Sport has been the order of the day in South Africa for months, following the successful bid for the 2010 football World Cup. However, boasting talents as hosts for more sports than just football, South Africa has a number of impressive sports stadiums, many with fascinating histories and scintillating success stories attached to them.

Football

With new stadiums being built and old stadiums being renovated for the biggest football event of 2010, South Africa’s football facilities are currently second to none. A grand total of ten stadiums were destined for utilisation during the tournament, providing spectators all over the country with plenty of options. Built especially for the World Cup, the Mmombela Stadium, located close to Nelspruit, has a capacity of just over 40,000 and hosted four of the tournament games. The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was also built for the World Cup, and is the first football stadium to have been built in Port Elizabeth. Also with a capacity of over 40,000 this stadium which looks really rather impressive from the outside was the playing ground for eight World Cup matches, including the closely fought battle for third place between Germany and Uruguay. However, the best atmosphere has to be that found at the Free State Stadium in football-fanatical Bloemfontein. Expanded to seat almost 50,000 fans, and host to South Africa’s own debut match in 2010, many would call this stadium by far the best to watch the football from.

Rugby

With South Africa’s national rugby team, the Springboks, not calling any one stadium their own but choosing to play at various locations across the country, it is no surprise that there is no shortage of impressive rugby stadiums in South Africa. One of the oldest, not just in South Africa but in the world, is the Newlands Stadium located in Cape Town; a pitch that has seen many a historical fixture. With seating close to the pitch and the players themselves, the atmosphere at Newlands is contagious to say the least. Another favourite rugby stadium is the Loftus Versfield Stadium in Pretoria. Whilst it has also been known to host football games in the past, its finest moments have been whilst playing host to Rugby Union matches for which it has the capacity to hold almost 52,000 spectators. Finally, one of the most famous places for South Africans to watch rugby matches has to be the Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg. Home to the final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, this stadium is both renowned for its size (capacity of 60,000) and its sponsorship connections with worldwide brand, Coca Cola.

Cricket Grounds

The Supersport Park found in the Gauteng Province is one of the newer cricket grounds in South Africa, but that has not prevented it from being named one of the world’s top ten by cricketer Kapil Dev. With a pavilion and grandstand as well as beautifully maintained grassy embankments for spectators to sit on bringing capacity up to 22,000, this is certainly a favourite amongst cricket fans. A much older cricket ground, the Sahara Stadium Kingsmead in Durban has been around a lot longer, hosting its first test match in 1923 and home to the semi-final round of the Cricket World Cup in 2003. Offering a view of the Indian Ocean as well as the cricket, this stadium is best known for the ‘timeless test’ – a test match that went on for 10 days between England and South Africa and was only brought to a close because England would have missed their boat home otherwise.

So, though recently it might have been all football and vuvuzelas, it is clear by the number of impressive sports grounds there are in South Africa that it truly is a sporting nation.

Author Bio: Rachel Hill is a Southern Africa Travel specialist, a company specialising in luxury, tailor-made South Africa holidays, as well as holidays to other destinations in Southern Africa. Our experienced consultants will help you design your very own luxury South Africa holiday, and will be happy to provide you with a free quote.

Category: Travel
Keywords: South Africa