£318m Champions League stadium that hosted Man Utd and Arsenal was abandoned after 5 years

Teams like Manchester United and Arsenal once graced the turf of a stadium that had been abandoned for over a decade.

A stadium that hosted some of the world’s biggest football matches has been abandoned after just five years of use. The Donbass Arena in Ukraine was built to host Shakhtar Donetsk, designed by the same construction company that created the Etihad Stadium and Allianz Arena.

The 52,000-seat complex cost £318 million to build and opened on 29 August 2009, after three years of construction. At the time, it was a sign of progressive thinking since this Eastern European country, which only regained its independence in 1991, was focused on the world.

Ukrainian giants Shakhtar flew their country’s flag in Europe as the Donbass Arena regularly hosted Champions League matches. Manchester United faced Shakhtar there in October 2013 in the competition, with the teams drawing 1-1.

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Arsenal also played there, suffering a 2-1 defeat three years earlier in the group stage. The stadium also hosted five Euro 2012 matches, including England’s draw against France and Spain’s victory on penalties against Portugal in the semi-final.

However, it was only used for five years, abandoned in 2014 and unused since. The UEFA Category 4 ground was bombed after the outbreak of the Donbass war between Ukraine and Russia in 2014.

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Shakhtar’s last match there was in 2014, a 3-1 win over Illichivets Mariupol that secured a fifth consecutive league title, but just 18,000 people attended as the city prepared for war.

Later that year, the turnstiles and entrances were severely damaged by heavy artillery and explosions as the conflict intensified. A shell first crashed into the arena, starting a fire. A rocket also later landed near the stadium.

Photos from the time show the stadium with part of its roof and facade torn off and various debris strewn on the ground outside.

“Repairing the roof after the explosion was quite expensive,” Victoria, a stadium guide, told the BBC in 2019. “The work has to be finished, and that requires money that the DPR doesn’t have.”

The escalation of conflict in the region forced Shakhtar to abandon their modern stadium and play their matches in western Ukraine, at the Arena Lviv. And despite later footage suggesting the stadium had been fully repaired, Shakhtar did not return to the area.

Russia then launched a full-scale invasion of the country in 2022, so it is unclear whether the stadium will ever be used again, having been further damaged in recent attacks.

Since the outbreak of this long and bloody war, Shakhtar has continued to play its matches in Lviv, at the national stadium in kyiv and even abroad, in countries such as Poland and Germany, for security reasons.

The Donbass Arena once represented the future and brought joy to thousands, even hosting a Beyoncé concert. But it is now a heartbreaking reminder of the impact of geopolitical chaos, demonstrating how war can bleed into and tarnish the beautiful game.