exit the city through the Xanthi-Iasmos road. After about 2 km you will get to the village of Kimmeria, where you must turn right towards Pigadia. - Coming from the motorway, exit at "Xanthi - East", heading north to the city of Xanthi. After a few km you will see a very large factory (SEVATH) and a junction with roadsigns pointing right, towatds the village of Pigadia and the stadium.
Built in
It was built in 2004 because Skoda needed a first-class stadium as they qualified for UEFA Cup for second straight year,something rare in the clubs history.
Record attendance
The average attendance in the matches is almost 5,500 people .The peak attendance is 6,410 in a game against PAOK FC.(Skoda Xanthi FC vs PAOK FC - on 28/8/2005)
Home of
The stadium is home of Skoda Xanthi FC (1st Division) as well as the clubs academy.
More data
The stadium's official name is "Skoda Xanth Arena", however this is rarely used by fans and the media. It is located next to the village of Pigadia and is part of club's training and sports centre. The latter includes, among other features (e.g. 7 football fields), a resort hotel. The construction of the stadium itself was completed in the summer of 2004 at a cost of about €6.5 million. This meant that from the beginning of the 2004-05 season, Skoda Xanthi FC moved in, leaving their traditional home in the centre of the city (Xanthi Stadium). Pigadia Stadium was initially designed to have two stands and a capacity of about 5,500. As works progressed, it was decided that a third north stand would also be built. For the time being, this third stand is not covered by a roof, like the other two. This will most probably happen in the future, followed by the construction of a fourth south stand. This would increase capacity to about 9,000. Finally, note that the stadium currently has 1,000 parking spaces available for fans. This number will soon be doubled, as an extra car-park will be constructed.