The Stadio San Nicola is a multi-use all-seater stadium designed by Renzo Piano in Bari, Italy. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Associazione Sportiva Bari. It hosted the 1991 European Cup Final, won by Red Star Belgrade. The stadium itself resembles a ‘flower’. To create this particular design, the stadium consists of 26 ‘petals’ and upper tiers of the higher ring which are separated by 8-metre empty spaces, sufficient to guarantee satisfactory security conditions.

The stadium holds 58,248 people, but has never been filled to capacity for a match; the attendance at the 1991 European Cup final was roughly 51,000.

The stadium was built in 1990 for the 1990 World Cup, during which it hosted five matches: Soviet Union vs. Romania, Cameroon vs. Romania, and Cameroon vs. Soviet Union in group B action; in the round of 16 matches, Czechoslovakia vs. Costa Rica; and the third place match between Italy and England.

The stadium hosted the European Championship Qualifier between Italy and Scotland in March 2007, which Italy won 2–0, and was also a deciding match for the Unofficial World Football Championships.

The Stadio San Nicola hosted Italy’s World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland on 1 April 2009. Italy were booed off the field after Ireland shocked the nation by scoring in the 87th minute. The match ended in a 1–1 draw.

Stadio San Nicola Pics

Stadio San Nicola Video

The Stade Vélodrome is a 60,013 capacity stadium in Marseille, France. It is the home of Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1 and was also a venue in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. It is the largest club football ground in France. The stadium is also used regularly by the French rugby union team.

The record attendance for a club game at the Stade Vélodrome was of 58,897, for a UEFA Cup semi-final against Newcastle United in 2004. The stadium also featured as a Football World Cup venue when the 1938 finals were held in France. The first ever match to be played was between Marseille and Torino in 1937. There are plans to increase the capacity to 80,000 and build a roof to cover all four stands, plans that are contingent on a possible sale of the Football Club.

History:

In 1935 The architects and Pollack Ploquin are designated to build a stadium in Marseille. Henry Ploquin who has designed three years earlier Stade Municipal Gingham projects to the Olympics and provides for Marseille in addition to stage a sports center. For economic reasons, only Stade Velodrome will be realized. The 28 April 1935 The foundation stone was laid by the Velodrome in Marseille Mayor, Dr Ribot, on a site located between downtown and suburban areas of St. Giniez and Sainte-Marguerite On military grounds of the City.

The Velodrome Stadium was inaugurated on 13 June 1937. On this occasion played a friendly match between the Olympique Marseille and Italian of Torino FC which ends with the score of 2 to 1 for Olympians.

The 29 August 1937 The second day of France national football championship is taken to the OM toAS Cannes. This is the first official football match at the Velodrome.

The Stade Velodrome is so aptly named, cycling competitions will be organized. Over the years, the bleachers replaced the bike path along the ground. This less and less common over the years, remains famous for the fans of Marseille football this track slope that extends the bleachers served giant slide to the latter to invade the pitch at the end of games.

The OM is very long hostile to the Stadium, the “stage of the City Council. For fans of the Olympians between the wars, the real point of the OM is Stadium Huveaune Property of the OM and whose construction was financed by the stands the fans in the early 1920s. The war put an end to this problem, because at the end of the conflict, OM no longer owns the Stadium Huveaune. Seeking support from the City of Marseille, hitherto absent, Chairman Marcel Leclerc back on the war in the late stages 1960 by redoing the play OM Huveaune. The City Council gives in and accepts the OM then move to the Velodrome.

OM shares the stage during the 1970s with the club Rugby the city, Marseille XIII Rugby League.

1998 World Cup The Stade Velodrome was completely renovated for the 1998 World Cup seeing its capacity increase from 42 000 to 60 013 seats, or 32 miles of bleachers. The Velodrome hosted the final draw which took place on 4 December 1997, the first time the final draw was held in an outdoor venue, as well as seven matches including France’s first match vs South Africa, the Quarterfinal between Argentina and The Netherlands, and the Semifinal between Brazil and The Netherlands.

