Barcelona Camp Nou Stadium ((HOT))
Camp Nou (Catalan pronunciation: [ˌkamˈnɔw], meaning new field, often referred to in English as the Nou Camp),[9][10] officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barcelona since its completion in 1957. With a current seating capacity of 99,354,[11] it is the largest stadium in Spain and Europe, and the second largest association football stadium in the world.
Barcelona Camp nou Stadium
On 15 March 2022, it was announced that music streaming service Spotify had reached a deal with FC Barcelona to acquire the naming rights to the stadium in a deal worth $310 million. Following the approval of the sponsorship agreement with Spotify by FC Barcelona's Extraordinary Assembly of Delegate Members on 3 April 2022, the stadium was officially renamed on 1 July 2022 as Spotify Camp Nou.[12]
The construction of Camp Nou started on 28 March 1954 as Barcelona's previous stadium, Camp de Les Corts, had no room for expansion. Although originally planned to be called the Estadi del FC Barcelona, the more popular name Camp Nou was used. The June 1950 signing of László Kubala, regarded as one of Barcelona's greatest players, provided further impetus to the construction of a larger stadium.[14][15][16]
On 14 November 1950, the president Agustí Montal i Galobart obtained the favourable agreement of an assembly of members[17] to acquire land for the construction of a new stadium, located in Hospitalet de Llobregat, which was later exchanged with the Barcelona City Council for other land in the neighbourhood of Les Corts. The stadium is located at the end of Travessera de les Corts, next to the Cementiri and the Maternitat. The commission dedicated to the project recommended another location in February 1951. The official purchase took place two years later.[17]
The appointment of Francesc Miró-Sans as president of FC Barcelona, on 14 November 1953, was to relaunch the project. Invested in February of the following year, Miró-Sans decided in favour of the land acquired in 1950, and the first stone of the stadium was laid on 28 March 1954.[18] A procession of several thousands of people made the journey from the Camp de Les Corts to La Masia de Can Planes, where the ceremony of laying the first stone was held, a solemn ceremony in the presence of Miró-Sans, the head of the Civil Government of Barcelona and the archbishop of Barcelona, Gregorio Modrego.[18]
Finally, on 24 September 1957, the feast of La Mercè, the Camp Nou was inaugurated.[22] A solemn mass presided over by the archbishop, who welcomed the finished stadium, preceded the Hallelujah from Handel's Messiah. Dignitaries of the Franco regime and of the city gathered in the presidential tribune, and some 90,000 people attended the opening ceremony in the stands of the huge stadium. During the event, football clubs from all over Catalonia paraded on the field, as well as members of the different sections of Barça, the penyes and the different FC Barcelona teams.[22][23]
The stadium underwent an expansion in 1980, in anticipation of the 1982 FIFA World Cup, which added boxes, VIP lounges, a new press area, new markers and the construction of the third tier, which was smaller in height than the original design by 6 metres (46.60 metres compared to the original design of 52.50 metres). The expansion of the stadium added 22,150 new seats,[25] taking the total seating capacity to 71,731, and the standing capacity was expanded by 16,500 to 49,670, taking the total stadium capacity (seated and standing combined) to 121,401.[26] FC Barcelona's record attendance was set on 5 March 1986 in the European Cup quarter-final against Juventus in front of 120,000 spectators, just 1,401 shy of the stadium's capacity.[27][28]
The facilities now included a memorabilia shop, mini-pitches for training matches, and a chapel for the players. The stadium also houses the second-most visited museum in Catalonia, FC Barcelona Museum, which receives more than 1.2 million visitors per year.[41]
The club issued an international tender to remodel the stadium as a celebration of the stadium's fiftieth anniversary. The objective was to make the facility an integrated and highly visible urban environment. The club sought to increase the seating capacity by 13,500, with at least half of the total seating to be under cover.[clarification needed] The intention was to make it the third-largest stadium in the world in terms of seating capacity, after the Narendra Modi Stadium in India (132,000 capacity) and Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in North Korea (114,000 capacity).
The stadium is accessible from the Barcelona Metro with the closest stations to Camp Nou are Palau Reial, Maria Cristina and Les Corts, on L3; Badal on L5 and Collblanc on L5 or L9.[61] All are 500 to 1,000 metres (0.31 to 0.62 mi) from Camp Nou, depending on which of the gates (accesses) to Camp Nou are used. Usually metro services are increased when there is a match, which causes significant passenger congestion.
