Murrayfield Stadium

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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

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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

Munich Olympiastadion

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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

Allianz Arena

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The Allianz Arena is a football stadium in the north of Munich, Germany. The two professional Munich football clubs FC Bayern München and TSV 1860 München have played their home games at Allianz Arena since the start of the 2005/06 season. Both clubs had previously played their home games at the Munich Olympic Stadium since 1972; FC Bayern München all and TSV 1860 München most of their games.

The large financial services provider, Allianz purchased the rights to name the stadium for 30 years. During the 2006 World Cup it was known as FIFA World Cup Stadium Munich.

The stadium will be the venue for the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final.

Capacity

Effective with the city’s approval of modifications that was granted January 16, 2006, the legal capacity of the stadium has increased from 66,000 to 69,901 spectators (including standing room). The lower tier can seat up to 20,000, the middle tier up to 24,000, and the upper tier up to 22,000. 10,400 of the seats in the lower tier corners can be converted to standing room to allow an additional 30,120 spectators. The total capacity includes 2,000 business seats, 400 seats for the press, 106 luxury boxes with seating for up to 174 and 165 berths for wheelchairs and the like. From the second half of the 2005-06 Bundesliga season, the arena is able to accommodate 69,901 spectators at league and German Cup games, but because of UEFA regulations, the capacity remains at 66,000 seats for UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup games. Bayern München has limited capacity during their league and cup games to 69,000. The partial roof covers all seats, although winds can still blow rain onto some of them.

Allianz Arena also offers three day-care centers, two fan shops, the FC Bayern München Megastore and the TSV 1860 München Allianz Arena Megastore. Merchandise is offered at stands all along the inside of the exterior wall inside the area behind the seats. Numerous restaurants and fast food establishments are also located around the stadium.

History

On October 21, 2002 voters went to the polls to determine whether a new stadium should be built in this location and whether the city of Munich should provide the necessary infrastructure. About two thirds of the voters decided in favor of the proposition. An alternative to constructing the new arena had been a major reconstruction of the Olympic Stadium but this option had been refused by its architect Günther Behnisch.

The Swiss architect firm of Herzog & de Meuron then developed the concept of the stadium with a see-through exterior made of ETFE-foil panels, that can be lit from the inside and are self-cleaning. Construction started in the fall of 2002 and was completed by the end of April 2005.

The Fröttmaning and Marienplatz stations of the subway line U6 were expanded and improved in conjunction with the arena construction. The Fröttmaning subway station was expanded from two to four tracks, while the Marienplatz U-Bahn station was outfitted with additional pedestrian connector tunnels running parallel to the subway tracks, which lead towards the S-Bahn portion of the station, lessening congestion among passengers making connections to the Munich S-Bahn. To be able to handle the additional traffic load the Autobahn A9 was expanded to three and four lanes going each way and another exit was added to the A99 north of the arena.

Allianz Arena pics

Allianz Arena video

River Plate Stadium

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The Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti, better known as El Monumental de Nuñez or River Plate Stadium, is a stadium in the Belgrano district of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the home venue of Club Atlético River Plate and is named after former club president Antonio Vespucio Liberti. El Monumental is considered to be the national stadium of Argentina.

History

The first match played in this stadium was on 25 May 1938 between River Plate and Peñarol from Uruguay. River won 3-1.

The stadium was renovated several times, most notably for the 1978 World Cup, when the missing stands of one side were erected to complete the circle around the field.

Events

The Monumental, aside from being where River Plate plays as host team, is also the stadium where the Argentine National Football Team usually plays as host, in events such as the FIFA World Cup qualification.

Rugby union matches featuring the Argentina national rugby union team, Los Pumas, also take place occasionally in this field, although the Pumas more frequently play at another Buenos Aires venue, Vélez Sársfield. In addition, when an international music superstar or band comes to the country, its concert is held in this stadium, as it is the biggest in the country. Iron Maiden, Bon Jovi, The Ramones, The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Luis Miguel, Robbie Williams, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Roger Waters, U2, Guns N’ Roses, Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Slayer, Shakira, Aerosmith, The Police, Evanescence, Keane, Beck, Metallica, Kiss, Tina Turner, Franz Ferdinand, Peter Gabriel, Backstreet Boys, Bruce Springsteen, Ozzy Osbourne, Bob Dylan, AC/DC, Korn, Oasis, Black Sabbath, High School Musical have played here, among others. Local important bands such as Soda Stereo, Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota or Serú Girán have also held their major shows at the Monumental as well. In 2007, Soda Stereo played 6 sold out shows at the stadium, having the call record of shows in a single tour.