The record attendance for a football game (58,897 spectators) dating back to the reception Newcastle United semi-final return UEFA Cup, May 6, 2004 (2–0).

Stade Vélodrome Pics

Stade Vélodrome Video

Stadio San Paolo is a multi-purpose stadium in the western suburb of Fuorigrotta in Naples, Italy, and is the third largest football stadium in Italy after the San Siro and Stadio Olimpico. For the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, it hosted the football preliminaries. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home of Napoli. The stadium was built in 1959 and underwent extensive renovations in 1989 for the 1990 World Cup. The present capacity of the San Paolo is 60,240.

The stadium is probably most famous for hosting the 1990 World Cup semi-final between Italy and Argentina. Considered to be the most intriguing match of that World Cup, Diego Maradona asked for the Napoli fans to cheer for Argentina. The Napoli tifosi responded by hanging a flag in their “curva” of the stadium saying “Maradona, Naples loves you, but Italy is our homeland”. It was touching for Maradona for as Napoli was the only stadium during that World Cup that the Argentinian national anthem wasn’t jeered. The match finished 1–1 after extra time. A penalty shoot out ensued with Maradona fittingly scoring the winning penalty for Argentina.

Renaming

The Naples city council asked the Italian government for permission to rename the stadium after Diego Maradona. The Argentine legend helped Napoli to win Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990, and he remains a popular figure in the city.

The council voted to ask for the renaming of the San Paolo stadium, but one stumbling block is an Italian law prohibiting public buildings to be named after any person who has not been dead for at least 10 years.

Stadio San Paolo Pics

Stadio San Paolo Video

The Emirates Stadium formerly Ashburton Grove, is a football stadium located in Holloway in the London Borough of Islington and is the current home of Arsenal FC. The stadium opened in July 2006 and has an all seated capacity of 60,355, making it the second largest football club stadium in England behind Manchester United’s Old Trafford, and the third largest stadium of any kind in London, after Wembley and Twickenham, and overall the fifth largest football stadium in the United Kingdom. It was initially known as Ashburton Grove after the road it was located on, before a naming rights deal with the airline Emirates was struck in October 2004. The project cost £390 million, including the cost of the associated infrastructure.

Stadium Details:

The stadium is a four-tiered bowl with roofing over the stands but not over the pitch. The design team included architects HOK Sport (now known as Populous), construction consultants AYH, and engineering firm Buro Happold. The stadium was constructed by Sir Robert McAlpine on the site of Ashburton Grove industrial estate, several hundred yards from Arsenal’s former home at Highbury.

The upper (26,646) and lower (24,425) parts of Emirates Stadium feature standard seating. For the 2006–07 season, ticket prices for an adult ranged between £32 and £66 for most matches, but were as low as £13 for juniors and Cannon Club members, in the family enclosure only (designated “Category B”), with the price rising for “Category A” matches against certain top sides to between £46 and £94, with around £20 for juniors in the family enclosure. Season ticket prices for 2006–07 ranged between £885 and £1,825.

The main middle tier, known as the “Club Level”, is premium priced and also includes the director’s box. There are 7,139 seats at this level, which are sold on licences lasting from one to four years. The cost of club tier seats for 2006–07 ranges from £2,500 to £4,750 per season and covers admission to all home league games and any home games Arsenal play in the UEFA Champions League, FA Cup and Carling Cup. These were sold out by May 2006.

Name

It was announced on 5 October 2004 that Emirates Airline had signed a 15-year deal for naming right of the stadium, worth £100m. This sum also includes payments for an eight-year shirt sponsorship by Emirates, starting in the 2006–07 season.

The stadium name is often colloquially shortened from “Emirates Stadium” to “The Emirates”, although some supporters continue to use the former name “Ashburton Grove” or even “The Grove” for the new stadium, especially those who object to the concept of corporate sponsorship of stadium names. This discrepancy between official and unofficial names is similar to the manner in which Arsenal’s former ground, Arsenal Stadium, was almost universally referred to as “Highbury” by supporters, the media and the club itself.

