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Watching Rytiri Kladno at CEZ Stadion

Florian Buechting Sports Reviews No Comments

Rytiri Kladno at CEZ Stadion

Rytiri Kladno at CEZ Stadion
4

Rating

 4.0/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Nice, very functional and charming ice hockey venue
  • Charming and friendly atmospehre
  • Good train connection from Prague

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Limited parking

Will he play or not? That was the key question of my trip to Kladno near Prague. The local ice hockey Extraliga club Rytiri Kladno (“Kladno Knights”) still has its legend Jaromir Jagr in their line-up. On 3rd January 2024, I headed to Czechia to see the team in their home match against the Bili Tygri Liberec at their home ice, CEZ Stadion. And, yeah, Jaromir Jagr was on the ice. Here is my stadium review.

 

CEZ Stadion – Location & Traffic

CEZ Stadion is located in a sports district in the West of Kladno, a city in the Greater Prague area. The area features numerous sports venue, including the Sletiste Municipal Stadium (Mestsky stadion Sletiste) and the Aquapark swimming and fun pool. I stayed at the Sport Hotel Sletiste, which is in walking distance to the arena (some 10 to 15 minutes). There are a few bars and restaurants around the venue.

If you come by car, you likely arrive in Kladno via motorway 6 between Prague and Karlovy Vary. The parking situation around CEZ Stadion is a bit of limited, so that you should arrive rather early. The ice hockey arena is also some 10 to 15 minute away from Kladno Mesto station, which features rather frequent commuter rail connections to the Czech capital.

 

CEZ Stadion – Arena & Ticket Situation

CEZ Stadion has been opened in 1949. In 1958, a roof has been added to the area, which holds up to 5,200 people, 1,500 of them are standing capacity. It is named after an energy provider. Top matches might reach the capacity of the stadium. The match I visited had an attendance of 3,200, so that it was easy to get tickets. Tickets can be conveniently bought via the online platform of the club. They are on sale roughly at the end of the previous month. I bought the ticket for the 3rd January 2025 match at the end of November 2024. Ticket prices are rather relaxed.

CEZ Stadion is a pure ice hockey arena, so that you are very close to the action. There are multiple entrances around the venue. If you arrive rather late, you should definitely use the entrance given on your ticket, as there is no indoor walkway at the stands. The four-sided screen gives the key information about the match. Even though I sad behind the benches, the view was really good. The seat pitch and width is very fine as well. A popular souvenir are seat cushions, as the seats are purely plastic.

 

CEZ Stadion – Atmosphere

There was not too much push from the away fans until the third period, when Liberec came back into the game. The Kladno home crowd supports their team throughout the match without too much demand from the speaker. Announcements are obviously in Czech only. The fans also loved their mascot, a knight, who was present in the arena. Overall, the atmosphere in the arena has been very friendly. Getting around in English is absolutely possible.

 

CEZ Stadion – Food & Shopping

At practically every entrance of the stadium, there is a food stand. Behind my seat, there was even a bistro-alike area. In addition to that, you can leave the venue during the 18 minute intermissions, there are additional booths outside. The food prices were fine, the delicious sausage with bread was 140 CZK (incl. condiments), roughly 5.50 EUR. This one has been the most popular snack around CEZ Stadion – there were, of course, other options.

There is no merchandise inside the venue. However, there is a fan store at one of the main entrances to the arena. It is a bit of narrow on match days and has a limited capacity. I assume that there were some 200 to 300 people from outside Czechia at the match – I even met people from Canada and Los Angeles. The key merchandise was, of course, the Jaromir Jagr jersey. If you want to grab one, you should be at the match rather early. Merchandise prices are very low, compared to NHL matches, and low compared to merch in German leagues, for example.

 

CEZ Stadion – My View

Apart from being gifted to see Jaromir Jagr on the ice again, I really enjoyed my time in Kladno. CEZ Stadion is maybe not an overwhelming posh venue, but an ice hockey venue, which is fit for purpose. The merch situation might be unfortunate currently, but will be more reasonable when the owner of the club is retiring from professional sports. The traffic and parking situation around the venue is definitely critical.

 

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