Stade de France

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The Stade de France is the national stadium of France, situated in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. It has an all-seater capacity of 80,000 and is used for the French rugby union team during the Six Nations and other major internationals. The French football team also use the stadium for almost every home game, and it was there where they defeated Brazil 3-0 in the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final. Paris’s main rugby club, Stade Français, periodically use the stadium as a home ground for some major matches.

Stade de France is the venue for three major domestic cup finals each year: the Top 14, France’s domestic rugby union championship; and football’s Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue. The UEFA Champions League Finals of 2000 and 2006 were awarded to the stadium. It held the annual cross-motorsport event Race of Champions in 2004, 2005 and 2006 before the event moved to Wembley Stadium in London. In 2007, it was the principal stadium used in the Rugby World Cup, making it the only stadium in the world to have hosted both a Football World Cup Final and a Rugby World Cup Final. The stadium can be reconfigured to house a running track for track and field events, as was the case when it played host to the 2003 World Championships in Athletics.

Stade de France History

The Stade de France is the national stadium of France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. It hosted one of France’s greatest sporting triumphs to date—the 3-0 victory over Brazil in the World Cup final on July 12, 1998. This was the first time that France had won the World Cup, as well as the first time in twenty years that a host nation had captured the title. Previously played at Parc des Princes, the Top 16 (French rugby championship, now the Top 14) final was moved permanently to Stade de France that year. Parisian team Stade Français defeated USA Perpignan 34-7 in May of that year. The following year it hosted one match of the Welsh hosted 1999 Rugby World Cup, a quarter-final, where the Springboks defeated England 44-21.

Concerts

Since its opening in 1998, the Stade de France has become a popular touring venue for high-profile recording artists. These include:

• The Rolling Stones - July 25, 1998
• Johnny Hallyday - September, 5,6 and 11, 1998
• Celine Dion - June 19 and 20, 1999
• Tina Turner - July 5, 2000
• AC/DC - June 22, 2001
• Bruce Springsteen - May 24, 2003
• Paul McCartney - June 24, 2004
• U2 - July 9 and 10, 2005
• The Rolling Stones - July 28, 2006
• The Rolling Stones - June 16, 2007
• George Michael - June 22, 2007
• The Police - September 29 and 30, 2007
• André Rieu - August 29, 2008
• Madonna - September 20 and 21, 2008
• Mister Pape - May 28 and June 01, 2009
• Johnny Hallyday - May, 29,30 and 31, 2009
• AC/DC - June 12, 2009
• Depeche Mode - June 27, 2009
• U2 - July 11 and 12, 2009
• Mylène Farmer - September 11 and 12, 2009
• Mister Pape - November 12 and 13, 2009
• Indochine - June 26, 2010

Stade de France pics

Stade de France video

Santiago Bernabéu

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Estadio Santiago Bernabéu is a football stadium in the Chamartín distric of Madrid, Spain. It was inaugurated on December 14, 1947 and is owned by the Real Madrid football club. With a capacity of 80,354 spectators in 2007, it was named as a UEFA Elite Five-Star Stadium in 2007.

The Bernabéu is one of the world’s most famous and prestigious venues. It hosted the European Cup final three times, in 1957, 1969 and 1980, and is scheduled to host the 2010 final. The finals for the 1964 European Nations’ Cup and the 1982 World Cup have also been held at the Bernabéu.

Santiago Bernabéu after 2000

When Florentino Perez became the president of Real Madrid, was launched on the Master Plan called Santiago Bernabeu stadium, with one goal: To improve the comfort of the stadium and the quality of its facilities, and maximise revenue from the stadium.

This invested 127,000,000 euros in five years (2001-2006) between the cover and highlighted the expansion of the East Side, the new facade on Father Damien, new costumes, new boxes and VIP areas, a new stage in honour of the East Side, a new press area also located on the East Side, new audio system, new bars, placement of heat in the stands, panoramic lifts, new restaurants, escalators in the towers access and implementation of the multipurpose building in the street Father Damien, who will be more macrotienda football and offices for the club.

