During its closure from 2007 to 2014, the National Day Parade (NDP) and sports events were held at the Marina Bay Floating Platform and Jalan Besar Stadium.

Shortly after the Second World War, as Singapore moved towards self-government and independence, the call for a national stadium began.

[2] As part of the planning process, the Public Works Department's chief architect, Tan Beng Kiat, studied several stadiums overseas.

Construction of the stadium began in December 1966, and the groundbreaking ceremony was officiated by then-Minister of Social Affairs Othman Wok.

Plans were made to demolish the stadium and build a multipurpose, 35.6 hectares (88 acres) Singapore Sports Hub in its place.

[11] Before the ceremony, a football match featuring ex-internationals from Singapore and Malaysia like Quah Kim Song, Terry Pathmanathan, Samat Allapitchay, V. Sundramoorthy, David Lee, Dollah Kassim, Soh Chin Aun, Santokh Singh, Chow Siew Wai and K. Gunalan was played.

[12] The match was followed by the highlight of the evening, an international friendly between ASEAN champions Singapore and the Asian Cup bound Australian team, the Socceroos.

In February 2013, uniquely designed benches made from the wooden planks from the former National Stadium were presented to the public, as a meaningful way to commemorate this historic landmark.

These designs were part of the bench project Archived 16 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine organized by local creative practice FARM, and jointly presented by Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Singapore Furniture Industries Council.