Raiko Mitić (stadium)

On December 27, 1959, Crvena Zvezda played the last match at the old stadium built in 1927, which stood in the same place. The opponent in the farewell game was the Novi Sad club. After the game, the stadium was destroyed in order to build a new modern building. To prepare the construction site of the new stadium, which was supposed to be 12 meters lower than the previous one, more than 350 thousand cubic meters of soil and 15 thousand cubic meters of stone were dug.

After three years of construction, the new stadium was ready. The official opening took place on September 1, 1963, before the game of the First League of Yugoslavia, in which Crvena Zvezda beat Rijeka 2-1. On this day, approximately 55,000 spectators entered the stadium through nine 5-meter entrance gates and settled in the stands still unfinished. The first visitor to the stadium was Laza Petrovich, a peasant from Loznitsa . This ardent fan of Crvena Zvezda arrived at the new stadium early in the morning, took his place on the eastern stand, took out cheese and a tortilla from his bag, ate breakfast and patiently waited until the end of the day when the game began.

The highest attendance for that period was recorded in the fall in the derby against Partizan - 74,000 people. The following year, after the stadium was completely completed, its capacity increased to 110,000 spectators, and it received an unofficial nickname - “Maracana” , in honor of the famous Brazilian stadium . In addition to the breathtaking view, the new stadium also had magnificent grass cover with drainage, which made the games much more enjoyable.

The first official goal was scored by Trifon Mikhailovich in the match between the youth teams Crvena Zvezda and Zemuna , which took place before the first game with Rijeka. The first official goal in the highest Yugoslav football division was scored by Vukoj from Rijeka, while Dusan Maravić scored the very first goal in the new stadium for Crvena Zvezda in the same game.

According to the number of tickets sold, on April 23, 1975, in the semifinals of the Cup Winners' Cup against the Hungarian Ferencvaros (2: 2), there were officially 96,070 spectators in the stands, but the number of spectators was approaching a maximum of 110,000.

In the mid-90s, in order to meet the UEFA requirements for the comfort and safety of spectators, the stadium was equipped only with seats, and their number was reduced to 51 538.

In December 2014, the leadership of the Crvena Zvezda football club, at the suggestion of fans and veterans of the club, renamed the stadium into the stadium named after Raiko Mitich , the legendary player and one of the founders of the club ^[1]

On November 18, 2017, before the match against Rada , a monument was unveiled to him at the Raiko Mitich Stadium. ^[2] It is worth saying that Crvena Star defeated Rad with a score of 6: 1

• The final match of the Champions Cup in the 1972/1973 season between Ajax and Juventus (1-0) on May 30, 1973 . It occupies the third place in the list of attendance records (91 564 spectators were registered in the stands). The match was attended by Rud Krol , Johan Neskens , Johnny Rep , Johan Cruyff , Dino Zoff , Fabio Capello , Jose Altafini , Roberto Bettega and others.
• 1976 European Football Championship (the only tournament of such a scale that Yugoslavia hosted). Two matches were played here: the semifinal between Yugoslavia and Germany , in which Germany won 2-4 in extra time, losing most of the match 0-2, and the final on June 20, 1976 between Czechoslovakia and Germany , in which Czechoslovakia won by penalty 5: 3 (the main time of the match ended in a draw 2: 2). The winning penalty in the original manner was scored by Antonin Panenka , who sent the ball “parachute” right in the center into the goal of Sepp Mayer . This hit went down in history as a “ Panenka style hit ."
• On April 24, 1991, Crvena Zvezda and Bayern Munich met in the semifinals of the Champions Cup. The Belgrade club had an advantage 2-1 after the away game (this was the first home defeat of the Munich club in European competition). The stadium was attended by 100 thousand people. Sinisa Mikhailovich scored the first goal, but Bayern won the lead with two quick goals and leveled the total score of the meetings. Only in the compensated time did the Yugoslavs save the fatal mistake of Klaus Augenthaler , who cut the ball into the goal of Raymond Aumann in the fall. The match ended with the score 2: 2, and “Red Star” went to the finals. The final whistle caused jubilation in the stadium and a massive exit of fans on the field. In the final, Crvena Zvezda already outplayed the Marseille Olympic in a penalty shootout in Italy and won the European Cup for the first and last time in its history.
• In the fall of 1996, Crvena Zvezda hosted the Kaiserslautern and Barcelona in the 1/32 and 1/16 finals of the Cup Winners Cup , respectively. The significance of the matches was enormous because the Yugoslav club had not played for 4 years due to the sports and political embargo. The first match against Kaiserslautern was lost 1-0, but Zvezda took place in extra time on September 26, 1996 thanks to the game of Dejan Stankovic and Peritsa Ognyanovich . In the next round, the rival was Barcelona, ​​which included Ronaldo , Hristo Stoichkova and Luis Figo . “Crvena Zvezda” had to win with a goal difference of 2 goals in order to advance further (she lost the first match 3: 1 at “ Nou Camp ”). At first, Zoran Jovisic made the score 1-0, but the hosts' enthusiasm was quickly exhausted due to the quick response of Barcelona, ​​one minute later Giovanni Silva equalized. After that, the players of Barcelona kept the score convenient for themselves 1: 1. The contest was also remembered because of its carnival atmosphere - the choreographic performance, which took place in all four stands, included retractable flags covering the entire platform, banners and mosaics from color modules.

• Official site of FC “Crvena Zvezda”
• Page of the stadium on the official website of FC "Crvena Zvezda"