Following the enlargement of the lateral East and the creation of the creation of new galleries, the capacity of the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium is 80,354 spectators, all seated.

To capitalise further on the stage, created the Tour of Bernabeu, where any amateur can enjoy all the corners of the stadium.

In 2002 and 2004, the stadium was the subject of separate terrorist attacks by the errorist organisation ETA, was held to mourn any human or material damage.

In 2007, the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium was the 1000 league games took place. In addition, the latest revision of UEFA on October 24, 2007, on the occasion of the match Champions League against Olympiyacos FC, served as a final step in the procedures were underway to give the category of the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium Elite Five-Star Stadium status on November 14, 2007, a month before the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the inauguration of the stadium, Uefa announced that the club will officially rename the five-star stadium.

The president of Real Madrid, Florentino Perez, proposed construction of a retractable roof before he resigned in 2005. The construction has not yet started.

Location

The Santiago Bernabeu Stadium is located in the Paseo de la Castellana in the Chamartin district. It occupies the block bounded by the Paseo de la Castellana and the streets of Concha Espina, Padre Damian, and Rafael Salgado.

The stadium has its own Madrid Metro station along the 10 line called Santiago Bernabéu. Its location, in the heart of Madrid’s business district, is quite unusual for a football stadium.

Santiago Bernabéu pics

Santiago Bernabéu video

Westfalenstadion

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Westfalenstadion is a football stadium in the German city of Dortmund in the industrial metropolitan area of the Ruhrgebiet (”Ruhrpott”).

The stadium is officially named Signal Iduna Park under a sponsorship arrangement lasting from December 2005 until June 2011, giving naming rights to the Signal Iduna Group, an insurance company. The older name Westfalenstadion derives from the former Prussian province of Westphalia, which is part of the German Federal Republic North Rhine-Westphalia.

It is the home stadium of the BV Borussia Dortmund football team playing in the German Bundesliga. It has a league capacity of 80,552 (standing and seated), and an international capacity of 65,718 (officially seats only). It is Germany’s biggest stadium and established the European record in fan attendance in 2004/2005 with a total of almost 1.4 million fans. The supporters’ enthusiasm increasingly produces over 50,000 sold season tickets. Regularly 24,454 fans on the famous terrace called Südtribüne fill the largest still existing standing area in European football. Famous for the intense atmosphere it breeds, the stadium has been nicknamed “The Opera House of German Football”, “The Temple” or referring to the faithful Südtribüne “Yellow Wall”.

The Westfalenstadion hosted matches of the 1974 World Cup with Zaire, Scotland, Sweden, Brazil and later finalists Netherlands. It hosted several matches of the 2006 FIFA World Cup national teams of Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Togo, Switzerland, Japan, Brazil, Ghana and World Cup holders Italy. In the semi-final they were the first to beat Germany in an international match played at Dortmund.

Westfalenstadion History

Plans to construct a new stadium were drawn up in the 1960s, as the need arose to expand and refurbish the traditional ground of Borussia Dortmund, the Stadion Rote Erde (”Stadium Red Earth”). Following the historic triumph in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup 1966 (Dortmund was the first German team to win a European club title), it became clear that the Stadion Rote Erde was too small for the increasing number of Borussia Dortmund supporters. The city of Dortmund, however, was not able to finance a new stadium and federal institutions were unwilling to help.

In 1971, Dortmund was selected to replace the city of Cologne, which was forced to withdraw its plans to host games in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. The funds originally set aside for the projected stadium in Cologne were thus re-allocated to Dortmund. However, architects and planners had to keep an eye on the costs due to a tight budget. This meant that plans for a 60 million DM oval stadium featuring the traditional athletic facilities and holding 60,000 spectators had to be discarded. Instead, plans for a much cheaper 54,000 spectator football arena, built of pre-fabricated concrete sections, became a reality. Ultimately, the costs amounted to 32.7 million DM, of which 1.6 million DM were invested in the refurbishment of the Stadion Rote Erde. The city of Dortmund, initially burdened with 6 million DM, only had to pay 800,000 DM, and quickly profited from the stadium’s high revenues.

