Lokomotiv Stadium

The ground sits in the south-east of Plovdiv, inside Lauta park, and that is what people call it — Лаута, after the park rather than after anything printed on a ticket. No sponsor has ever put a name on it.

It was built to hold far more than it holds now. In 1983, a year after the opening, a play-off against Черноморец from Бургас for a place in the top division drew 33,000 people into it. The stadium was designed by Здравко Василков.

Its later history is a history of repairs. Part of a stand collapsed in 2004, after Локомотив had won the championship. Work followed in 2010 and again in 2013. The 2019 round was different in purpose: the ground was brought up to UEFA standard, and on 25 July that year Локомотив played their first European tie here, beating Спартак Трнава 2:0 in the Europa League.

The largest job came after that. Between 2021 and 2023 the municipality of Пловдив commissioned a rebuild of the stands themselves — the northern Бесика, the southern and the eastern — with Рудин ООД as main contractor.

The address is бул. „Санкт Петербург“, in the park. Bulgarian Cup finals have gone elsewhere; the 2019 final was played in София.