Mito's new stadium, originally announced at holding 10,000 seats plus two overflow areas of 2500 each, was recently pushed up to a larger plan to be completed a bit later: fall of 2009. The newest newsletter received by Mito residents states that it will be large enough and of high enough quality to host international soccer matches and track and field events. As of now Ibaraki only has two stadiums of note, being Kashima's soccer specific stadium and north Ibaraki's all purpose stadium in Kasamatsu. This new venue will be a huge boost, not only for the league's scrappiest little team, but for the prefecture as a whole.
Wanting to show off the stadium and create an instant local fan base, Mito's new project is to get the word out and fill the stadium for its first league match in 2009. The largest crowd in history was just shy of 10,000 for a league game and just over 10,000 for a Kashima exhibition, so it is a tall order. However, with the new location in Mito city itself and near several major bus lines and a year and a half to pull it together, things might not be so tough. Of course, I'll be involved.
2 comments:
What's the name and proposed new capacity of the stadium, Vendo? And how far from Mito is Kasamatsu?
The stadium name will be the same as before, 水戸市立陸上競技所. There is no new info on it; it was from a small blurb from the monthly city newsletter.
Kasamatsu certainly isn't in a Kusatsu/Maebashi situation, but it is still a bit far from the city. From Mito station, it is a 15 minute train plus a 7 minute bus ride. Or by bus or car, 20-25 minutes. Most people in Mito live on the other side of the station though. For me, it's a 30 minute drive.
The new stadium will be pretty much in the middle of the city, near the prefecture office. It's less than a 10 minute drive for me.
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