KAUNAS - THE S DARIUS ir S GIRENAS STADIUM - CAPACITY: 8,739 ALL SEATER
About the Steponas Darius ir Stasys Girenas With possibly the longest stadium name in world football, the national stadium in Lithuania can at least be classed to be number one in some aspect. Unfortunately, that is where the records stop. The stadium is the second largest in the country behind the Zalgiris in the capital Vilnius but has recently undergone a major redevelopment programme which has brought it up to the required standard to host UEFA and FIFA matches.
The stadium is named after two of Lithuania’s post war heroes. Both men were pilots who served in the US Army during the First World War, and then in 1933 they attempted to fly non-stop from New York City to Kaunas – a total distance of 7,186km. Unfortunately the plane crashed in bad weather near the German/Polish border just 650km short of their destination.
Today the stadium is not the most comfortable to watch football in. It is a two and a half side open affair, and looks to visitors that it hasn’t quite been finished. One whole side of the stadium has been left uncompleted apart from a huge electronic scoreboard which is used for the athletics meetings held in the ground. Therefore views are not too good and the atmosphere is somewhat lost due to the open air seats.
Who plays there? The stadium is primarily home to FBK Kaunas, Lithuania’s most successful club side. Since the redevelopment work was completed in late 2003 the stadium has also been home to the national team. Despite their poor performances on an international stage they have pulled in some big crowds to the ground such as 8,000 versus France in March 2007 7,000 versus Italy in June 2007.
It will be a different story in September when the visitors are the Faroe Islands I would imagine. However, anyone who has been to a domestic game in Lithuania would know the feeling of one man and his dog watching football as the country is one of the most poorly supported leagues in Europe. In fact the top league in Lithuania has an average attendance comparable with our Conference North or South leagues at less than 650 people.
Despite being the most successful club side, FBK Kaunas still only attract crowds of just 800 on a regular basis. Games against rivals FK Zalgiris Vilnius are the biggest in the season but even then you will only ever see crowds of 2,000.
Since the inception of the Lithuanian league in 1999, FBK have won the title every single year apart from 2005. They have also won the domestic double in 2002, 2004 and 2005 as well as adding the Lithuanian Super Cup in 2002 and 2004. All this has been achieved against the backdrop of instability off the pitch including a renaming of the club from Banga in 1993. A few years ago the club entered into a sponsorship deal with ŪKIO Bankas, one of Lithuania’s biggest banks. Part of the deal saw bank shareholder Vladimir Romanov arrive onto the board at the club. In 2005 Romanov took over at Heart of Midlothian, and since has regularly taken players on loan from Kaunas (11 players were loaned from Kaunas to Hearts in 2006/07 alone) – taking advantage of the different football season dates.
The club have not really had much to shout about in European competition, although they have played a few top clubs. In 2003 they made it to the 2nd Qualifying round before they lost 5-0 on aggregate to Celtic, and two years later they lost 5-1 to Liverpool. In this seasons Champions League draw they have to overcome Zeta of Montenegro to get the chance to play Glasgow Rangers in round two.
How to get there The stadium is relatively central and can be easily accessed by foot from the city centre. Simply follow the Laisves Aleja main road eastwards and then walk through either Parodos Gatve or Vytauto Parkas to reach the stadium.
For a more graphical view of football in Lithuania, go to Footiemap.com to access their excellent website and their page on football in the country
Getting a ticket With club attendances in the Lithuanian league struggling to get over the 1,000 mark you will not need to book your ticket ahead unless you plan on seeing a European tie against one of the big teams should Kaunas progress. Tickets are very cheap start from just 5lita for a place behind the goal.
For international matches, as long as the visitors are not one of the big teams in the world, tickets can be reserved by emailing the Lithuanian FA on info@futbolas.lt. Arrangements for the bigger matches are posted on their website – http://www.futbolas.lt.
Getting around Kaunas has a number of trolleybus and bus routes that transverse the city. These will allow visitors to reach most of the outlying parts of the city if you need to travel. A single ticket on any form of transport costs 1 lita.
Kaunas International Airport is located in the small town of Kamelava some 9 miles northeast of the city centre. It is the second biggest airport in the country, behind Vilnius which is about an hour to the east. Ryanair are the main airline that utilise the airport, flying here daily from London Stansted and Liverpool. Bus number 29 runs to the central station and costs 1lita hourly.
About the Steponas Darius ir Stasys Girenas 