The stadium was designed by architects Francesc Mitjans Miró and Josep Soteras Mauri, with the collaboration of Lorenzo García Barbón, and it was constructed between 1955 and 1957, using mainly concrete and iron. The whole project cost a staggering 288 million pesetas, which meant the club would spend the following years heavily in debt.
In the 1998-99 season, UEFA recognised the services and facilities at Camp Nou by awarding it five star status. In 2010, in line with the new UEFA regulations, this category was replaced by the new 'Category 4' title which corresponds to the stadiums which fulfill the most demanding requirements with regards to facilities, services and capacity such as FC Barcelona's ground.
Of the different facilities on offer inside the stadium, of particular note are a chapel next to the changing rooms, the presidential box, the VIPs lounge, the press rooms, several television studios, the Sports Medicine Centre, the Operative Control Unit (UCO), the veteran players area, the FC Barcelona club museum, and the offices of all of the many different Club departments.
Barcelona will not be able to play their home matches at the Camp Nou during the 2023-24 season. The Catalan club are renovating their stadium in time for 2026, but will only use a different ground for the 2023-24 campaign.
During the Games of the XXV Olympiad, the Estadi Olimpic was the scene of the opening and closing ceremonies, the athletics track competitions and the finish sections of the marathon and walk events. The current installation is the result of the remodelling of the old stadium designed by Pere Domenech i Roure in 1929 for the Barcelona International Exposition.
This remodelling consisted of maintaining the historic exterior facade and destroying and redoing the interior of the stadium to increase the capacity and comfort of the services and also to adapt to the requirements of high-level competition.
Barcelona have worked with the City council on a mobility plan to help supporters get to the stadium. These plans are expected to cost around Є7.2 million (6.1 million). Barcelona will pay 64 per cent of the costs, with the City council covering the over 36 per cent.
It is anticipated that the new Camp Nou will be ready for use at full capacity in 2026. It should be finished in the last quarter of 2025, but it will take some time after that before it can be used. The new capacity of the stadium will be 105,000, an increase from 99,354.
Look behind the scenes of the gaming operations of the FC Barcelona. Here you can book tickets for the admission to Europe's largest football stadium, the Camp Nou. No standing in line at the box office, you can go inside whenever you like.
The Camp Nou is the largest stadium in Europe and the dimensions are impressive. Here you can see behind the scenes of the game operation of one of the most famous clubs worldwide. What does it look like in a press booth or in the crew cabin? How does it feel like a player walking through the tunnel onto the grass? What fascinates millions of people in Barça? Here you can find out. The museum is included in the price.
Within the "Camp Nou Tour", you can experience a panoramic view of the entire stadium from the press box. See the dressing room and visit the chapel, as some players do before the game. Experience the walk through the player tunnel to the sanctuary of the stadium: the lawn.You'll see the press room, where coaches and executives hold the press conferences, and the mixed zone, where Messi and Co. give interviews on the field after the match.You will then see documentaries on FC Barcelona in the Multi Media Zone. In the museum the exciting history of the club is shown and important trophies can be seen in the original.
Do you want to be there live when Messi & Co. are in top form? No problem: with the booking option "Barça Virtual Experience" you can experience the atmosphere at Camp Nou during a home game. Put on VR glasses and feel like a stadium visitor who is very close to the players on the field, during a 5-minute film.
For the opening in 1957, the stadium had 90,000 seats, which was 30,000 more than Barça's previous stadium "Les Corts" had. For the Football World Cup 1982, which took place in Spain, the Camp Nou was extended in 1980 to the upper rank and thus had over 120,000 places.Due to restrictions imposed by UEFA, space was reduced to around 98,500 seats.
Camp Nou has received the 5-star award from UEFA. This requires certain security measures in the stadium. For example, the stadium is monitored with cameras, escape routes are sufficiently available and accessible, security and police ensure that there is no riots in the stadium or well-known hooligans do not even get inside of the stadium. That's how it is in Central Europe as well: in the league stadiums there is quite high security. Rioting or beating in between the "fan groups" is extremely rare in the stadium. The vast majority of visitors "only" want to see a football match. So it is not a problem at all to go to a game in the stadium with children. 041b061a72