Baník Ostrava will probably return to Bazaly in the future, the city will build a new stadium there

Ostrava – Football club FC Baník Ostrava is likely to return to the legendary Bazaly stadium in the future. The city plans to build a new stadium in the area. A feasibility study commissioned by the city showed that the construction of a sports facility for at least 15,000 spectators is possible in the original site. This was announced to reporters by Mayor Jan Dohnal. The city intends to announce an architectural competition later this year, with construction potentially starting in 2027. The city estimates the costs of building the stadium at a maximum of 1.5 billion crowns.

The home ground of Baník was the stadium at Bazaly from 1959 until the 2014/2015 season, when the footballers had to move to the City Stadium in Ostrava-Vítkovice because the original stadium no longer met the established conditions. However, the functioning of footballers and athletes in the shared facilities is considered relatively problematic by the city management, and in the long term, they plan to develop athletics at the stadium and attract top coaches to the regional metropolis. According to the mayor, the city stadium is already at the limit of its capacity.

According to the club owner Václav Brabec, the facilities for the footballers are inadequate. "Baník is the only club in the republic that plays at an athletic stadium. Everything is adapted to athletics, whether it’s the press zone, the concessions, which are insufficient. The distance from the sector behind the goal is such that fans can’t see what is happening on the other side of the field at all,” Brabec stated.

The city commissioned the feasibility study in February. "This study says that it did not find anything that would prevent the construction of a football stadium," Dohnal noted. He added that the entire process is still at the beginning and a project will need to be prepared. "I am glad that the study came out. My path and Baník's path today is directed towards Bazaly," Brabec said.

The mayor recalled that the city had long considered the construction of a new football stadium and had examined several options, including the construction of a new football stadium near the city stadium. However, the land there is not owned by the city, and a change in the zoning plan would also be necessary.

"The next step will be for the city to prepare the conditions for the architectural competition. The design of how the stadium will look will come from the architectural competition, which we would like to announce no later than the end of this year. We expect the competition could take place in the first half of next year. By the end of 2026, we could have project documentation at some stage of permitting. The actual implementation, if we do not encounter any unforeseen complications, could start in 2027,” Dohnal said.

He did not rule out that the stadium could have a larger capacity than what the authors of the feasibility study worked with. However, according to the mayor, a larger stadium than for 18,000 to 20,000 visitors will not fit in the area. "Personally, I think we will be around 17,000," Dohnal stated.

The city estimates the costs of building a new football stadium at a maximum of 1.5 billion crowns. The estimates were based on the construction costs of the stadium in Hradec Králové. Brabec stated that he is ready to financially contribute to the construction of the stadium.

The city decided to buy Bazaly in 2013 as the club then faced significant financial problems. The city paid about 115 million crowns for the site, saving the club from bankruptcy. The purchase of Bazaly faced criticism and was only successfully passed in a repeated vote at the council. The city subsequently had the site repaired for about 320 million crowns, and since 2019 it has been used by young footballers for training as well. The spectator capacity of the main playing field of the stadium is currently 450 seats.