Surface Track and field Capacity 15,000 | Built 1968-1970 Opened 23 October 1970 | |
Location Waterford, St. Michael, Barbados Operator National Sports Council (1 Feb 1978–Present)National Stadium Corporation (5 May 1966–31 Jan 1978) Similar Garfield Sobers Gymnasium, Bussa Emancipation Statue, Usain Bolt Sports Complex, Kensington Oval Barbados, TCIFA National Academy | ||
Barbados National Stadium was officially opened on October 23, 1970. It is a multi-use outdoor stadium in Waterford, St. Michael, Barbados. Situated approximately 4.3 km northeast of Bridgetown it is located off Highway 3. The stadium is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 15,000.
In 2006, FIFA condemned the national football stadium of Barbados though the country was hoping to demolish and rebuild the ground before its 2010 World Cup qualification campaign begins. In 2011 the Barbadian government estimated the cost to re-engineer the stadiums' running track at 2 million dollars. No date has been determined when the funding could be sourced or the works could be carried out. But Barbados' past World Championships in Athletics gold-medalist Ryan Brathwaite has publicly condemned the current state of the National Stadiums' track infrastructure. In 2010 the stadium started hosting the Joseph Payne Memorial Classic, a competitive event among Barbadian secondary school students.