Emirates Stadium Pics

Emirates Stadium Video

Celtic Park is a football stadium in the Parkhead area of Glasgow in Scotland. It is the home ground of Celtic Football Club. The all-seater stadium is also known as Parkhead and is nicknamed Paradise by Celtic fans.

It is the second largest stadium in Scotland by capacity, after Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, and the sixth-largest in the United Kingdom after Murrayfield, Old Trafford, Twickenham, Wembley and the Millennium Stadium.

History:

The original Celtic Park was built by a large band of volunteers in 1888. Its opening game was against Rangers on 28 May 1888, which Celtic won 5–2. Within 3 years Celtic decided to build a new stadium after annual rental costs rose from £50 to £450. The new stadium was built in a disused brickyard just across the street from the old stadium in 1892. A journalist covering the event reported that it was like “moving from the graveyard to paradise” hence the nickname “Paradise”. The main stand was designed by Archibald Leitch, the architect who designed over 20 stadiums throughout Britain. Celtic Park hosted the first ever Composite rules Shinty/Hurling match held in Scotland in 1897.

In 1938 Celtic Park saw its largest attendance of 92,975 when Celtic played a First Division match against Rangers. While Hampden Park was being redeveloped during the 1990s, Celtic Park hosted a number of cup finals, the most recent being the 1998 Scottish League Cup Final. Celtic Park has also hosted a number of Scotland internationals, primarily when Hampden Park has been unavailable. This happened most recently in 2006 when Hampden had been booked for a Robbie Williams concert in advance of the UEFA Euro 2008 qualification fixtures being determined, meaning that Scotland’s match against the Faroe Islands had to be played elsewhere.

The stadium has undergone numerous redevelopments; in 1988, Celtic’s centenary year, the red-bricked exterior to the main stand was added and in the mid-1990s further development was undertaken to make the stadium comply with the Taylor report. In the summer of 1994, the Jungle (North enclosure), East Terracing and West Terracing were demolished. The stadium reopened in the summer of 1995 with the new 27,000-seat North Stand and the existing Main Stand in place. The redevelopment was completed for the beginning of the 1998/99 season.

Celtic Park Pics

Celtic Park Video

The Veltins-Arena is a football stadium in the German city of Gelsenkirchen. Originally named the Arena AufSchalke, it opened in 2001 as the new home ground for Bundesliga club Schalke 04. It hosted the 2004 UEFA Champions League final and 5 matches in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, including a quarter-final. It has a league capacity of 61,482 (standing and seated) and an international capacity of 53,951 (seated only). The naming rights to the stadium were sold on July 1, 2005 to the German brewery Veltins.

History

Plans to construct a new stadium emerged in the late 1990s, as fans and managers sought to move out of the outdated Parkstadion, and create a thoroughly modern multifunctional arena. Following Schalke 04′s historic 1997 victory in the UEFA Cup, and the club’s upcoming 100th anniversary in 2004, the contract to construct a €186 million stadium was given in 1998 to the German construction firm HBM.

Site and Layout

The site chosen for Schalke 04′s new stadium is in the direct vicinity of the old Parkstadion, on an extensive piece of club owned property known as the “Berger Feld”. Unfortunately, two mine shafts of the “Consolidation” and “Hugo” coal-mines run directly beneath this field at a depth of 800 m. These shafts (in use until 2000) would have caused unwanted shifts and tensions that could have compromised the structural integrity of the stadium. To avoid this, the main axis was rotated from the classic North-South arrangement to a Northeast-Southwest alignment, making the arena parallel to the mines.

The Veltins-Arena was created as a multi-functional arena of two tiers that completely surround the playing field. These allow for a league capacity of 61,524 spectators (standing and seated) and an international capacity of 53,994. For league matches, the North stand is left as standing rows (capacity: 16,307) to accommodate the Schalke 04 fans, while for international matches, these are converted to seats (capacity: 8,600). The 72 VIP lounges form a ring around the entire stadium, separating the first tier from the second tier. On the main Western grandstand, the VIP capacity is increased by a second level of lounges directly beneath the main belt.

