National Heroes Stadium

For the stadium in San Antonio, Texas, see Heroes Stadium.

National Heroes Stadium

Former names	Gabon Disaster Heroes National Stadium
Location	Lusaka, Lusaka Province, Zambia
Coordinates	15°22′10″S28°16′22″E / 15.369507°S 28.272641°E / -15.369507; 28.272641
Type	Multi-purpose stadium
Capacity	60,000 [1]
Surface	Grass
Construction
Broke ground	10 January 2011
Built	2011–2014
Opened	2014
Construction cost	US$94 million [2]
Main contractors	Shanghai Construction Group
Tenants
Zambia national football team (2014–present)

Heroes National Stadium ^[1] is a multi-purpose stadium in Lusaka, Lusaka Province, Zambia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and hosts the home matches of the Zambia national football team. The stadium holds 60,000 spectators. ^[3] It opened in 2014. The name of the stadium refers to the 1993 Zambia national football team air disaster which took the lives of most of its national football team.

History

Birds-eye view of National Heroes Stadium

Upon completion of construction in 2013, it was originally named the Gabon Disaster Heroes National Stadium because of this, but the government was pressured to change the name by the populace, with the name change happening less than a week later. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

Geography

View of Heroes Stadium from Zanimone Compound

The stadium's location is in the Matero suburb of Lusaka (Zambia's capital city) on the Great North Road (T2 road). ^{[7] [8]}

The Heroes National Stadium is located adjacent to the refurbished Independence Stadium and adjacent to the Heroes Acres Memorial where the players who died in the Gabon air disaster in 1993 are buried. ^[7]

See also

• Lists of stadiums

References

1. "Zambia complete construction of Heroes National Stadium" (BBC, 12-1-2014)
2. "Quality sports Infrastructure will make Zambia win Africa Cup-RB" ( Lusaka Times , 10-1-2011)
3. "Guide to National Heroes Stadium". Groundhop. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
4. "Zambia : Gabon Disaster Heroes National Stadium?". 11 July 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
5. "Zambia : Soccer fans welcome stadium name change". 14 July 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
6. Katongola, Brenda (12 July 2013). "Zambia: It's Heroes National Stadium!". AllAfrica. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
7. "Heroes National Stadium and 3 more top Stadia near Chibombo - Tripsuccor". Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
8. "National Heroes Stadium · Great North Road, 31749, Lusaka 10101, Zambia".