Silesian Stadium in Chorzów

The attendance record at the Silesian Stadium was not set by football but by speedway: on 2 September 1973 some 130,000 people turned up for the Individual Speedway World Championship. Today's arena in Chorzów's Silesian Park is smaller and far safer, yet its scale is still striking — 54,378 seats under a 43,000 m² roof, described as the largest stand roof in Europe. Polish sport, big-name concerts and Upper Silesian identity all meet in this one bowl.

History: a stadium built by volunteers

The idea of a huge stadium in Silesia predates the war — a design modelled on Berlin's Olympic Stadium was ready in 1939. The decision to build it in the newly created regional Park of Culture and Recreation came on 20 December 1950, with Julian Brzuchowski as architect. Work began in 1951, and the bowl was built of red and white sandstone, granite and concrete. Local people contributed almost 590,000 hours of unpaid work.

The stadium opened on 22 July 1956 with a 0–2 defeat by East Germany. Officially it held 87,000 spectators, but crowds of over 90,000 were common, so it soon earned the nickname "the hundred-thousander". In 1959 it got the first stadium floodlights in Poland.

The Witches' Cauldron

Poland's national team has played here since 1957 and has staged 64 official matches in Chorzów. The nickname "Witches' Cauldron" (Kocioł Czarownic) came from the British press after Poland beat England 2–0 on 6 June 1973 in a World Cup qualifier. Poland sealed qualification for the World Cup here four times (1977, 1985, 2001, 2022) and once for the European Championship (2008). The top scorer for Poland at this ground is Włodzimierz Lubański, with eleven goals.

Rebuilt for a new era

The redevelopment of 2009–2017 transformed the stadium. In 2011 part of the roof structure cracked, delaying the project by several years. The speedway track gave way to an athletics track, and the seats — originally planned in red — were finished in the yellow and blue of Upper Silesia. The new stadium opened on 1 October 2017 with the Silesia Marathon, and since 2020 it has been the National Athletics Stadium.

It now hosts the Janusz Kusociński Memorial and the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial, the latter part of the Diamond League since 2022. The 2028 European Athletics Championships are scheduled for Chorzów. Since the 2023/2024 season Ruch Chorzów have played their home games here, and since 2025 the official name has been Superauto.pl Stadion Śląski.

Did you know?

• For concerts the stadium holds around 85,000 people. The Rolling Stones, U2, AC/DC, Metallica, Guns N' Roses and Rammstein have all played here.
• In 2023 sanah became the first Polish female singer to headline a solo stadium show here, and in June 2024 Dawid Podsiadło drew around 100,000 fans on each of two nights.
• The legendary players' tunnel leading to the pitch is 63 metres long after the rebuild.
• In 1969 Nadezhda Chizhova put the shot 20.09 m here, the first woman ever to pass 20 metres.

Tripto tip

See the stadium on an event day or join a tour. There are three options: the viewing platform 26 m above the arena (PLN 15, reduced PLN 10), a short route with the changing room and pitch (PLN 25/15) and a long route that adds a VIP box, the press stand and a museum room (PLN 38/28). Tours are booked by phone — check the stadium website for the number and dates. Allow 1–1.5 hours, then walk into Silesian Park: the Elka cable car station, the Legendia amusement park and the zoo are right next door. On concert days, use public transport and leave plenty of time.