Vardar and Rabotnicki will likely need to move their home matches to another stadium due to pitch restorations at the Philip II Arena.
After the recent stadium expansion and renovation, the National Arena Philip II of Macedon, formerly known as Skopje City Stadium, got a modern and exciting look.
Now, new works are scheduled for the upcoming months. Right after the national team's match against Slovakia on 11 October to conclude the EURO 2012 qualifications, work should start for repairing the pitch and the grass itself. That would mean that both Skopje clubs, Vardar and Rabotnicki, who play their home matches at the venue, will need to find a replacement stadium.
These works have still not been officially confirmed, but it is clear that they must occur so both teams are already considering where they will play their next home matches. For example, Macedonia scheduled a friendly against Albania in November but the match will be played in Prilep. The national team always plays in Skopje at the Philip II Arena so the change in venue for the Albania friendly is a good indication that new works will soon begin to further modernize the main stadium in Macedonia.
As for the replacement venues, Rabotnicki is thinking about Cair Stadium, while Vardar might play in Gjorce Petrov. If the work starts soon, it seems likely that the venue will not be available until after the winter break, so the next matches at the Philip II Arena could be expected in the early Spring when the second half of the season resumes in the Macedonian top division.