In the 1974 FIFA World Cup, the Westfalenstadion hosted 3 Group games and 1 Final Group game, during which the stadium was almost always filled to its maximum capacity of 54,000.

On the 2nd of April 1974, Borussia Dortmund officially moved into their new home and has played in the Westfalenstadion ever since. Having been relegated in 1972, the BVB was the only member of the 2. Bundesliga (second Division) to host the 1974 World Cup games in a completely new stadium. In 1976, after promotion to the Fußball-Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund played its first game in Germany’s highest division in their new home stadium.

Westfalenstadion Layout

Situated directly opposite the Stadion Rote Erde, the Westfalenstadion is composed of 4 roofed grandstands, each facing the playing field on the East, South, West and North sides. The Eastern and Western stands (Ost- und Westtribüne) run the entire length of the field, while the breadth is covered by the North and South stands (Nord- und Südtribüne).

Originally the corners between the four grandstands remained empty, the spectators appreciated the extensive roof, which covered over 80% of the stands. The Eastern and Western stands housed the stadium’s 17,000 seats, while the 37,000 standing places were housed in the Northern and Southern stands.

Westfalenstadion pics

Westfalenstadion video

Twickenham Stadium

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Twickenham Stadium (usually known as just Twickenham or Twickers) is a stadium located in Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is the largest rugby union stadium in the United Kingdom and has recently been enlarged to seat 82,000. This makes it the second largest stadium in the UK after Wembley Stadium and the fifth largest stadium in Europe. The stadium is the home of the Rugby Football Union (RFU), and as such primarily a venue for rugby union and hosts England’s home test matches, as well as the Middlesex Sevens, the Guinness Premiership final, as well as EDF Energy Cup and Heineken Cup matches. The stadium is considered an icon of English rugby.

Although the ground is usually only occupied by rugby union, it has in the past hosted a number of events, such as Iron Maiden, Bon Jovi, Genesis, U2, The Rolling Stones, The Police, Eagles and most recently R.E.M. concerts. It has also been the host of Rugby League’s Challenge Cup final.

The stadium is visible from aeroplanes on approach to nearby London Heathrow Airport.

Twickenham Stadium Overview

Twickenham is often referred to as the home of English rugby. The stadium is owned and operated by the RFU, so Twickenham is the host of numerous rugby union fixtures year round. Most prominently it is the home of the English rugby union team, who have played nearly all their home games at the stadium (as opposed to some of the other rugby nations that may have a home stadium, but use numerous venues, England uses just Twickenham). Twickenham hosts England’s Six Nations matches, as well as inbound touring teams from the Southern Hemisphere, usually annually around November.

Apart from its relationship with the national team, Twickenham is the venue for a number of other domestic and international rugby union matches. It hosts the annual London leg of the IRB Sevens World Series as well at the domestic Middlesex Sevens competition. It is also the venue for the final of the Guinness Premiership, and has hosted the Anglo-Welsh Cup final in the past. Twickenham also hosted the 2006-07 Heineken Cup final. The stadium is also host to The Varsity Match between Oxford and Cambridge, the English schools’ Daily Mail Cup final and the Army Navy Match which forms the culmination of the annual Inter-Services Competition.

Museum of Rugby

The World Rugby Museum is a museum located in Twickenham Stadium. The museum covers the whole of the global game, not just English rugby. It tells the history of the sport, including William Webb Ellis and Richard Lindon, using interactive display techniques. The museum has a rolling programme of special exhibitions which cover topical issues and offer an opportunity to display some of the obscurer items in the collection. Some unique displays include an English rugby jersey from the first ever rugby international in 1871 between England and Scotland, and (until 2005) the William Webb Ellis Cup which was obtained by England at the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Twickenham Stadium Tours are also available through the Museum and run four times per day (Tuesday to Saturday) and twice on Sundays. It is usually open every day of the week except for Mondays. Except match days when for ticket holders only a special price entry to the museum is available.

