Estadio Santiago Bernabéu is a
footballFootball is the name of several similar team sports, all of which involve kicking a ball with the foot in an attempt to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer"...
stadiumA modern stadium is a place, or venue, for outdoor sports, concerts or other events, consisting of a field or stage partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.-History of the stadium:The word originates from the Greek word...
in the
ChamartínChamartín is an administrative district of Madrid, Spain and consists of the following neighborhoods: El Viso, Prosperidad, Ciudad Jardín, Hispanoamérica, Nueva España, and Pza. Castilla....
district of
MadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. It is the third-most populous municipality in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third-most populous city by urban area in the European Union after Paris and London.The city is located on the river...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
. It was inaugurated on 14 December 1947 and is owned by the
Real Madrid Clube de FútbolReal Madrid Club de Fútbol is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. It is the most successful team in Spanish football and was voted by FIFA as the most successful club of the 20th century, having won a record thirty-one La Liga titles, seventeen Spanish Cups, a record nine European...
. With a current capacity of 80,354 spectators, it was named as a UEFA Elite stadium in 2007.
El Bernabéu, named after chairman
Santiago Bernabéu YesteSantiago Bernabéu Yeste was one of the single most important men in Real Madrid's history, and the one to whom much of the credit can be given for transforming Real Madrid from the second most successful club in Madrid into the most successful in Spain, and one of the most successful in Europe...
, is one of the world's most famous and prestigious football venues. It hosted the
European Cup finalThe UEFA Champions League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe...
three times, in
1957The 1957 European Cup Final was a football match which took place at Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, Spain, on May 30, 1957. It was contested between Real Madrid C.F. of Spain and ACF Fiorentina of Italy. Real Madrid won 2-0 with second half goals from Alfredo Di Stéfano and Francisco Gento.-Match...
,
1969The 1969 European Cup Final was a football match held at the Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, on May 28, 1969, that saw A.C. Milan of Italy play against AFC Ajax of the Netherlands to determine who would be the champions of Europe that season...
and
1980The 1980 European Cup Final was a football match held at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid, on 28 May 1980, that saw Nottingham Forest F.C. of England defeat Hamburger SV of Germany 1–0. In the 21st minute, John Robertson squeezed a right foot shot wide of Hamburg keeper Rudolf Kargus...
, and is scheduled to host the
UEFA Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe...
2010The 2010 UEFA Champions League Final is a football match scheduled to be played on Saturday, 22 May 2010. It will be the 18th final of the UEFA Champions League under the current format and the 55th in total...
final.
Estadio Santiago Bernabéu is a
footballFootball is the name of several similar team sports, all of which involve kicking a ball with the foot in an attempt to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer"...
stadiumA modern stadium is a place, or venue, for outdoor sports, concerts or other events, consisting of a field or stage partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.-History of the stadium:The word originates from the Greek word...
in the
ChamartínChamartín is an administrative district of Madrid, Spain and consists of the following neighborhoods: El Viso, Prosperidad, Ciudad Jardín, Hispanoamérica, Nueva España, and Pza. Castilla....
district of
MadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. It is the third-most populous municipality in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third-most populous city by urban area in the European Union after Paris and London.The city is located on the river...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
. It was inaugurated on 14 December 1947 and is owned by the
Real Madrid Clube de FútbolReal Madrid Club de Fútbol is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. It is the most successful team in Spanish football and was voted by FIFA as the most successful club of the 20th century, having won a record thirty-one La Liga titles, seventeen Spanish Cups, a record nine European...
. With a current capacity of 80,354 spectators, it was named as a UEFA Elite stadium in 2007.
El Bernabéu, named after chairman
Santiago Bernabéu YesteSantiago Bernabéu Yeste was one of the single most important men in Real Madrid's history, and the one to whom much of the credit can be given for transforming Real Madrid from the second most successful club in Madrid into the most successful in Spain, and one of the most successful in Europe...
