A national football league team from Gornji Milanovac finally gets its own football pitch - Metalac football club to obtain EUR 3 million stadium in spring 2012

(future look of the stadium)

After several announcements, delays and clashes, the football club (FC) Metalac from Gornji Milanovac will finally have its long-time dream fulfilled - the construction of a new stadium. There is no doubt any more: as of next spring, this football team, competing in the national football league, will not be playing matches on a football pitch in Kragujevac or Cacak, but on its own pitch, worth EUR 3 million, which will meet all FIFA and UEFA standards. The new stadium will also have 3,600 seats for spectators, lights, and a video recording system.

Co-investors - the Republic Directorate for Property, the municipality of Gornji Milanovac, and the company Metalac from that town, signed an agreement on the construction of a new stadium on Friday (September 9, 2011). Metalac will provide 85% of the required funds, while the football club will cover 15% of the expenses, which are estimated at nearly EUR 3 million.

The owner of the 1.38-hectare building lot, on which this football pitch will be built, is the Republic Directorate for Property, whereas the user of that lot is the municipality of Gornji Milanovac, which will do its part for the project by exempting the investors from public utility and other taxes and by building public utility infrastructure and access roads. In return, the municipality will get 280 square meters of office space on the first floor of the future stadium.

- All three co-investors have filed a request for the location permit, and we expect it to be issued as early as next week so that the construction works could commence in late September - Gorica Petrovic, head of the municipal administration of Gornji Milanovac, says for eKapija.

The central stadium, with the pitch and stands, should be finished until June 2012 when football players from Gornji Milanovac will be able to play the national football league matches on their new pitch. The second phase will include installation of lights and accompanying works, whereas the whole project is to be implemented within 30 months after the conclusion of the agreement.

- The author of a preliminary design for the new stadium, of which gross surface will be close to 7,000 square meters, is Uzice-based Konstruktor. The stadium will be completely lit so that our football team will finally be able to play matches in evening hours as well. Also, the facility will meet all requirements for video recording and live broadcasting of games - Dusan Lazic, director of Metalac, explains for eKapija.

- The total surface of all accompanying rooms is about 4,500 square meters, most of which are premises and infrastructure utilized by the club, but there will also be an office space for rent – says our interlocutor.

FC Metalac announced back in 2009 that the construction of a contemporary football stadium meeting all UEFA criteria would kick off in August that year. However, since that did not happen, and the existing stadium of Metalac does not meet the standards of the national football league Superliga, the football club in Gornji Milanovac played its matches in seasons 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 at Cika Daci stadium in Kragujevac and Borca stadium in Cacak, respectively.

Co-investors

Metalac was the only company to answer a public call for co-investment in the construction of a city stadium, which was announced by the municipality of Gornji Milanovac on August 4, 2011.

FC Metalac - 50-year tradition

At the initiative of trade unions of the metal-processing industry Metalac and the construction company Graditelj, a football club under the name of Radnik was founded on 12 June 1961. Following the end of the season 1964/65, at the suggestion of Metalac CEO Milan Misovic, a decision was made to rename that club into FC Metalac.

After 48 years of existence, the club joined the elite rank of Serbian football for the first time in its history, after it was directly promoted to Superliga as the fifth-ranked team in the first league Telekom Srbija in the season 2008/2009.