Armchair Travel: A Glimpse at the World’s Most Intimidating Football Stadiums

By: Bob | July 5th, 2007

The summer months are always a good time to pack your bags and head out for a little holiday. Or in my case they are a good time to be tied to a computer working for a travel company dreaming about the travel I would be doing if I weren’t tied to a computer working for a travel company. My travel dreams inevitably turn to football because there is little better than seeing the world one football stadium at a time.

I recently came across one person’s opinion on the most intimidating stadiums in the world outside the UK. I think he offers some good selections, although as always is the case with this type of list there is plenty of room for debate.

Since it is unlikely that I will I end up going to any of these stadiums in the immediate future, I did what any dreamer does, I turned to YouTube. Here is a virtual tour of stadiums that should be on your future travel itineraries. Be forewarned, some of the videos are a bit shaky and contain bright objects that might burn your retinas.

What other stadiums would you put on the intimidating/must-see travel list?

1. Boca Juniors – La Bombonera

2. Galatasaray – Ali Sami Yen Stadium

3. Penarol & Nacional – Estadio Centenario

4. Dinamo Zagreb – Maksimir Stadium

5. Feyenoord – De Kuip Stadium

6. Red Star Belgrade – Stadion Crvena Zvezda

7. Napoli – Stadio San Paolo

8. Schalke 04 – Arena AufSchalke

9. Olympiacos – Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium

10. St. Etienne – Stade Geoffroy-Guichard

Some Related Stories:

Category: World Football

« It is a Good Time to be Carlos Tevez | Home | Rommel the Japanese Dachshund Hangs them Up »

The Offside RSS Feeds

bryan

To follow up my post of Independiente.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=fV2...

That's just a regualr game, not even a full house and you see how loud it gets.
bryan

What about Independiente(not sure the name of the stadium) in Argentina? That place is almost as good as La Bombonera.
figo

lol la 12?? LOS BORRACHOS DEL TABLON son la barra mas peligrosa de Argentina la 12 corre en mar del plata
PEOPLE CHECK LOS BORRACHOS IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE MOST DANGEROUS HOOLIGANS IF U DONT PLEASE STAY AWAY
CHEERS AND GOOD LUCK 4 EVERYBODY
COMANDO SVR

MMMMM South American Stadiums and barra bravas are the most dangerous and intimidating supporters u don't know a shit! La 12 at first place its right but 2nd "Los Borrachos del Tablon" River Plate's fans, "Los Guerreros" of Rosario Central and u haven't put the peruvians barra bravas like "Comando Svr" of Alianza lima or Colombian barra bravas, u don't know anythink about soccer's fans.
J Needham

Good article Bob. There are some good selections in the midfielddynamo.com list, although I'm surprised there aren't any Polish stadiums in the list. As you say though, these lists are always open to debate, which is what's great about them. Thanks for bringing the midfielddynamo.com site to attention though - it's a cracking little site with some really good items, some of it's very funny too.
Linda

Lubaba's right, sad to say. Games against Real and Espanyol are something to see because aside from the atmosphere that's the only time other than a big European tie that the stadium would actually be full.

From what I've heard, Valencia's Mestalla and Athletic's San Mames are probably the pick of the Spanish stadiums.
Juliet

My first thought was "Dortmund." I also recall Bayern's people saying the Allianz Arena would be a "witch's cauldron" when Real Madrid showed up.

Naturally, all the Italian stadiums are intimidating, but that's because you're likely to be stabbed by a thug.
keko

Estadio Nacional - My beloved Universidad de Chile (La U).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Lubaba

Nou Camp holds a lot of people, but there is hardly any atmosphere unless it's a derby against Real Madrid or Espanyol. You can always hear Sevilla's fans singing as a unit at the Sanchez Pizjuan.
Finnegan

nou camp seats 100,000 barca fans. that would be intimidating.
Jan

Yup, Steven gets my vote as well. I think Bundesliga clubs generally can't complain about a lack of atmosphere but if you have to pick just one then give it to Dortmund. It's not exactly the prettiest but since that doesn't count in this list... The most intimidating stadium minus the football is the Olympiastadion in Berlin though.
Karl

How about the Stadio Azteca in Mexico City? I believe the Mexico national team has a record of something like 72-2-1 there. The Azteca holds well over 100,000 and is located at altitude in a city notorious for its smog.
Bob

Have to agree with you Steven. Dortmund's stadium is a site to see.
Steven

Can't say I agree with #8. The Veltins over the Westfalenstadion? Go to Dortmund and stand on Europe's largest terrace. Go to Gelsenkirchen and do, well, nothing!