, is one of the world's most famous and prestigious football venues. It hosted the
European Cup finalThe UEFA Champions League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe...
three times, in
1957The 1957 European Cup Final was a football match which took place at Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, Spain, on May 30, 1957. It was contested between Real Madrid C.F. of Spain and ACF Fiorentina of Italy. Real Madrid won 2-0 with second half goals from Alfredo Di Stéfano and Francisco Gento.-Match...
,
1969The 1969 European Cup Final was a football match held at the Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, on May 28, 1969, that saw A.C. Milan of Italy play against AFC Ajax of the Netherlands to determine who would be the champions of Europe that season...
and
1980The 1980 European Cup Final was a football match held at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid, on 28 May 1980, that saw Nottingham Forest F.C. of England defeat Hamburger SV of Germany 1–0. In the 21st minute, John Robertson squeezed a right foot shot wide of Hamburg keeper Rudolf Kargus...
, and is scheduled to host the
UEFA Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe...
2010The 2010 UEFA Champions League Final is a football match scheduled to be played on Saturday, 22 May 2010. It will be the 18th final of the UEFA Champions League under the current format and the 55th in total...
final. The finals for the 1964 European Nations' Cup and the
1982 World CupThe 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 12th FIFA World Cup, was held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July. Spain was chosen as hosts by FIFA in July 1966. This World Cup was won by Italy, who beat West Germany 3-1 in the final. With their third World Cup title , Italy drew level with Brazil as the most...
have also been held at the Bernabéu.
History
On 22 June 1944, the Industrial and Commercial Bank granted a credit to Santiago Bernabéu and Rafael Salgado for writing the land adjacent to the old
Chamartín StadiumEstadio Chamartín was a multi-use stadium in Madrid, Spain. It was initially used as the stadium of Real Madrid matches before Santiago Bernabéu Stadium opened in 1947. The stadium held 22,500 people and was built in 1923. The first match on the stadium was Real Madrid against Newcastle United....
. On 5 September 1944, were elected as Palace of Fine Arts Circle layout architects Manuel Muñoz Monasterio y Luis Alemany Soler and the structure that gave way to the stadium. On 27 October 1944, the construction works on the stadium began.
The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu was officially inaugurated on 14 December 1947 with a match between Real Madrid FC and Os Belenenses of
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
under the name of the
Nuevo Estadio Chamartín. The venue had a capacity of 75,145 spectators, 27,645 of which have seats (7,125 covered) and 47,500 for standing fans (2,000 seats). Sabino Barinaga was the first player who advanced to the whites.
The 1950s
The first major renovation occurred in 1954. 19 June of that year opened the extension of the lateral so the stadium could accommodate 125,000 spectators. Thus, the Madrid coliseum became the biggest field of all the participants of the newly established European Cup, which is why the other clubs thanked the gesture of Real Madrid of sharing a locker, as fans filled the field with white assiduously.
On 4 January 1955, after the General Assembly of Members Compromisaros, it was decided that the state adopt the present name in honour of the club president and architect of the stadium, Santiago Bernabéu.
In May 1957, Real Madrid opened the electric lightning in a game against
Sport RecifeSport Club do Recife, more popularly known as Sport in Recife or Sport Recife in Northeastern Brazil, is a football team from Recife, Pernambuco.-1905 - Foundation:...
of
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
.
The 1980s
The next big change was not until the early 1980s with the hosting of the
1982 FIFA World CupThe 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 12th FIFA World Cup, was held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July. Spain was chosen as hosts by FIFA in July 1966. This World Cup was won by Italy, who beat West Germany 3-1 in the final. With their third World Cup title , Italy drew level with Brazil as the most...
in Spain. The stadium had to adapt to the changing times and with this, architects Rafael Luis Alemany and Manuel Salinas were hired to renovate. The brothers were sons of Luis Alemany Alemany Soler, who carried out the construction site next to Munoz Monasterio. The work lasted 16 months and had a cost of
ptsThe peseta was the currency of Spain between 1869 and 2002. Along with the French franc, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra...
