With two host stadiums, the opening and the final matches, as well as plenty of training action, Joburg has the lion's share of 2010 FIFA world cup action. And its stadiums are getting ready for the games.

THE Rand Stadium, the city's oldest stadium, was built over 50 years ago after an earlier venue became too small for the city's growing needs. But the 21st century has caught up with it: it has been demolished because it too has become too small for FIFA Soccer World Cup matches in 2010.

Soccer has been played in the city for almost 120 years and Joburg will be a major venue for the tournament's games.

"We are the only city in the country that will provide two host stadiums as well as the headquarters for FIFA and the Local Organising Committee prior to, during and immediately following the event," said Executive Mayor Amos Masondo.

Johannesburg has four major soccer stadiums – FNB, also known as Soccer City; Ellis Park; Orlando; and Rand. The former two will undergo major revamps to become match venues, while the latter two, to be training venues, have been demolished and are being replaced by stadiums that will accommodate many more fans and have much improved facilities.

The new R337-million Orlando Stadium, a legacy project for the residents of Soweto

But the rejuvenation of Joburg's stadiums goes beyond this - an additional four, to be used as training venues, will also have millions pumped into them. These stadiums – Dobsonville, Cecil Payne, Rabie Ridge and Ruimsig – are dotted around the suburbs and will be legacy projects, providing the city's residents with excellent facilities beyond 2010.

"These legacy projects will ensure that city residents will … benefit from economic investment and consumer spending during the 2010 FIFA World Cup period and long after the final whistle has been blown," Masondo added.

Soccer was played for many years at Wanderers Club, at the time near the present-day Park Station. In 1945, however, the South African Railways expropriated the ground used by the Wanderers Club to expand the station.

The club was given six months to move, according to historian Sue Krige in a September 2006 historical survey, conducted on behalf of the City. It was not pleased with this turn of events, but a particularly popular soccer game played at the club sealed its fate. The grounds could not accommodate all the fans, Krige says.

"Gross overcrowding at a 'wildly popular soccer final' in August 1945 demonstrated that Wanderers simply did not have the capacity to host such games."

A lengthy court battle ensued and the club finally took leave of its premises in October 1947.

But that was not the end of it. The new Wanderers was built in its present location in Illovo, but it "did not offer a suitable stadium for soccer matches". Krige says that soccer was not as popular in the northern suburbs as it was in the southern suburbs.

Crowds enjoying a game at Rand Stadium in the 1950s

There was another factor at play, however: "Its members also prided themselves on the club's grandeur and elite nature." This cost them considerably in lost revenue.

But the final nail in the coffin for soccer in the northern suburbs was the large numbers attending soccer matches – the Wanderers Stadium in Illovo was just too small for the crowds and, furthermore, too far away and therefore too expensive for fans to make their way up north.

So it was decided to build a stadium down south. In November 1948 the City leased land at Hector Norris Park near Wemmer Pan for 30 years to the Southern Transvaal Football Association (STFA), Krige says.

The STFA borrowed £60 000 and construction started in 1949. In 1951 a stadium seating 15 000 was opened. Some of the world's top teams played in the stadium, according to Johannesburg, One Hundred Years, a 1986 centenary publication: Motherwell, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Newcastle United, Ajax, Tottenham Hotspurs, Real Madrid and Arsenal.

"For eight years, amateur soccer thrived at the Rand Stadium."

In 1959, three white soccer personalities - Viv Granger, Syd Chaitowitz and Eric Litchfield – led the drive to turn professional, with the founding of the all-white National Football League (NFL). Major amateur soccer clubs turned professional, and wanted to hire the Rand Stadium. But by then the STFA was in trouble - the original agreement with the City was that mostly amateur matches were to be played in the stadium.

"Now that so many soccer clubs had turned professional, the lease needed to be revised, to protect the council's investment," Krige says.

The hiring of the stadium for professional matches had not improved the STFA's finances, and in January 1961 the council took possession of the stadium, paying R290 000 in July 1963 in compensation.

Between June 1964 and July 1965 extensive renovations were carried out, including building additional change rooms, clubrooms, a first-aid room, a VIP stand and additional seating. The NFL also moved its offices to the stadium.

Initially it seems there were separate ablution facilities and stands for blacks, by permission from the then department of community development. The 1969 council records show that the stands were to be demarcated by "tubular piping barriers". But the South Africa Police demanded more: it wanted a six-foot high fence to be erected. This was done.

Several matches pitting black teams against white teams ended in tense stand-offs between the teams. Then, in 1976, South Africa was expelled from FIFA.

