Stadion Stari plac

Stari plac (lit. "Old ground"), also often referred to as Plinara Stadion, (or incorrectly in some foreign sources as Plinada Stadion^[2][3]) is a stadium in Split, Croatia used originally for association football and later mainly for rugby union. It hosted a match between Yugoslavia and Netherlands in the UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying tournament,^[3] and in April 2010 a match between Croatia national rugby union team playing against Netherlands in the 2008-10 European Nations Cup tournament.^{[citation needed]} Stari plac is the home ground of Rugby Club Nada Split.

Stari plac

Full name	Stadion Stari plac
Location	Split, Croatia
Capacity	20,000 (historical), 3,000 (924 seated)[1]
Field size	105 m x 70 m
Construction
Opened	1911
Renovated	1951, 1979
Tenants
Hajduk Split (1911–1979) RK Nada Split

The area the stadium was built on was originally a gasworks and was also used as a military training ground by the army.^[4] It was initially used as the home stadium of HNK Hajduk Split,^[2] and although it was their basic venue in the early years and it was not until 1926 that the first stand was built.^[4]

In the beginning the 100 x 60 meters pitch was oriented west-to-east. After First World War it was resized to 105 x 70 meters on a north-to-south orientation. Its first wooden stands, built in 1926, burned down that same year. Three years later new stands were built with a capacity of 900 people, but these were gradually demolished during the Second World War. After the war the stadium received a major reconstruction with a new drainage system, and a wooden west stand for 1400 people. Ten years later the sandy pitch was replaced with grass one, and later on new stands were built on eastern side of the pitch.^[5]

In November 2009 Hajduk fans watched a home game versus Dinamo Zagreb on a big screen in the Stari plac, rather than see the game in the Poljud, in a protest against actual club board.^[6]