704 million, of which 530 million was paid by the city of
MadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. It is the third-most populous municipality in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third-most populous city by urban area in the European Union after Paris and London.The city is located on the river...
.
The improvements included a number of points. First,
FIFAThe International Federation of Association Football, commonly known by its French acronym, FIFA , is the international governing body of association football. Its headquarters are in Zürich, Switzerland, and its current president is Sepp Blatter...
forced two-thirds of the seating area to be covered. For this reason, Real Madrid installed a canopy covering the perimeter of the first and second amphitheater area, except the east side. Thus, the stadium's capacity was reduced from 120,000 to 90,800 spectators, 24,550 of which were covered by the new roof. It also remodeled the façade, installed new electronic funds in the north and south ends as well as renovating the press areas, lockers rooms, access, and ancillary areas.
The stadium hosted four matches in the World Cup: three second-round Group 2 matches (West Germany vs.
EnglandThe English national football team represents England in international association football and is controlled by The Football Association, the governing body for football in England...
, West Germany vs.
SpainThe Spanish national football team represents Spain in international football and is controlled by the . The majority of Spain's matches are held at stadia in Madrid and Valencia. The Spanish side are commonly referred to as La Furia Roja .Spain are the current European champions, having won the...
, and Spain vs. England) and the final between Italy and West Germany.
The 1990s
In the mid 1980s,
UEFAThe Union of European Football Associations is the administrative and controlling body for European football. It is almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA ....
introduced new safety standards due to increased violence in the stadiums of Europe. Therefore, The stadium was forced to create separate shortcuts to different localities and seats for all spectators. The need to compensate for the loss of towns to villages by foot seating made at the beginning of the 1990s, the Santiago Bernabéu went through a large expansion and remodeling. The board of
Ramón MendozaRamón Mendoza was a Spanish lawyer and business man, most famous for his stint as football chairman of Real Madrid from 1985 until 1995....
ordered the project to
Gines Navarro Construcciones, S.A.
The work started on 7 February 1992 and concluded on 7 May 1994 with a final cost of more than pts5 billion, substantially raising the debt of the club, having no institutional support.
The work concluded with the creation of an amphitheater on the west side and in the funds, coupled with the existing building by imposing high modulus by hydraulic jacks.
In total, 20,200 improvements were installed, including each seat having a tilt of 87 degrees, ensuring a perfect view and closeness to the pitch. In addition, to access the new ring, four entrance towers were erected on the outside, each with two staircases and a central spiral ramp.
With the new structure, the height of the stadium was increased from 22 to 45 metres so that, during the winter, two-thirds of the field of play left in the shade and lawn deterioration. For this reason, was installed at 20 cm depth, a polypropylene pipe network was installed at a 20cm depth over 30km long with the purpose of circulating hot water, disallowing the turf to freeze in cold temperature.
Also, due to the height of the stand, it was necessary to improve and increase the power of lighting and a retractable protective cover was installed to protect the viewers from the elements. After the renovation, the stadium's capacity was at a whopping 110,000 spectators.
Already in the summer of 1998, and chaired by
Lorenzo SanzLorenzo Sanz Mancebo is a Spanish business man, a former president of Real Madrid and now owner of Málaga CF, where his son Fernando is the club's president.- Early life :...
, the Santiago Bernabéu adapted to seat all of its locations, bringing its capacity down to 75,328 spectators.
The 2000s
When
Florentino PérezFlorentino Pérez Rodríguez is a Spanish businessman, former politician, and current president of Real Madrid Club de Fútbol, as well as ACS...
became the president of Real Madrid, he launched a "master plan" with one goal: To improve the comfort of the Santiago Bernabéu and the quality of its facilities, and maximise revenue for the stadium.
Pérez invested
€The euro is the official currency of 16 of the 27 Member States of the European Union . The states, known collectively as the Eurozone, are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain...
127 million in five years (2001–2006) by adding an expansion to the east side of the stadium, as well adding a new façade 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), a 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.
