UEFA’s Elite Football Stadia – Part 2.

By: chris | April 17th, 2009

Click here for Part 1.

Intro: After a severe bout of curiosity resulting in far too much time perusing the internets, we finally came upon a conclusive list of Europe’s Elite football stadiums – UEFA’s codeword for the ability to hold a Champions League final. We contacted Bill of Bill’s Sports Maps to have him make one of his infamous maps for UEFA’s Elites and it’s, as Michel Platini would say, fantastique.

Confusion reigned supreme after the last part, so let’s keep this painfully simple: 5 star and Elite are not the same thing. 5 star stadiums were based primarily on attendance whereas the new regulations are based primarily on nonsensical gibberish (head to first part for the brief discussion). And just because a stadium may look Elite – lookin’ at you, Emirates – doesn’t mean it is; conversely, just because a stadium may not look Elite, doesn’t mean it isn’t.

Now onto the next slew:

Hampden Park

City: Glasgow
Team: Scotland National Team
Wiki: Here.

Only 10 years since its last renovation, Hampden might be in line for a massive facelift in the coming years, adding roughly 20,000 seats in order to appease Michel Platini’s love of all things large. At this stage it’s all rumblings but once the global economy turns back around, keep an ear to the ground.

And despite being an elite stadium which hosts big international fixtures, its regular tenant is lowly Queen’s Park FC, an amateur club in the Scottish third tier.

Ibrox Stadium

City: Glasgow
Team: Rangers
Wiki: Here.

Staying inside the same city, Ibrox is known largely for two main things: hosting one half of Old Firm matches and being the site of two very tragic stadium disasters.

Even with redevelopments, the stadium looks very much like what it is: classic. Opened in 1899 it looks every bit the part with four simple stands in a perfect rectangle hovering over the pitch.

HSH Nordbank Arena

City: Hamburg
Team: Hamburger SV
Wiki: Here.

While most stadiums are rebuilt through time as the same stadium to new specifications, it’s almost as though the parcel of land which HSH Nordbank Arena sits on has hosted three in its days. The original stadium was built in 1925, completely rebuilt in 1953 (as the Volksparkstadion) and demolished once again to birth HSH Nordbank (formerly AOL Arena) in 1999 in anticipation of the 2006 World Cup. And HSV didn’t even move in until 1963. One gets the feeling that soil must feel mighty used.

Atatürk Olympiyat Stadi

City: Istanbul
Team: Turkey National Team
Wiki: Here.

Ataturk really is quite the impressive stadium, particularly from an aerial view soaking in the full compound:

A gorgeous stadium – one which hosted the Champions League final in 2005 – which could desperately use a bi-weekly tenant.

Estádio José Alvalade

City: Lisbon
Team: Sporting Lisbon
Wiki: Here.

Surely one of the best painted stadiums in all the world within any sport. Built, like many across Portugal, for Euro 2004 it employs a visually misleading color scheme, very much a trademark of its architect, Tomas Taveira. A random color pattern on the seats makes it seem as though the stadium is always filled to the brim with spectators.

Estádio da Luz

City: Lisbon
Team: Benfica
Wiki: Here.

Portugal’s architects did quite well in the buildup to Euro 2004, leaving three visually stunning stadiums in their wake. The original Stadium of Light was designed “to use as much natural light as possible”, keeping true to its name.

Wembley Stadium

City: London
Team: England National Team
Wiki: Here.

It came in over budget and behind schedule, but that’s not the stadium’s fault. When it finally opened in 2007 with 90,000, “New” Wembley was every bit as impressive as the original, with Wembley Arch a surprisingly successful replacement for the traditional Twin Towers.

[Part 1] [Part2] [Part 3] [Part 4]