Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Santiago Bernabéu


Club: Real Madrid CF
Opening: 1947
Capacity: 85,454 seats

El Bernabéu, renamed in honour of their former chairman Santiago Bernabéu Yeste, is one of the world's most famous and prestigious football venues.
All seating in the stadium is covered.
Real Madrid recently presented plans to further upgrade the stadium with commercial and corporate facilities, and to increase capacity to over 90,000 seats. This will be done by renovating the stand facing the Paseo de la Castellana avenue, a move that will make the Bernabeu the largest covered football stadium on Earth. The club hopes to conclude the works in 2015
The architects : Manuel Muñoz Monasterio, Luis Alemany Soler, Antonio Lamela (Expansion)


Nou Camp


Club: FC Barcelona
Opening: 1957
Capacity: 99,354 seats

Nou Camp was built between 1954 and 1957, and officially opened on the 24th of September 1957 with a match between FC Barcelona and a selection of players from the city of Warsaw.
Nou Camp initially consisted of two tiers that could hold 93,000 spectators. It was first called Estadi del FC Barcelona, but got soon referred to as Nou Camp.
With a capacity of close to 99,000, the Nou Camp is the largest club-owned stadium on the planet, and is frequently packed to capacity for football matches featuring the Barcelona team.
The architects were a team made up of Francesc Mitjans, Josep Soteras, and Lorenzo García-Barbón.


Friday, January 18, 2013

Signal Iduna Park


Club: Borussia Dortmund
Opening: 1974
Capacity: 80,720 (25,000 standing)

Signal Iduna Park, before 2005 called Westfalenstadion, was built to serve as a playing venue for the 1974 World Cup.
Signal Iduna under a sponsorship arrangement, giving naming rights to the Signal Iduna Group, an insurance company.
Sometimes referred to as the 'Temple of the Yellow Wall' , the Westfalenstadion has the largest free-standing grandstand in Europe.
In 2006, Signal Iduna Park was one of the playing venues of the 2006 World Cup. Temporarily renamed and with a reduced capacity of 67,000 seats, the stadium hosted four group matches, a round of 16 match, and the semi-final between Germany and Italy (0-2).


Thursday, January 17, 2013

Estadio Monumental



Club: none
Opening: 1952
Capacity: 45,000 seats

The Estadio Monumental “U” is South America’s third largest football stadium.
Estadio Nacional got built in the early 1950s and was part of a series of large infrastructure projects instigated by then-President of the country Manuel A. Odría.
The stadium officially opened on the 27th of October 1952 with a friendly international between the national teams of Peru and Bolivia (0-1).
Estadio Nacional is the standard playing venue of the Peruvian national team, but has no club occupant.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Old Trafford


Club: Manchester United FC 
Opening: 1910
Capacity: 75,811 seats
Record attendance 76,962 (Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Grimsby Town, 25 March 1939)


Old Trafford officially opened on the 19th of February 1910 with a match between Manchester and Liverpool (3-4)
Old Trafford is the second-largest football stadium in England after Wembley, the third-largest in the United Kingdom and the eleventh-largest in Europe
From this ground, Man Utd become the best club of  England with 19 champions premiership.
The ground, nicknamed the Theatre of Dreams by Bobby Charlton.





Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Estadio Azteca


Club: Club América 
Opening: 1966
Capacity: 104,000 seats

Estadio Azteca was built in the 1960s to accommodate the growing support of Club América and to provide Mexico with a flagship venue for the upcoming 1970 World Cup.
Mexico has always been able to maintain a strong level when playing on home ground. Out of all the matches Mexico has had in this stadium, only 11 times by 8 different teams have they been defeated.
The stadium has hosted two World Cup finals, and currently hosts matches featuring the Mexican national team and domestic club. Over the years it has also been the home of various other Mexican clubs, such as Cruz Azul and Necaxa.



Maracana


Clubs: CR Flamengo and Fluminense FC
Opening: 1950
Capacity: 78,838

Maracana, officially called Estádio Mário Filho.
It was opened in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup, and in the final game Brazil was beaten 2-1 by Uruguay.
Maracanã is owned by the state of Rio de Janeiro, but has grown to become the regular home of Flamengo and Fluminense.
The Maracanã is, as of December 2012, closed for renovations and upgrades, in preparations for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, the 2014 World Cup which will be the first one held in Brazil since its inception 64 years ago, the 2016 Summer Olympics, and the 2016 Summer Paralympics. The stadium's reopening is forecasted for early 2013.



Wembley


Club: none 
Opening: 2007
Capacity: 90,000 seats

Wembley Stadium is, after Camp Nou, the second largest stadium in Europe and the standard playing venue of the English national team. It also hosts the annual League Cup final, FA Cup final, and the Community Shield.
The old Wembley Stadium got demolished in 2003, after which construction of the new stadium started. After several delays, postponing the opening of the stadium for almost two years, the stadium finally got completed in 2007.
Empire Stadium is used as a neutral venue for hosting cup finals, relegation battles and matches featuring the England national team.