Balaídos
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| Full name | Estadio Municipal de Balaídos |
|---|---|
| Former names | Stadium de Balaídos (1928–1946) |
| Location | Vigo, Galicia, Spain |
| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Owner | Municipality of Vigo |
| Operator | Celta Vigo |
| Capacity | 29,000 seated[1] |
| Record attendance | 45,000 (vs Getafe 16/05/82) |
| Field size | 105 m × 68 m (344 ft × 223 ft) |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1925 |
| Opened | 30 December 1928 |
| Renovated | 2004, 2015–2017 |
| Expanded | 1967, 1982 |
| Construction cost | €30 million (2015 reconstruction) |
| Architect | Jenaro de la Fuente Álvarez |
| General contractor | Stadium de Balaídos, S.A. |
| Tenants | |
| Celta Vigo (1928–) | |
The Estadio Municipal de Balaídos (Galician pronunciation: [balaˈiðos], "Balaídos Municipal Stadium") is the home of La Liga club Celta Vigo.
Contents
Location
Balaídos is located on the Avenida Balaídos, in the district of Coia. It occupies the block bounded by Avenida Balaídos, Rúa Val Minor, Avenida Alcalde Portanet and Rúa dos Olimpicos Galegos.
Structure
The stadium comprises four stands: Tribuna, Río, Gol and Marcador, giving a total official capacity of 29,000.
The record attendance at the stadium is 45,000 which was set in a Segunda División match between Celta and Getafe in 1982.
Tribuna
The Tribuna stand runs parallel to Avenida Balaídos. It is a two-tiered stand; The upper-tier is Tribuna and lower-tier is Preferencia. The club's bar, named 'Celta Bar', is located in the Trinbuna stand
Río
The Río stand is two-tiered and is the newest of the stands (built in 1981). The upper-tier is known as Río Alto and lower-tier is Río Bajo. The stand is named Río (River) as it was built over the original course of the Lagares river.
Marcador
Gol
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Access
The stadium is accessed through 25 gates, numbered 0-24, distributed across the four stands that make up the stadium; Gates 0-7 are located in the Tribuna stand, Gates 8-16 in the Marcador end, Gates 17-20 in the Río stand and Gates 20-24 in the Gol end.
In 2012, as part of the renovations made to the exterior of the stadium the club decided to name each of these gates after a notable player.
| Gate Number | Gate Name | Stand |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Quinocho | Tribuna/Preferencia |
| 1 | Polo | Tribuna/Preferencia |
| 2 | Atilano | Tribuna/Preferencia |
| 3 | Manolo | Tribuna/Preferencia |
| 4 | Handicap | Tribuna/Preferencia |
| 5 | Borja Oubiña | Tribuna/Preferencia |
| 6 | Vicente | Tribuna/Preferencia |
| 7 | De Las Heras | Tribuna/Preferencia |
| 8 | Vlado Gudelj | Marcador/Fondo |
| 9 | Pahiño | Marcador/Fondo |
| 10 | Hermidita | Marcador/Fondo |
| 11 | P. Villar | Marcador/Fondo |
| 12 | Mostovoi | Marcador/Fondo |
| 13 | Ibarretxe | Marcador/Fondo |
| 14 | Marcador/Fondo | |
| 15 | Marcador/Fondo | |
| 16 | Juan | Marcador/Fondo |
| 17 | Pichi Lucas | Río Alto/Río Bajo |
| 18 | Rodilla | Río Alto/Río Bajo |
| 19 | Santi Castro | Río Alto/Río Bajo |
| 20 | Abel | Río Alto/Río Bajo |
| 21 | Del Cura | Gol |
| 22 | Nolete | Gol |
| 23 | Gelo | Gol |
| 24 | Genaro Borrás | Gol |
History
Construction
In September 1924 a group of local businessmen took the first steps towards the construction of the stadium by buying the 75,000 m2 on which the stadium would be built. The first job they faced was diverting the Lagares river. Two years later these businessmen would create the company Stadium de Balaídos, S.A., who would carry out the actual construction work on the new stadium.
Inauguration
Balaídos was inaugurated on 30 December 1928. The stadium was blessed by the archpriest of Fragoso, Father Faustino Ande.[2]
The inaugural match was played at 3:00pm between the hosts, Celta Vigo, and the Basque team Real Unión. The ceremonial kick-off was made by Carmen Gregorio-Espino, the daughter of former mayor Adolfo Gregorio Espino.
Celta Vigo's Graciliano was the first player to score a goal in the new stadium, in a 7-0 win.
| Celta Vigo | 7–0 | Real Unión |
|---|---|---|
Graciliano  Chicha Reigosa Rogelio Polo Losada |
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Balaídos, Vigo
Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Manolo de Castro 'Handicap' |
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1982 FIFA World Cup
Balaídos underwent its second large-scale renovation in preparation for the 1982 FIFA World Cup; The Rio stand was completely re-built, the Gol end was added to the stadium whilst the Tribuna stand and Marcador were renovated.
The stadium hosted Italy's group fixtures in the 1982 FIFA World Cup. The other Group 1 games were also held in Galicia, at Riazor, A Coruña.
| 14 June 1982 | Italy  |
0–0 |  Poland |
Balaídos, Vigo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17:15 CEST | (Report) | Attendance: 33,000 Referee: Michel Vautrot (France) |
| 18 June 1982 | Italy |
1–1 |  Peru |
Balaídos, Vigo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17:15 CEST | Conti 18' |
(Report) | Díaz 83' |
Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Walter Eschweiler (West Germany) |
| 23 June 1982 | Italy |
1–1 |  Cameroon |
Balaídos, Vigo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17:15 CEST | Graziani 60' |
(Report) | Mbida 61' |
Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Bogdan Dotchev (Bulgaria) |
Renovations
In the 2002–03 season Celta qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history. Their celebrations were cut short when the stadium failed the subsequent UEFA stadium inspection required to host their fixtures. It was briefly mooted that Celta might have to play their home fixtures at Porto's Estádio do Dragão. The necessary upgrades were paid for by the local authorities.
Novo Balaídos
Due to the poor state that Balaídos finds itself in, the idea for a New Balaídos (Galician: Novo Balaídos, Spanish: Nuevo Balaídos) has been proposed several times in the past decade.
2003
In 2003, the then president of Celta Vigo Horacio Gómez presented an ambitious project for a new stadium and the surrounding area. The 95,000m2 redevelopment would include a shopping centre, a hotel and sports centre. It was approved by the financiers, Caixanova, but was rejected by the local authorities - due to the strong opposition from Javier Riera, the Director General of the nearby PSA Peugeot Citroën factory, because of the increased disruption it would cause in the area.
References
- ↑ http://www.lfp.es/liga-bbva/celta
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- Balaídos at Celtavigo.net
- Balaídos at Google Maps
- Estadio Nuevo Balaídos at CandidaturaIberica.com
- Estadios de Espana (English)
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