Twickenham Stadium Pics

Twickenham Stadium Video

Croke Park Stadium

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Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland is the largest sports stadium in Ireland and the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association, Ireland’s biggest sporting organisation. The stadium is in the heart of the city, a 15 minute walk from the main thoroughfare O’Connell Street.

Since 1884 the site has been used primarily by the GAA to host Gaelic games, most notably the annual finals of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and Senior Hurling Championship. Music concerts by major international acts have also been held in “Croker”, as it is often called, and it hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2003 Special Olympics. During the refurbishment of Lansdowne Road the stadium is also hosting the Irish national rugby union and soccer teams.

Following a redevelopment programme started in the 1990s, Croke Park has a capacity of 82,300, making it the fourth largest stadium in Europe and the current largest stadium in the Six Nations Championship. It has also held the world record for largest attendance at a club rugby union match since 2 May 2009.

Croke Park Stadium Design

In the 1980s the organisation decided to investigate ways to increase the capacity of the old stadium. The design for an 80,000 capacity stadium was completed in 1991. Gaelic Sports have special requirements as they take place on a large field. A specific requirement was to ensure the spectators were not too far from the field of play. This resulted in the three-tier design from which viewing games is possible: the main concourse, a premium level incorporating hospitality facilities and finally an upper concourse. The premium level contains restaurants, bars and conference areas. The project was split into four phases over a 14-year period.

Croke Park Stadium Pics

Croke Park Stadium Video

Olimpiysky

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The Olimpiysky National Sports Complex (also known as Olympic Stadium, Republican Stadium or Central Stadium; Ukrainian: “Olimpiys’kyĭ”) is a multi-use sports facility in Kiev, Ukraine, located on the slopes of city’s central Cherepanov Hill. The stadium is the premier sports venue of Ukraine and one of the world’s largest. The complex also features several other sports facilities. The stadium is also expected to host the final match of Euro 2012.

Olimpiysky History

After Ukrainian independence in 1991, the stadium was given national status in 1996 and renamed again as the National Sports Complex “Olimpiys’ky” (’Olympic’). Kievans still commonly refer to it as the Tsentralny (Central) or Respublykanskyi stadion (Republican Stadium), and the nearby metro station is also called Respublykanskyi Stadion.

In 1997–99 the stadium was reconstructed again in accordance to FIFA guidelines, and its capacity reduced to 83,450. Since the independance of Ukraine the stadium was used primarily for football matches, including international and high-profile home games of FC Dynamo Kyiv in the Ukrainian Premier League, when a high turnout is expected. However, it is not the official home ground of Dynamo or any other Kiev club, as they all have smaller home stadiums and training bases. The stadium is an official home ground of the Ukraine national football team and was the official venue of the Ukrainian Cup final until 2008.

Euro 2012

On 18 April 2007, Poland and Ukraine were chosen to co-host Euro 2012, the finals of the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, with the Olimpiysky set to host the final. There are plans to refurbish the stadium for the tournament – a roof is expected to be built and the capacity decreased to 83,300.

On December 1, 2008, reconstruction began when a winner of countless tenders held was anounced. It is expected to be finished in 2011.

Olimpiysky Pics

Olimpiysky Video

San Siro

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The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, more commonly called Stadio San Siro, is a football stadium in Milan, Italy. It is the home of A.C. Milan and F.C. Internazionale Milano. The stadium is named in honour of Giuseppe Meazza, the two-time World Cup winner (1934, 1938) who played both for Internazionale and Milan in the 1930s and 1940s.