The foundation for the stadium was created out of cast concrete and 600,000 m3 of packed slag, a waste product from the local coal mines. These were packed into mounds to support the four main stands, which were made out of pre-fabricated, reinforced concrete sections. Leading into the four corners of the arena are 4.50 m x 4.50 m tunnels, which serve both as access for construction and assembly, and as ventilation for the interior.

Veltins-Arena Pics

Veltins-Arena Video

The Estádio da Luz officially named the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica and commonly translated as the Stadium of Light, is a football stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, the home of Sport Lisboa e Benfica. It is also called A Catedral (“The Cathedral”) by Benfica’s supporters.

The ground is named after “Our Lady of the Light” (Nossa Senhora da Luz, or more commonly, Luz), which is the name of the Lisbon parish where the stadium stands. “Da luz,” or “of light,” is a common concept in Portuguese Catholic tradition, and basically translates as those “in the presence of God.” The people of Lisbon often refer to the original stadium, demolished beginning in 2002, as simply “the light,” but the common English name for the stadium became “the stadium of light.”

It hosted several matches in the 2004 European Championship, including the final. The previous Benfica stadium (also called Estádio da Luz and one of the largest stadiums in the world with 120,000 seats) was demolished and the new one was built for the tournament with an official capacity of 65,400.

Old Estadio da Luz:

The original Estádio da Luz, opened in 1954, hosted the 1992 European Cup Winners’ Cup final before a crowd of well over 120,000, its absolute capacity in those years. Before that final, it also hosted the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship final held in Portugal with an impressive attendance of 130,000. The original stadium replaced the Estádio do Campo Grande.

Old Estádio da Luz The old Estádio da Luz saw performances from the likes of Eusébio and Rui Costa. It hosted championship after championship during the glory days of the 1950s and 1960s.

Estádio da Luz Pics:

Estádio da Luz Video:

Murrayfield Stadium is a sports stadium located in the west end of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Its all-seater capacity was recently reduced from 67,800 to 67,130 to incorporate the largest permanent ‘big screen’ in the country though it still remains the largest stadium in Scotland and one of the largest in the United Kingdom overall. The stadium is the home of the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU), and is primarily used as a venue for rugby union and hosts most of Scotland’s home test matches, as well as the Edinburgh Sevens, the Scottish Hydro Electric Cup final, as well as Magners League and Heineken Cup matches. The stadium is considered an icon of Scottish rugby.

Although mainly a rugby union stadium, Murrayfield has in the past hosted American football, rugby league and association football matches. In addition, it has in the past been a venue for music concerts, the most notable of these being the Edinburgh 50,000 – The Final Push concert as part of Live 8.

It once held the record for the largest ever attendance for a rugby union match, with 104,000 watching Scotland play Wales in 1975.

Location

Murrayfield is located in the west-end of Edinburgh, just off Corstorphine Road, right next door to the Murrayfield Ice Rink, and close to the Edinburgh Zoo. It is named after the area of Edinburgh it is located in, Murrayfield.

It has good public transport links, being particularly well-served by bus links along the Corstorphine Road. Despite the line running adjacent to the stadium, its nearest railway station is Haymarket, which is a 1 mile walk from the stadium.

History

The SFU bought some land and built the first Murrayfield which was opened on 21 March 1925. Previously internationals had been played at Inverleith. The first visitors were England, whom Scotland beat to win their first Five Nations Championship Grand Slam.

During the Second World War the ground at Murrayfield was offered to the nation and was taken over by the Royal Army Service Corps and used as a supply depot. During the war years the armed forces sports authorities managed to arrange two Scotland v. England services internationals each year, on a home-and-away basis. Scotland’s home matches were played at Inverleith for the first two years with a return to Murrayfield in 1944 after that ground’s derequisition. In 1994 Murrayfield completed a 50 million pound renovation where floodlights were installed for the first time in its history.

Murrayfield Stadium pics

Murrayfield Stadium video

Stadium Puskás Ferenc is a multi-purpose stadium in Budapest, Hungary. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The all-seater stadium holds 68,976. The original capacity was 104,000.

