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After walking through the amusement park in Pripyat, we found ourselves on a wide path lined by trees on both sides.
“What do you think this path is?”, asked the guide.
Stadium “Avangard”
As we approached the grandstand, it became clear that it was the running track of Pripyat’s Stadium “Avangard”. None of us would have ever guessed it. What was once the football field was now a green forest.
We had a chance to explore the bleachers and go inside the stadium, which was the home of FC Stroitel Pripyat. The team was founded in the mid-1970s and played in the lower tiers of the Soviet Union football league system. After the city of Slavutych was formed to relocate residents of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, the team became FC Stroitel Slavutych in 1987. That team ceased operations after just one year.
Later on in the day, we passed by the gates and ticket booth of the stadium.