The advent of television in South Africa in 1976, Krige says, changed the outlook for the stadium. Some R140 000 was spent on television and floodlighting at Rand Stadium, and the fields were upgraded.

By the mid-1980s, Rand Stadium, although needing attention, was used for a number of other purposes: a road race venue, international boxing pulled in 15 000 people, several rock festivals, and a Jehovah's Witness rally that attracted 30 000 people.

Although used consistently, the stadium was in need of a serious revamp, a process already set in motion. In 2006 the old stadium was demolished, and a new stadium will rise from its ashes.

Deon Venter, the assistant director of capital projects in the Department of Community Development, says construction of the new stadium has already begun, with completion expected by August 2008.

Because of the stadium's age, it has been recommended that the scoreboard be retained for heritage purposes. A photographic display will trace its history. In all, about R76-million is to be spent on the venue.

In 1959 the Orlando Stadium in Orlando East in Soweto, seating 24 000 people, was built. It is the home of Premier Soccer League (PSL) club Moroka Swallows

All local PSL and league matches were played at the stadium, which was also used for big political rallies and funerals. Schools have used the venue extensively over the years for soccer, volleyball and netball matches. Its gravel track was used by schools for athletics.

Umbrellas give shade to onlookers at Orlando Stadium in the 1950s

Orlando Stadium, which was demolished in the middle of 2006, will be one of the training venues for the World Cup. It is being rebuilt at a cost of R337-million, to seat 45 000. Work on the new stadium is well advanced, and is expected to be completed in mid-2008.

"The construction of the new stadium is going very well – we are ahead of time," Venter says.

Ellis Park Stadium

The ground that today is Ellis Park Stadium has always been used for sports and recreation. In 1908 the site consisted of the town's only "swimming bath, a lake, tennis courts, playing fields and terraced promenades", say Naomi and Reuben Musiker in A Concise Historical Dictionary of Greater Johannesburg.

Perhaps this was the ideal site for a swimming pool because in the very early days of the town a spring at Ellis Park supplied the town with water. That spring is still there, but is diverted down the valley through Bruma Lake, joining the Jukskei River after Gillooly's Farm.

Prior to 1908 the site consisted of old brickfields and disused reservoirs, say the Musikers. It got its name from John Dowell Ellis, the mayor of the town in 1911 and 1912 and the chairman of the parks and estates committee.

Rugby and tennis were played at Ellis Park from the 1920s, and the stadium became one of the world's most famous, records Johannesburg, One Hundred Years. However, plans were made for a new stadium. "The Ellis Park Stadium with its famous glasshouse was demolished to make way for the ultra-modern stadium that ranks with the best in the world."

Before the spectacular 50 000-seat stadium was built in 1982 many great matches were played within its stacked rows of seats: the All Blacks on their first tour of South Africa in 1928; the first Wallabies tour of the country in 1933; the 1938 Lions tour in which Fanie Louw scored South Africa's 100th test try; the All Blacks again in 1949 and 1960; and the Wallabies again in 1953.

The new venue had 20 tennis courts alongside the rugby and soccer stadium. "Ellis Park has proved to be a launching pad to international fame for many young South Africans, and over the years a glittering cast of local and overseas talent has graced its courts."

The courts witnessed "the most glorious chapter in South African tennis history" with the winning of the Federation Cup in 1972. And in 1995 the final of the world rugby cup, which South Africa won, was played at Ellis Park.

The stadium will get an additional 10 000 seats in preparation for the 2010 World Cup.

Soccer City, with a seating capacity of 80 000, is the largest stadium on the African continent. By the time 2010 arrives, this will have been increased to 94 700 and it will host both the opening and closing matches of the tournament, as well as five first-round matches, one second-round match and one quarter-final.

Around R1,2-billion has been set aside to upgrade Soccer City, at Nasrec, for the world cup.

Built in 1989, the two-tiered stadium will have an encircling roof added, new changeroom facilities and new floodlights, in addition to a special feature that will allow a smaller arena to be created. The expansion project will be complete by March 2009.

Traditionally the home of Orlando Pirates, Soccer City is used for PSL games and internationals. Most recently it was the home base for Kaizer Chiefs.

The stadium has also been the site of several major political gatherings, such as Nelson Mandela's first speech in the city in 1990 and the funeral of Chris Hani in 1993.

"I would like to assure you from the outset that Johannesburg is ready and prepared to take on the challenge of hosting all relevant events and matches. Significant progress in the preparations are self-evident," Masondo said, speaking about the developments both on the go already and in the pipeline.