SPORT IN NOVA GORICA 1945–1970
After World War II, the conditions for the development of sport and physical culture in the Goriška region were new and more favourable. With determination of the new border in 1947, the original idea to use sports facilities in Goriška was rendered impossible, therefore a new start was needed in the field of sports infrastructure. There were not many sport facilities and much of what did exist was inadequate for serious training and competitions. Nevertheless, there people were very keen to organise such facilities. Sport in the Goriška region experienced the biggest boom in Šempeter pri Gorici, which used to be the sporting centre of the Goriška region until 1963.
In the newly emerging Nova Gorica, there were no adequate outdoor or indoor spaces for sports activities. A “field designed for sports and culture by the brickyard” served only for basic needs. There were some initial improvised facilities, where in 1951 the first large athletics competition in the Goriška region was organised.
However, sports activities had also taken place prior to this on the sports field in Solkan (in the park behind the present petrol station). Players from the Volga Football Club as well as the Branik Football Club had played football there. Next to it, there was a small area for table tennis and changing rooms.
From 1947, the legendary skating rink was used mostly for roller hockey. In addition to very successful hockey players, players of handball, basketball and tennis as well as roller skaters later found their place at this facility with a safety fence and floodlighting, while the table tennis players trained in a small hall. A fencing section, which from 1959 would go on to organise the Championship of Slovenia, was also very active.
A real step forward came with the building of the first real sports facility in 1953 – a stadium with a running track, which was shorter than 400 metres. In the town and its surroundings, new facilities designed for competitive and recreational activities were slowly growing. They built boules courts and indoor gyms. Bowling started to become popular with a new bowling alley, skiers discovered skiing grounds on Lokve, and kayaking made a breakthrough in 1948 on the River Soča since when the location has become world-renowned for its infrastructure and competitive achievements.
A great achievement was a new swimming pool by the Meblo factory in Kromberk in 1954. The facility became a popular recreational, training and competition centre for water polo and swimming as well as a special place for many young generations who could learn how to swim there.
An important element for sports growth and development in the young town was the building of a modern stadium with a running track. It had its ceremonial opening in 1962 at the Festival of Physical Culture, which drew a record number of spectators as well as more than a thousand performers/competitors. In 1963, the football pitch enabled the players from the Šempeter pri Gorici and Nova Gorica football teams, back then big rivals, to play the first matches there. The new facilities in the sports park included a boules court, built in 1963 and a completely new bowling alley, which opened its doors in 1964.
A gym called Partizan, the first covered multifunctional sports facility, built in 1964, also represented a big achievement.
New facilities, and new sports (handball, basketball, volleyball, etc.) along with them, were gradually growing. A special place was taken by skiing and cross-country skiing, since skiing enthusiasts had installed the first cableway on Lokve as far back as in 1959.