Free State Stadium

The Free State Stadium is located in the South African city of Mangaung / Bloemfontein and is home to a large number of football-crazy fans. The stadium was built in 1952 and went through a series of renovations in 2008 and also a quick makeover for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The stadium can now host around 45,000 fans, a difference of a 7000 from an earlier capacity of 38,000 fans.

The Free State Stadium is mostly remembered and recognized for hosting the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup semi-final match between Spain and the United States of America. In that match, a very determined USA searched hard to successfully register a historic win against an unaware Spain.

Apart from playing host to the semi-final between the Spanish and the Americans, the Free State Stadium has also hosted numerous rugby union and football matches. Vodacom Park, another name for the Free Stadium, even hosted a few matches of the African Cup of Nations and the 1995 Rugby World Cup. The creation of the Bloemfontein Celtic, a hugely popular football club, helped increase the passion for football amongst the locals and even highlighted the importance of the Free State Stadium. The Free Stadium is the home stadium to the Bloemfontein Celtic, the Free State Cheetahs and the Central Cheetahs. The city of Mangaung / Bloemfontein is noted for being home to South Africa’s most passionate football fans.

The Free Stadium boasts of a new scoreboard, CCTV cameras, an upgraded sound system and floodlights. Playing cricket, hockey, tennis and swimming have now also been made possible at Mangaung / Bloemfontein’s Free State Stadium.

The schedule for the matches to be held at the Free State Stadium is given below.