U. J. Esuene Stadium

4°58′04″N 8°19′37″E / 4.9677°N 8.3269°E / 4.9677; 8.3269Capacity16,000Opened1977TenantsCalabar Rovers

The U. J. Esuene Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Calabar, Nigeria. It is used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Calabar Rovers and previously Dolphins F.C.^[1] The stadium has a capacity of 16,000 and was opened in 1977. ^[2]

History

The UJ Esuene Stadium was inaugurated on 2 April, 1977 with a match between Benin's Bendel Insurance F.C. and newly formed Calabar Rovers of Calabar. Two weeks later, the stadium hosted an international encounter between Enugu Rangers and Tonnerre Yaoundé - a game that featured the likes of Roger Milla, Christian Chukwu and Emmanuel Okala.

Games at the 2003 All-Africa Games were also played at the U. J. Esuene Stadium in October 2003, as were Nigeria's qualifiers for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. It was also short-listed as a stadium for the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup.^[3]

The stadium has been further upgraded to include an ultra modern electronic video-matrix scoreboard, with impressive floodlights.

Notable football matches hosted

1999 FIFA World Youth Championship

Date	Team 1	Result	Team 2	Attendance	Round
5 April 1999	Zambia	4–3	Honduras	12,000	Group F
	Spain	2–0	Brazil
8 April 1999	Zambia	0–0	Spain	8,000
14 April 1999	Brazil	4–0	Croatia	12,000	Round of 16

2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup

Date	Team 1	Result	Team 2	Attendance	Round
25 October 2009	Iran	2–0	Gambia	9,200	Group C
	Colombia	2–1	Netherlands	10,100
28 October 2009	Netherlands	2–1	Gambia	6,800
	Iran	0–0	Colombia	8,600
31 October 2009	Gambia	2–2		6,100
	New Zealand	1–1	Turkey	7,000	Group D
5 November 2009	Iran	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Uruguay	3,600	Round of 16
9 November 2009	South Korea	1–3	Nigeria	9,100	Quarter-final

References