It was built between 1948 and 1953 using many volunteers, including soldiers. Less than one year later, on 23 May 1954, England suffered its worst defeat ever here (7-1).

The stadium is named after Ferenc Puskás, widely regarded as the best striker in the world in his time and Hungary’s greatest footballer ever, who was a star of the national team during its glory years of the late 1940s and early 1950s. The stadium was renamed in his honour in 2001 from Népstadion (“People’s Stadium”).

Events

The legendary rock band Queen also performed here on their last tour, in 1986. The concert was filmed with film cameras.

In 1988 the stadium hosted the only stop of the Human Rights Now! tour, with the artists Tracy Chapman, Youssou N’Dour, Peter Gabriel, Sting and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, in a communist country

Monsters of Rock (including AC/DC, Metallica, Mötley Crüe and Queensrÿche) took place at this stadium in 1991 as well.

In 1992 Guns N’ Roses played a legendary concert here. From then many musical acts including Depeche Mode and Robbie Williams performed at the stadium.

It doubled for Munich’s famous Olympic Stadium in Steven Spielberg’s 2005 movie Munich (see List of films shot in Budapest).

Stadium Puskás Ferenc pics

Stadium Puskás Ferenc video

The Olympiastadion is a stadium located in Munich, Germany. Situated at the heart of the Olympiapark München in northern Munich, the stadium was built as the main venue for the 1972 Summer Olympics.

With a capacity of 80,000, the stadium also hosted many major football matches including the 1974 World Cup Final, in which West Germany beat the Netherlands 2-1. The Euro ’88 Final was played there, in which the Netherlands fared better, beating the Soviet Union 2-0, including a famous volleyed goal from Marco van Basten. In 2001, it hosted England’s famous 5-1 win over Germany in a qualifying match for the 2002 World Cup. It also hosted the European Cup Finals of 1979, 1993 and 1997.

Until the construction of the Allianz Arena for the 2006 World Cup, the stadium was home to Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 Munich. Today, the Olympiastadion holds 69,250.

Design

Designed by the German architect Günther Behnisch and the engineer Frei Otto, the Olympiastadion was considered revolutionary for its time. This included large sweeping canopies of acrylic glass stabilized by steel cables that were used for the first time in a large scale. The idea was to imitate the Alps and to set a counterpart to the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, held during the Nazi-Regime. The sweeping and transparent canopy was to symbolize the new, democratic and optimistic Germany. This is reflected in the official motto: “The Happy Games” (“die heiteren Spiele”).

History

Following the Olympics, the stadium became the home of FC Bayern München, with their rival TSV 1860 München moving in during the 1990s. These two teams coexisted in the Olympiastadion until 2005, when both clubs moved to the purpose built Allianz Arena.

On December 31, 2006, the stadium made history as being the first venue to host the Tour de Ski cross country skiing competition. The individual sprint events, held at 1100 m, were won by Norway’s Marit Bjørgen (women) and Switzerland’s Christoph Eigenmann (men). The snow was made in the stadium by combining the hot air with the cold refrigerated water that causes the snow to act like the icy type you would see in the Alps.

On June 23 to June 24, 2007, the stadium played host to the Spar European Cup 2007. A yearly athletics event featuring the top 8 countries from around Europe.

Events

In addition to being a sports venue, the Olympic Stadium and Olympic Riding Stadium (Olympia-Reitstadion) have played host to many open-air concerts by the likes of Michael Jackson, Queen, Depeche Mode, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Madonna, Tina Turner, Celine Dion, AC/DC, Roxette, Bon Jovi, Robbie Williams, Metallica, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Rolling Stones. Parts of the 1975 film Rollerball were shot on the (then) futuristic site surrounding the stadium. Guns N’ Roses filmed parts of their Estranged video there when they visited Munich in June 1993. In 2009 Muse will also play there, due to their ‘Resistance’-Tour. Since 2005 it is the host of the yearly air and style snowboard event. It went unused in the 2006 FIFA World Cup due to the Allianz Arena being the host stadium in Munich.

Munich Olympiastadion pics

Munich Olympiastadion video