World Cup Stadium Profile: Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg

Venues And Conditions / Ben Lyttleton / 10 March 2010 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

"The city of gold and happiness... "

It's recent history includes both triumph and tragedy but Ellis Park remains the most famous South African stadium and it's a venue fit for champions in the first-round of World Cup 2010, says Ben Lyttleton.

"The stadium was packed to its 62,000 capacity when it hosted the 2009 Confederations Cup final. Brazil came from two goals down to beat USA 3-2."

As the most well-known arena in South Africa, Ellis Park has seen its fair share of drama, and in recent years, it has brought glory and tragedy to the country. The glory came in 1995, when the stadium hosted the Rugby World Cup final in which South Africa sealed their return to the international sporting arena by beating New Zealand in the final. The tragedy was in 2001, when 42 fans were crushed to death during a match between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. Since then, the stadium has been reconstructed and the new capacity is 62,000: it was packed out when it hosted the 2009 Confederations Cup final when Brazil came from two goals down to beat USA 3-2.

Three former World Cup winners will be playing at Ellis Park in the group stages of the tournament: the first match there will be Argentina-Nigeria, with others to follow including Brazil-North Korea, Slovenia-USA, Spain-Honduras and Slovakia-Italy. There will also be one Round of 16 match and one quarter-final there ­- not bad going for for a stadium that was built in 1928 exclusively for rugby.

It was named after JD Ellis, a Johannesburg city councilor who set aside a full 13 acres when approving the use of the land for a stadium. It still hosts rugby matches for local side Golden Lions, and used to host cricket matches, with six Test matches played there between 1948 and 1954.

Regeneration programmes across Johannesburg have seen areas like Newtown transformed, and that area now hosts Museum Africa, which displays South African history and has exhibitions focusing on contemporary local artists.

The World Cup has also coincided with the re-opening of Newtown's Kippies Jazz Club, named after Kippie Moeketsi, one of South Africa's best-loved jazz musicians despite his nickname, "The Sad Man of Jazz." Johannesburg is a city in touch with South Africa's past, and the Apartheid Museum and Constitution Hill, the site of the Old Fort Prison complex, which held both Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, are also well worth a visit.

Johannesburg's sense of humour is evident at the city zoo, where every Friday animals get given footballs to play with. In March, it was the turn of bears Valentine, 16, and Tumu, 13, who kicked around a ball filled with their favourite treats in front of a packed crowd.

Professional football was formed in the Joburg offices of the old Rand Daily Mail newspaper in 1958. In later years, football unity talks took place at the old Rand International Hotel. Some of the biggest names in football to hail from the city include Jomo Sono, Doctor Khumalo, Lucas Radebe and Ace Ntsoelengoe, who enjoyed big success in the NASL. City organisers have prepared a slogan for visitors based on old African saying: "Life starts and ends in Johannesburg, the city of gold and happiness."

Tags: Ben Lyttleton, football betting, South Africa 2010 betting, World Cup betting