Santiago Bernabéu Football Stadium
The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu (Spanish pronunciation: [esˈtaðjo sanˈtjaɣo βernaˈβeu]) is an all-seater football stadium in Madrid, Spain. It was inaugurated on 14 December 1947 and is owned by Real Madrid C.F. It has a current capacity of 80,354 spectators.
El Bernabéu, re-named in honour of their former chairman Santiago Bernabéu Yeste, is one of the world's most famous and prestigious football venues. It has hosted the European Cup final on three occasions: in 1957, 1969 and 1980, and the UEFA Champions League Final in 2010.[3] The finals for the 1964 European Nations' Cup and the 1982 World Cup have also been held at the Bernabéu.
When Florentino Pérez 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 €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 street, 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, integration of heating in the stands, panoramic lifts, new restaurants, escalators in the tower access, and implementation of the multipurpose building in Father Damien street.
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.
West façade of the stadium
In 2007, the 1,000th game was played at the Santiago Bernabéu. In addition, the latest revision of UEFA on 27 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 from among a shortlist of Spanish architects Santiago Calatrava and Pritzker Prize-winner Rafael Moneo, and Chinese-American Ieoh Ming Pei, also a Pritzker winner
Santiago Bernabéu Football Stadium
Santiago Bernabéu Football Stadium
Santiago Bernabéu Football Stadium
