Author: World of Stadiums

The 51,000-capacity DHL Newlands, one of the oldest rugby union stadiums in the world, opened in 1888. It might soon be demolished to make place for residential development. People started a petition to save the venue, which hosted four matches for the Rugby World Cup in 1995. The 55,000-capacity Cape Town Stadium might become the main venue for rugby union in Cape Town. It hosted several matches for the FIFA World Cup, the prestigious world championship for national football teams, in 2010. The stadium, which is currently used mostly for football matches, became a burden on public finances. Hosting more rugby union matches might help.

The English football club Everton have plans to move to a new stadium with a proposed capacity of 52,000. If the plans will be approved in 2020, it will probably take around three years to complete the construction of the venue. The management of Everton Football Club claims that the stadium will provide a huge boost to the economy of Liverpool if it will be built. The 39,000-capacity Goodison Park, the current home of Everton Football Club, will be demolished if the proposed stadium will be built. Everton have been tenants of their current home venue, which is also known as The Grand Old Lady, since 1892.

The construction of a new football stadium in Valencia started in 2007. It was due to be completed in 2009, but the venue is not ready yet. In 2009, construction work was halted for financial reasons. The Spanish club Valencia CF still want to move to the stadium, but they have to be quick. The deteriorating concrete structure will have to be destroyed if construction will not go forward in the following years. The planned stadium capacity is much lower than the initial plans to cut costs. If the stadium will ever be ready, it will be among the largest sports venues by capacity in Spain.

The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, which is nicknamed San Siro, is the home of the world famous Italian football clubs AC Milan and Internazionale. AC Milan have been tenants of the stadium since 1926 and Inter have been tenants of the stadium since 1947. The venue is named after a former football player of AC Milan and Internazionale. The Italian football clubs from Milan have serious plans to move to a new 60,000-capacity home venue. The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza might be demolished, but it is very unlikely that this will happen before 2026. The 80,000-capacity stadium was chosen to host the opening ceremony for the Winter Olympic Games in 2026.

The Chicago Fire currently play their home games in Bridgeview, a town in Illinois. The Fire will be able to find a new home venue after their agreement with Bridgeview. They want to return to the city of Chicago. In 1998, the Chicago Fire played their inaugural Major League Soccer season at the Soldier Field in Chicago. At the time, the capacity of the Soldier Field was 66,000. The Chicago Fire drew an average home attendance of 17,000 in their inaugural season. They moved to Bridgeview in 2006, but they might return to the Soldier Field for home games.

The stadium used by Real Madrid, the football club with the most world championship titles, will have a new exterior and a retractable roof. It will also have a 360-degree video screen. The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, which has a capacity of 81,000, opened in 1947. Its initial capacity was 75,000. The stadium hosted a FIFA World Cup final in 1982, which was won by the national football team of Italy in front of 90,000 spectators. The world famous Spanish football giants Real Madrid recently announced the selection of its main contractor for the redevelopment of their current home venue. One of Spain’s leading construction companies has landed the contract.

Real Madrid wants to play home games at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, which hosted numerous football matches with attendances above 100,000, throughout reconstruction. The club has assured fans from around the world that its museum, its stadium tours and its store will be available during renovation works. The works are planned to be ready in 2022. Real Madrid secured funding and agreed loans to cover the project, which is expected to costs €525 million. Major non-matchday boost should be generated by a hotel, restaurants and retail outlets.

Plans for a new stadium in Zagreb have been confirmed by the president of the Croatian football association. The president hopes to have a brand new stadium in the next two years, but those plans seem to be overly optimistic. Older plans for a new 50,000-capacity stadium in Zagreb never became a reality. Stadion Maksimir is currently known as the largest sports venue by capacity in Zagreb, but the venue is widely regared as outdated. The 35,000-capacity Stadion Maksimir is the home of Dinamo Zagreb, the most successful Croatian football club. The national football team of Croatia, who lost the 2018 FIFA World Cup final against France, also played numerous matches at the venue.

A new stadium will be built in Hong Kong. The venue will be used for several events, like football and rugby sevens. It will have a capacity of 50,000. When the stadium is ready, it will be among the largest sports venues by capacity in China. In 2017, the Hong Kong legislators in the finance committee granted the cash for the venue. 36 legislators green-lit the stadium and 21 legislators were voting against it. The construction works of the venue, which will have a retractable roof, are scheduled for completion in 2023.

Several stadiums are currently being built in Cameroon. The new stadium in Douala and the new stadium in Yaoundé will be the two largest sports venues by capacity in Cameroon. Both venues will be used for several events, like athletics and football. The venue in Douala will have a capacity of 50,000 and the venue in Yaoundé will have a capacity of 60,000. Both venues will be used by the national football team of Cameroon, the first African team which reached the quarter-finals of the prestigious FIFA World Cup. The Africa Cup of Nations was initially scheduled to be hosted by Cameroon in 2019. The tournament will be hosted by Egypt because of conflicts and infrastructural delays in Cameroon.

Egypt hosted the Africa Cup of Nations five times. The 2019 edition of the African championship for national football teams will be the first edition of the championship with 24 participants. 16 national football teams participated in the previous edition of the tournament, which took place in 2017. The 2017 edition of the African football tournament was won by Cameroon. They won their fifth African championship title after beating Egypt in the final. 38,000 people attended the game, which took place in Gabon.

The Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad hosted its first-ever Cricket World Cup match in 1987. The game was won by the national cricket team of India after beating Zimbabwe. The capacity of the venue was 49,000 before the renovation works started. It will be the largest stadium by capacity in India. The Sardar Patel Stadium will have a capacity of 110,000. It will become the largest cricket stadium in the world. The 100,000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is among the largest sports venues by capacity in the world, is currently known as the largest cricket venue by capacity. The Australian sports venue opened in 1853.