Shakhtyor Stadium

The pitch itself has had a harder time. Natural grass lasted until 2018, after which the lack of undersoil heating pushed matches onto the artificial cover of the reserve field or left them played on turf that drew complaints. A renovation launched in 2024 is meant to close that chapter: a new base went down in 2025, with artificial turf due to follow in May 2026 alongside pitch heating, at a cost put somewhere between 1.63 and 1.87 billion tenge.

The record crowd here dates back further, to 19 May 1965, when 35,000 turned out for a Soviet Cup last-32 tie against Torpedo Moscow. Two years later the ground was at the centre of a promotion play-off clouded by claims that the visiting SKA Kyiv goalkeeper, Anatoliy Gurbich, had agreed to throw the match; Shakhtyor won it 3:1 and the result stood. European nights since have brought Fulham and FCSB to Karaganda, and in July 2007 the stadium filled for a t.A.T.u. concert rather than a match.