IS CAMP NOU THE BIGGEST PITCH?
Camp Nou is one of the most famous football stadiums not only in Europe, but in the whole world. It is home ground of the one of the most successful football clubs in world — FC Barcelona.
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Construction of the Camp Nou began on March 28, 1954, after Barcelona’s previous stadium could no longer be expanded. Camp Nou was opened on September 24, 1957, on the feast day of Barcelona city patron saint, La Merce. Barcelona played home games at the Les Corts stadium until 1957, but the capacity of 60,000 spectators simply became too small and the construction of a new stadium began. The honor of opposing Barcelona at the opening of the new stadium belonged to the selection of players from Warsaw, and the match ended with the victory of Barcelona 4: 2. The stadium initially received 93,053 spectators. Over the years, Camp Nou has increased its capacity several times, up to a maximum of 120,000 spectators for the 1982 World Cup. This huge number could be achieved thanks to the fact that standing places were once allowed, but due to safety reasons the capacity was reduced to 98,787 seats. Today stadium capacity is 99.354 seats which makes it largest stadium in Europe and 4th largest football stadium in the world. The Camp Nou is one of 29 stadiums in Europe that has a 5-star license. The stadium first official name was Estadi del FC Barcelona (FC Barcelona Stadium) until 2000 when it was changed to his new official name to the popular nickname, Camp Nou which means new field.
Many important matches were played on this stadium through history, 5 matches of the 1982 World Cup including the opening game, 2 times UEFA Champions league final, 4 Copa del Rey finals, 5 UEFA Super Cup games, etc.
The atmosphere on the stadium is something very special and unique. The fans are great support for the team and that is one of the reasons why it is very hard to win against Barcelona at Camp Nou. Until 1998 Camp Nou had the longest official football field in world, 110 meters long and 72 meters wide. But with the constructions in 1998 the field size was reduced to 105 meters long and 68 meters wide. To many people the field looks a lot wider but it is the same size as many other football fields in Europe. There are even bigger fields like that on Old Trafford for example.
This stadium is often used for other purposes like concerts, international sports events etc. It is also great tourist attraction as 1.2 million tourists are visiting the stadium and FC Barcelona’s museum in one year.
The club has plans for reconstruction of the stadium in the future and making it even bigger, but there is nothing concrete yet.
However, visiting this stadium is certainly something special and wish to many football fans from all over the world.
