BESIKTAS INONU STADI

GRB-509

Fiyap? Inönü Stadium is a football stadium in Istanbul, Turkey and is the home ground of the football club Besiktas J.K.. Previously the ground has aso been shared with Galatasaray S.K. and Fenerbahce S.K.. The ground is located in Dolmabahçe, close to the Dolmabahçe Palace in the district of Be?ikta?, on the European side of Istanbul. The stadium has an all-seated capacity of 32,086.

BJK Inönü Stadium was designed by Italian architect Paolo Vietti Violi, who collaborated with Turkish architects ?inasi ?ahingiray and Faz?l Aysu for preparing the project. The stable of the Dolmabahçe Palace was chosen as the location to build the stadium. The first foundation was laid on May 19, 1939, but the construction works were frozen due to the outbreak of the Second World War. The stadium was inaugurated on May 19, 1947, by ?smet ?nönü, the second President of Turkey and himself a Be?ikta? fan, and Lütfi K?rdar, the Governor of Istanbul. The initial capacity was 16,000. In the original project plan, there were two bronze statues of athlete figures at the Eski Aç?k tribune: One throwing a discus, and the other one throwing a javelin. However, the statues were never built due to financial concerns. The oil factory which was found behind the stadium was demolished to construct the Yeni Aç?k tribune at the west part of the stadium in 1950 (hence the name Yeni Aç?k, meaning the New Uncovered tribune; referring to the two covered tribunes (Numaral? and Kapal?) and the two uncovered tribunes (Eski Aç?k and Yeni Aç?k).) Yeni Aç?k was also covered with a separate roof structure in 2004. Galatasaray S.K. and Fenerbahce S.K. have shared the stadium with Be?ikta? JK for many years, since the construction of the Ali Sami Yen Stadium, which is the home of Galatasaray football club, was completed in 1964. ?ükrü Saraco?lu Stadium, the home of Fenerbahçe S.K., was renovated in 1982.

The first football match at the ?nönü Stadium took place between Be?ikta? JK and AIK, Sweden, on November 27, 1947, and the first goal in the stadium was scored by Süleyman Seba; the most famous and longest-presiding Chairman of the club (in the 1980s and 1990s) when he used to be a player of Be?ikta? JK. Be?ikta? won this match 3–2. In 1952, the stadium was named as the Mithat Pa?a Stadium, and later in 1973, it was renamed as the ?nönü Stadium. A leasing contract was signed between Be?ikta? JK and the related ministry in February 1998 which gave all usage rights of the ?nönü Stadium to Be?ikta? JK for 49 years.

Renovation work took place at the BJK ?nönü Stadium in 2004. The tartan track was removed within the scope of these activities and the ground level was lowered by 4 meters to increase the capacity of the stadium to 32,145 spectators. The press seats were relocated to the Numaral? tribune from the Kapal? tribune. The lounges that were found in the middle of the Kapal? tribune were demolished and for the first time in Turkey, the wire fence between the tribunes and the pitch were removed for space. The number of the gates were increased by 100%. A press center for BJK TV was built inside the stadium. The toilets and the launch counters were renewed. The Yeni Aç?k tribune was covered with a metallic structure. It complies with the UEFA standards.

Unused 4" x 6" continental size chrome postcard.

Dist. by Gustavo Ramirez