New Wembley Stadium
Information:
Wembley Stadium (usually shortened to just Wembley) is a football stadium, located in Wembley Park in London, UK. Primarily a football venue, Wembley is owned by The Football Association (The FA) via its subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Limited, and hosts England’s home international football matches and the main English domestic cup finals. The Stadium is also used for music concerts and other sporting events. Wembley will host the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final.
Wembley’s 90,000 capacity makes it the second largest stadium in Europe, and is the largest in the world with every seat under cover. Immediately following its opening, it was often referred to as the “new Wembley Stadium” to distinguish it from the original stadium. The land has been used as for football since as early as the 1880s.
Old Wembley Stadium
The previous Wembley Stadium (originally known as the British Empire Exhibition Stadium or Empire Stadium) was one of the world’s most famous football stadiums, being England’s national stadium for football, and because of the geographical origins of the game was often referred to as “The Home of Football”. It hosted the European Cup (now the UEFA Champions League) final a record five times, and is one of seventeen stadiums to have held a FIFA World Cup final. Though the original structure was closed in 2000, it was not demolished until 2003, after which construction began on the new stadium, originally intended to open in 2006. This was later delayed until early 2007. The final completion date of the stadium was 9 March 2007, when the keys to the stadium were handed over to the FA.
Music
Besides football, Wembley can be configured to hold many other events, particularly major concerts. The first concert at the new stadium was given by George Michael on 9 June 2007. Other acts to have performed at the stadium are Westlife, Muse who were the first artists to sell out Wembley, Metallica, Foo Fighters and Madonna. Coldplay, AC/DC, U2, Oasis and Queen.
Two large charity concerts have been held at the new Wembley stadium, the Concert for Diana, a memorial concert ten years after the Death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Live Earth. Bon Jovi were scheduled to be the first artists to perform at the new Wembley but the late completion of the stadium saw the concerts relocated to the National Bowl and the KC Stadium.
Wembley Stadium Pics
Wembley Stadium Video
Camp Nou
Information:
The Camp Nou often erroneously called the “Nou Camp” (in both Spanish and English) is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. The stadium has been the home of FC Barcelona since its construction in 1957. It is a UEFA 5-star rated stadium, and has hosted numerous international matches at senior level, and UEFA Champions League finals, the most recent being in 1999. It has a capacity of 98,772, making it the largest stadium in Europe, and the eleventh largest in the world. Its official name was Estadi del FC Barcelona (FC Barcelona Stadium) until 2000, when the club membership voted to change the official name to the popular nickname, Camp Nou.
Across Camp Nou is the Palau Blaugrana, the stadium for indoor sports and adjacent is the Ice Rink, the stadium for ice-based sports. Just behind the complex is the Mini Estadi, the stadium where the FC Barcelona Atlètic plays its games.
Camp Nou History
By the early 1950s, Barcelona had outgrown its old stadium, Camp de Les Corts which had held 60,000 supporters. The Camp Nou, built between 1954 and 1957, was designed by architects Francesc Mitjans-Miró, Lorenzo García Barbon and Josep Soteras Mauri. FC Barcelona won their first game at Camp Nou in impressive fashion, a 4-2 victory against Legia Warsaw, with Eulogio Martínez scoring the first goal at the new stadium. Over 90,000 fans were present at this momentous occasion.
The stadium capacity has varied, opening at 93,053, but growing to 105,000 for the 1982 FIFA World Cup. With the outlawing of standing sections at the stadium in the late 1990s, its capacity settled to just below 99,000.
The facilities include a memorabilia shop, mini pitches for training matches, and a chapel for players. The stadium also houses the most visited museum in Catalonia, El Museu del Barça, which receives about 1,200,000 visits a year. The museum was inaugurated in 1984 under the presidency of Josep Lluís Nuñez. The museum shows 1,420 pieces of FC Barcelona’s history, of which 420 are trophies. The inauguration ceremony of the 1982 World Cup was held on June 13. In front of a 100,000-strong crowd, Belgium beat Argentina 1-0.
Events
Camp Nou hosted musical performances and other non-football events. Artists who have performed at the stadium include:
- Pink Floyd
- Michael Jackson
- U2
- Bruce Springsteen
- Frank Sinatra
- Julio Iglesias
- Sting, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Youssou N’Dour, Tracy Chapman, Peter Gabriel and El Último de la Fila at the Amnesty International’s Concert for Human Rights
- The Three Tenors: José Carreras, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti
- José Carreras
- Montserrat Caballé
- Lluís Llach
Pope John Paul II celebrated mass with a congregation of over 120,000 at Camp Nou on November 17, 1982.
