Avoiding this eerily abandoned football stadium would certainly be a wise choice for football fans
The Avanhard Stadium remains a hazardous site, 40 years since it was abandoned following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
The stadium was once the home ground of Soviet club FC Stroitel Pripyat, a fourth-tier team established in the 1970s. Pripyat was created to serve the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The stadium was constructed in 1979, with the club’s players donning black and green jerseys on the pitch.
By 1986, the Soviet city had swelled to an estimated population of 50,000, with the formation of a football club being a top priority. Stroitel had become familiar with success, having clinched the Kyiv Oblast Football Championship three consecutive times between 1981 and 1983.
However, the date of 26 April 1986 will forever be marked by tragedy due to the meltdown and explosion of a reactor at the nuclear power plant.
The blast occurred near the Ukrainian cities of Pripyat and Chernobyl, reportedly just an 11-minute drive from the stadium. It happened on the same day as FC Stroitel Pripyat were gearing up for a cup semi-final match against FC Borodyanka.
The lethal levels of radiation released by the nuclear explosion forced everyone within an 18-mile radius of the power plant to evacuate. The mass exodus also spelled disaster for FC Stroitel Pripyat, who did not play for the rest of 1986.
The club underwent a rebranding to FC Stroitel Slavutych the following year, but was disbanded in 1988. Despite Pripyat remaining deserted nearly four decades after the worst nuclear disaster in history, parts of Avanhard Stadium have withstood the test of time.
Much of the stadium has been reclaimed by nature, with trees and foliage engulfing most of the area, visible from an aerial view. The steps leading down to the pitch, now also overrun by trees, remain discernible, as do the benches in the stands.
Although the structure hasn’t seen any visitors for several decades, the entrance remains relatively intact. The typical features of a football pitch – the green grass and white lines – are long gone, with the centre of the field now more akin to a forest than a sporting arena.
Due to the enduring impact of the radiation, the area will be uninhabitable for approximately 150 years, meaning it’ll be a long time before any restoration work can be carried out on the once 5,000-capacity venue. Any fans daring to venture into the area would be risking their lives.
While the abandoned stadium serves as a chilling reminder of the tragedy that occurred almost 40 years ago, Ukraine continues its journey to qualify for its first FIFA World Cup since 2006.
Managed by Serhiy Rebrov, a veteran of 75 caps for Ukraine and scorer of 15 goals over a 14-year international career, Ukraine currently sit second in Group D in their World Cup qualifying campaign, trailing leaders France by five points.
They were in action on Friday, securing an exhilarating victory in a high-scoring eight-goal thriller against Iceland, emerging as 5-3 victors. They’re set to return to the pitch on Monday, hosting Azerbaijan, as they strive to edge closer to a return to the pinnacle of international football next year.
#Abandoned #European #football #stadium #deadly #enter #years