Madonna performed 4 sold-out concerts in December 2008 as part of her Sticky & Sweet Tour: during one of these concerts, an official DVD of the tour was filmed. She holds the record for fastest sell out concert at the stadium for her first show, with 3 hours and more than 67,000 tickets sold.

River Plate Stadium Pics

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King Fahd International Stadium

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King Fahd International Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and it also has athletics facilities.The stadium was built in 1987 and holds 67,000. It also has the largest stadium roof in the world. It was a venue for matches of the FIFA World Youth Championship in 1989 including the final match.

The stadium’s roof is the largest stadium cover in the world shading over 70,000 seats and covering an area of 47,000 square metres. The 24 columns are arranged on a circle with a 247-metre diameter. The huge umbrella keeps the sun off the seats and concourse slabs, providing shade and comfort in the hot desert climate. The first goal in an official game was scored by Majed Abdullah.

King Fahd International Stadium Pics

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Stade 7 Novembre

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Stade 7 Novembre is a multi-use stadium in Rades, Tunisia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and it also has facilities for athletics. The stadium holds 65,000 and was built in 2001 for the Mediterranean games and is considered to be one of the best stadiums in Africa.

Stade 7 Novembre Pics

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Saitama Stadium

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Saitama Stadium 2002, often called Saitama Stadium or simply Saisuta, is a football stadium located in Midori-ku, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. The stadium is a 15 to 20 minute walk from Urawa-Misono Station on the Saitama Railway Line. Currently J. League football club Urawa Red Diamonds uses this stadium as its home ground in addition to Urawa Komaba Stadium.

History

Built by Azusa Sekkei to host matches of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, construction was completed in September 2001. The stadium holds 63,700 people, although for segregation reasons league games hosted at the ground have a reduced capacity of 62,300. The Saitama Studium hosted four matches during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, including co-host Japan’s first match against Belgium.

First Round:

* 2 June 2002: England 1–1 Sweden
* 4 June 2002: Japan 2–2 Belgium
* 6 June 2002: Cameroon 1–0 Saudi Arabia

Semi Final:

* 26 June 2002: Brazil 1–0 Turkey

Between 2005 and 2007, the Urawa Red Diamonds’ local derby rival Omiya Ardija hosted matches here along with Urawa Komaba due to expansion of its home Ōmiya Park Soccer Stadium.

Saitama Stadium Pics

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Ford Field

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Ford Field is an indoor football stadium located in Detroit, Michigan that is the current home field of the NFL’s Detroit Lions. It is across the street from Comerica Park. It regularly seats 65,000, though it is expandable up to 70,000 for football and 80,000 for basketball. The naming rights were paid for by Ford at $40 million over 20 years; the Ford family (including Lions owner William Clay Ford, Sr.) holds a controlling interest in the company.

Architecture

Ford Field was originally planned to be an outdoor stadium, simultaneously with Comerica Park, which opened in April 2000, as part of a public project to replace Tiger Stadium and the Pontiac Silverdome. Ford Field was constructed after Comerica Park, opening in 2002. It cost an estimated $430 million to build, financed largely through public money and the sale of the naming rights.

The stadium’s design incorporates a six-story former Hudson’s warehouse, which had stood since the 1920s. Architecturally, the stadium shares a likeness with its sister stadium Ford Center, a multipurpose sports/concert arena located in downtown Oklahoma City. Hammes Company, a real estate development company in Brookfield, Wisconsin, developed the new stadium, as well as the warehouse.

Major events

On April 1, 2007, Ford Field hosted World Wrestling Entertainment’s extravaganza WrestleMania 23. The event set Ford Field a attendance record of 80,103. It was the first WrestleMania held in the Detroit area since 93,173 fans set a world indoor attendance record at the Pontiac Silverdome for WrestleMania III in 1987.

The stadium is also used each fall to host the MCBA finals, where Michigan high school marching bands compete to be the best in the state.

Ford Field hosted Super Bowl XL on February 5, 2006 as the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks, 21–10 to win their 5th Super Bowl championship in front of 68,206 in attendance. It also marked the final game in the 13-year career of Detroit native and 10-year Steelers running back, Jerome Bettis.

Ford Field Pics

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