Chernihiv Stadium

Desna at the Chernihiv Stadium during the match with Shakhtar Donetsk

The history of Chernihiv Stadium dates back to 1936 for 3,000 spectators in eastern portion of a city park (garden) that exists since 1804. The territory of the city garden was chosen for the construction of the stadium. At the end of the 18th century there was a dacha of the Archbishop of Chernihiv on this territory. At the beginning of the 19th century, namely in 1804, a city garden was formed on the site of the modern stadium.

During World War II, the Chernihiv Stadium was heavily damaged and in the 1950s was completely reconstructed, included stadium walls and two stands for 11,000 spectators. In 1961, it was named after the Russian Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

On 25 May 1964, Gagarin in person attended the stadium. In the mid 1980s, the stadium capacity was increased to 14,000. In the season 1996–97, was held the first leg of the Ukrainian Amateur Cup, between FC Domobudivnyk Chernihiv and FC Krystal Parkhomivka, ended with the victory of FC Domobudivnyk Chernihiv for 2–0.

In 2005,[4] the reconstruction of the stadium began, which was completed in 2008 with the assistance of the then sponsor of FC "Desna" Oleksiy Savchenko, in particular, plastic seats were installed on the west stand. In October 2011, the stadium received almost five million hryvnias for renovations.[5]

In 2008, the stadium was used by the Ukraine for the UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying and for UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying against Denmark, Portugal, Slovakia and Finland.

In 2010 Oleksandr Povorozniuk, after become president of Desna Chernihiv was ready to invest his own funds in the football club: However, the local authorities, despite promises to support the club and complete the Stadium, but at the ended he did nothing.[6]

In the summer of 2016,[7] a large-scale reconstruction of the stadium began. The vice-president of the club Igor Bazalinsky said that the work on the stadium will be carried out in two stages: “Our plan for the reconstruction of the stadium includes two stages. The first is a training and main field, a hotel and a medical and rehabilitation center, a basement, locker rooms, new high-quality football gates, both for the main field and for the training field. This is what we have planned for this year - to create optimal living conditions and training for our team.

Front of the main Gate of the stadium in Chernihiv

The second stage is the tidying up of the stands, installation of plastic chairs, and the issue of possible covering of the stands. We will put in order the territory of the stadium, a children's town will be installed, under which the playground is ready. We will also decide on the North Stand, we have invited experts who will assess its condition, whether it can be reconstructed or will have to be rebuilt, after which we will make the final decision.

In the first stage, the spare and main fields will be completely replaced. Modern drainage systems, automatic lawn watering systems will be installed on both fields and a new lawn will be laid that will meet all the necessary standards. At the same time, the hotel for athletes is being renovated. ”

The training ground is ready, after the match with Skala, which took place on September 26, Chernihiv footballers returned home, where they held their first full training session on the new field and in mid-May 2017, the stadium completed the laying of the lawn.

Chernihiv City Council officially committed itself after the transfer of the stadium to the municipal property of the city. Gagarin (its official name is SE "Olympic Training and Sports Center" Chernihiv ") to use it for its intended purpose and not to alienate it to private property. Also, to preserve this sports facility as a base for Olympic training and to ensure certification in accordance with the requirements of the International Association of Athletics Federations IAAF. The transfer of such an object is carried out by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the basis of the consent of the body authorized to manage state property, the decision of the session of the local council and in coordination with the Ministry of Finance, State Property Fund.

"Chernihiv Regional Football Federation" proposed to held the "Winter Championship 2020" tournament and the Women's Football Committee of the Ukrainian Football Association (UAF) accepted the proposal. They will be held in Gagarin Stadium on November 17–21, 2020.[8]

In April 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Olimpik Donetsk decided to play away the home matches and they opted to play in the Stadion Yuriya Gagarina.[9] From August 2021, the stadium started to receive 3087 and 3587 people attending the home match of Desna Chernihiv, considered a small success and miracle after the epidemy in the first six games of the season.[10][11][12]

On 12 April 2022 Ukraine women's national football team will play again in the stadium against Hungary for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification in the UEFA Group B.[13]

Since 2008 the Ukraine women's national football team, started to use the stadium also for UEFA Women's Euro qualify stages.

Date	Time	Team #1	Result	Team #2	Round	Attendance	Source
22 June 2008	18:00 CEST	Ukraine	1-0	Denmark	UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying		[14]
27 September 2008	18:00 CEST	Ukraine	1–1	Portugal	UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying		[15]
22 October 2011	15:00 CEST	Ukraine	0-0	Slovakia	UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying	3,200	[16]
16 June 2012	17:00 CEST	Ukraine	1-2	Finland	UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying	1,100	[17]

In 1997 the first leg of the Final of Ukrainian Amateur Cup was held between FC Domobudivnyk Chernihiv and FC Krystal Parkhomivka, ended with the victory of FC Domobudivnyk Chernihiv for 2–0 in the season 1996–97.

Date	Time	Team #1	Result	Team #2	Competition	Season
17 September 1992	18:00	FC Domobudivnyk Chernihiv	1–1	FC Krystal Parkhomivka	Ukrainian Amateur Cup	1996–97