Gyumri City Stadium

Gyumri City Stadium is the home ground of FC Shirak, Gyumri's club in the Armenian Premier League. It's an all-seater ground. Built in 1924, it counts among the oldest sports venues still used in Armenia — sources differ slightly on whether play began that same year or the one after.

Capacity numbers don't fully agree either. Some counts put it near 2,900 seats, others closer to 4,000. The ground was renovated in 1998 and again after 2010, when new club owner Arman Sahakyan closed it down for repairs. The administrative building and the VIP block were fully renovated. VIP seating grew from 20 places to 52. The pitch was relaid using newer turf. Stands, though, were only partially refurbished — so older and newer sections sit side by side.

This is a working club ground, not a museum piece. Go for a match if the fixtures line up. Average attendance runs around 295 a game, a small crowd by most standards, which tells you more about the size of Armenian league football than about the stadium itself.

The stadium is in Gyumri, the main city of Shirak region, roughly 90 km northwest of Yerevan in a straight line. The actual route in is best checked locally.