History

The stadium construction started in 1925 in the Milanese district of San Siro, which gave its original name. The idea to build a stadium in the same district as the horse racing track, belongs to the man who then was the president of AC Milan, Piero Pirelli. The architects designed a stadium only for football (there is no athletics track in it). The inauguration was on September 19, 1926, when 35,000 spectators saw Internazionale defeat Milan 6-3. Originally, the ground was home and property of AC Milan. In 1947 Internazionale became tenants and the two have shared the ground ever since. Although Giuseppe Meazza played for both Inter and Milan, he enjoyed more success at Inter and is more favoured by the Inter faithful; as a result, Milan fans favour the term San Siro for the ground.

As well as being used by Milan and Inter, the Italian national side also plays occasional games there and it has also been used for the 2000–01, 1969–1970 and 1964–65 Champions League/European Cup finals. The stadium was also used for UEFA Cup finals when played over home and away legs but has never featured since the competition changed to a single final structure in 1997–98.

The stadium underwent further renovations for the 1990 World Cup with $60 million being spent, bringing the stadium up to UEFA 5-star standard. As part of the renovations, the stadium became all seated, with an extra tier being added to 3 sides of the stadium. This entailed the building of 11 concrete towers around the outside of the stadium. Four of these concrete towers located at the corner to support a new roof which has distinctive protruding red girders.

Both Milan and Inter are in the process of new stadium feasibility studies

Events

Other than football matches, the San Siro has been host to many pop music concerts. Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Vasco Rossi, Ligabue and The Rolling Stones,Laura Pausini have headlined at the stadium more than once. The San Siro was also the venue for the boxing match between Duilio Loi vs. Carlos Ortiz for the Junior Welterweight title in 1960.

San Siro Pics

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Estádio do Morumbi

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Estádio Cícero Pompeu de Toledo is a stadium in São Paulo, Brazil, popularly known as Estádio do Morumbi, or just Morumbi, because of its location in the city’s Morumbi neighborhood. It is the home ground of São Paulo Futebol Clube and its formal name honors Cícero Pompeu de Toledo, who was São Paulo FC’s chairman during most of the stadium construction, and died before its inauguration. The stadium was designed by the architect João Batista Vilanova Artigas.

Morumbi once held 120,000 seats, but now its maximum capacity is only 80,000 seats, and only 75,000 tickets are sold each game for safety reasons. The playing field measures 108.25 metres (118.38 yd) x 72.70 metres (79.51 yd).

History

In 1952, São Paulo’s chairman Cícero Pompeu de Toledo requested the city’s mayor Armando de Arruda Pereira a groundplot in the Ibirapuera neighborhood. However, the mayor refused the request, but donated a groundplot in the Morumbi neighborhood to São Paulo.

On August 15, 1952, the stadium construction started. Only eight years later, in 1960, the construction was partially concluded, and the stadium was inaugurated with a maximum capacity of 70,000 people.

The inaugural match was played on October 2, 1960, when São Paulo beat Sporting Lisbon of Portugal 1-0. The first goal of the stadium was scored by São Paulo’s Peixinho.

On March 2, 1969, shortly after the end of the São Paulo-Corinthians 2-4 match, a thunderbolt discharged close to the stadium, starting a tumult in the stadium exit doors. Because of the tumult, one of the walls collapsed, and a 40-year old Corinthians supporter named João Benedetti died.

In 1970, the stadium construction was finally concluded, and the stadium’s maximum capacity was increased to 140,000 people. The re-inaugural match between São Paulo and FC Porto drew 1-1.

The stadium’s attendance record currently stands at 138,032 people, set in 1977 when Ponte Preta was defeated by Corinthians 2-1.

In 1994, a major overhaul of the stadium started, which was concluded only in 2000. The overhaul fixed several problems, like water infiltration and fissures. A new illumination system was installed, and the safety conditions were improved. The stadium’s maximum capacity was reduced to 80,000 people.

Events

The stadium has been host to many international shows, including: Nirvana, Michael Jackson, Madonna (who performed one show at the stadium in 1993 with The Girlie Show Tour, and three shows in 2008, closing the South American leg of her Sticky & Sweet Tour), Kiss, Aerosmith, Linkin Park, U2, RBD, High School Musical and Queen.

Estádio do Morumbi Pics

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