Following the enlargement of the lateral east side and the creation of new galleries, the capacity of the Santiago Bernabéu is 80,354, all seated.
To capitalise further on the stage, Tour of Bernabéu was created, where any spectator can enjoy all the corners of the stadium.
In 2002 and 2004, the stadium was the subject of separate
terrorist attacksTerrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.At present, there is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism...
by the terrorist organisation
ETAor ETA , is a terrorist, criminal, Basque nationalist and separatist organization. Founded in 1959, it evolved from a group advocating traditional cultural ways to a paramilitary group with the goal of independence for the greater Basque Country from a Marxist-Leninist perspective.Since 1968, ETA...
.
In 2007, the 1,000th game was played at the Santiago Bernabéu. In addition, the latest revision of
UEFAThe Union of European Football Associations is the administrative and controlling body for European football. It is almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA ....
on 24 October 2007, on the occasion of Champions League match against Olympiacos, served as a final step to give the Santiago Bernabéu elite stadium status on 14 November 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 Elite stadium.
Pérez proposed construction of a retractable roof before he resigned in 2005. In 2009, following the re-election of Pérez as the club president, it was announced that the roof construction was looking unlikely due to the financial situation of the club. However, according to Spanish sports newspaper Marca, Pérez wants to restructure Santiago Bernabéu. According to the newspaper, the architect in charge will be chosen between a shortlist of Spanish architects
Santiago CalatravaSantiago Calatrava Valls is an internationally recognized and award-winning Valencian Spanish architect, sculptor and structural engineer whose principal office is in Zurich, Switzerland...
and
Pritzker PrizeThe Pritzker Architecture Prize is awarded annually by the Hyatt Foundation to honor "a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment...
-winner
Rafael MoneoJosé Rafael Moneo Vallés is a Spanish architect. He was born in Tudela, Spain, and won the Pritzker Prize for architecture in 1996. He studied at the ETSAM, Technical University of Madrid from which he received his architectural degree in 1961. From 1958 to 1961 he worked in the office in Madrid...
, and Chinese-American Ieoh Ming Pei, also a
PritzkerThe Pritzker Architecture Prize is awarded annually by the Hyatt Foundation to honor "a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment...
winner.
The stadium was officially announced the venue for the
2010 UEFA Champions League FinalThe 2010 UEFA Champions League Final is a football match scheduled to be played on Saturday, 22 May 2010. It will be the 18th final of the UEFA Champions League under the current format and the 55th in total...
in a star studded ceremony in
NyonNyon is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometers north of Geneva's downtown, and since the 1970s it has become part of the Geneva metropolitan area. It lies on the shores of Lake Geneva, and is the seat of the district of Nyon....
in 2008.
Location
The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu is located in the
Paseo de la CastellanaPaseo de la Castellana , commonly known as La Castellana, is one of the longest and widest avenues of Madrid. It is named after an old fountain that used to exist in Plaza de Castilla...
, in the
ChamartínChamartín is an administrative district of Madrid, Spain and consists of the following neighborhoods: El Viso, Prosperidad, Ciudad Jardín, Hispanoamérica, Nueva España, and Pza. Castilla....
district. It occupies the block bounded by the Paseo de la Castellana and the streets of Concha Espina, Padre Damián, and Rafael Salgado.
The stadium has its own
Madrid MetroThe Madrid Metro is the large metro system serving the city of Madrid.It is one of the largest metro systems in the world, which is especially remarkable considering Madrid's population of approximately 3.5 million to 6 million...
station along the
10 lineLine 10 of the Madrid Metro is in fact the product of two lines, the former line 8 from Fuencarral to Nuevos Ministerios and the former Suburbano from Alonso Martínez to Aluche, this section being named line 10 in the 1980s. In the 1990s, Madrid planned for these two lines to become one, but...
called
Santiago BernabéuSantiago Bernabéu is a metro station outside the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain....
. Due to its location of being right in the heart of Madrid's business district, Real Madrid games attract many fans and with that, much income.
External links