Amsterdam Arena
| De Arena | |
 | |
|
 | |
| Full name | Amsterdam Arena |
|---|---|
| Location | ArenA Boulevard 1, 1101 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Coordinates | 52°18′51″N 4°56′31″E / 52.31417°N 4.94194°ECoordinates: 52°18′51″N 4°56′31″E / 52.31417°N 4.94194°E |
| Owner |
Gemeente Amsterdam Stadion Amsterdam N.V. |
| Executive suites | 83 |
| Capacity | 53,502 [1] |
| Field size | 105 x 68 m |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1993–1996 |
| Opened | 14 August 1996 |
| Construction cost | €140 million |
| Tenants | |
|
AFC Ajax (1996–present) Amsterdam Admirals (1997–2007) Netherlands national football team | |
Amsterdam Arena (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌɑmstərˈdɑm aːˈreːnaː], officially stylised as Amsterdam ArenA) is a stadium in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is the largest stadium in the country and it was built from 1993 to 1996 at a cost of €140 million, and was officially opened on 14 August 1996. It has been used for association football, American football, concerts and other events.[1] The stadium has a retractable roof combined with a grass surface. It has a capacity of 53,502 seats for football matches and 68,000 seats during concerts if a centre-stage setup is used (the stage in the middle of the pitch); for end-stage concerts, the capacity is 50,000, and for concerts where the stage is located in the east side of the stadium, the capacity is 35,000. It held UEFA five-star stadium status which was superseded by a new system of classification.
The stadium is the home of the association football club AFC Ajax (since 1996) and was the home of the now-defunct American football club Amsterdam Admirals (1997–2007). It was one of the stadiums used during Euro 2000, and also held the 1998 UEFA Champions League Final and 2013 UEFA Europa League Final. The stadium will also host three group stage matches and one match in the 1/8 final of the Euro 2020. Both international and Dutch artists have given concerts in the ArenA, including Celine Dion, Madonna, Michael Jackson, André Hazes, David Bowie, AC/DC, One Direction, The Rolling Stones, Beyoncé and Rihanna. The dance event Sensation is held in the stadium every year.
History
Amsterdam was one of six cities that bid to host the 1992 Summer Olympics. In 1986, a new Olympic stadium was designed, with a football field and an athletics track. It was to be built in the area of Strandvliet in Amsterdam Zuidoost. After Amsterdam lost the bid to Barcelona in October 1986, the plans for the new stadium were abandoned. In 1987, the Stichting Amsterdam Sportstad (English: "Amsterdam Sports City Foundation") was established, which made new plans for a sports stadium with an all-seated capacity of 55,000. In 1990, a new design was made based on both previous designs, with a football field, an athletics track, and completely covered by a roof. By this time, AFC Ajax needed a new stadium, Their old stadium, De Meer, was far too small for most of Ajax's games. For several years, Ajax had moved its more important games to Olympisch Stadion.[2]
Once more, the design was altered – the athletics track was removed, the capacity was reduced to 50,000 seats, and the fixed roof was replaced by a retractable roof. In 1992, the Government of Amsterdam authorised the plans for the stadium with a Transferium where people could transfer from their car to various forms of public transportation. In 1993, the Government of Amsterdam changed the development plan of the location and gave a permit to build the stadium.[2]
The first pile of the deep foundation of the stadium was placed on 26 November 1993. The construction work, undertaken by Ballast Nedam and Royal BAM Group,[2] took almost three years. The highest point of the building was reached on 24 February 1995, after the roof construction was raised. The fly-over from the public road to the parking facilities was opened on 13 March 1996. The Amsterdam Arena received 180,000 visitors during the construction work, until the stadium was closed from 1 July 1996 until the opening ceremony.[2] The Amsterdam Arena was officially opened on 14 August 1996 by Queen Beatrix.[3]
The Queen opened the Amsterdam Arena by making a curtain fall inside the stadium. This revealed the world's largest painting De Zee (English: The Sea) of 80 by 126 metres (262 ft × 413 ft). Two-dimensional ships were placed on the sea representing the clubs in the Eredivisie. Tina Turner opened the stadium with three concerts with 160,000 people in the arena, from her world breaking Wildest Dreams Tour. Trijntje Oosterhuis sang the hymn "De Zee", composed for the opening ceremony by John Ewbank. An eight-day torch relay with 375 runners over 1400 kilometres through the Netherlands reached the stadium. The first runner was Johan Cruijff starting in the old stadium De Meer, and the last runner was Frank Rijkaard arriving in the new stadium Amsterdam Arena. After the grass was revealed and the roof opened, an inaugural football match was played between AFC Ajax and Milan.
The construction of the Amsterdam Arena cost €140 million.[4]
The stadium combines a retractable roof with a grass surface. This caused some problems in the beginning: the grass rolls would not grow in the shade of the open roof and had to be replaced up to four times a year.
Building and facilities
The architect is Rob Schuurman (Holland).
Its all-seated capacity is 53,490. During music concerts, the stadium has a maximum capacity of 68,000 visitors.[4]
The parking capacity of the Transferium is 500 cars (inside); there are an additional 12,000 spots outside.[4]
The Amsterdam Arena is one of two stadiums in the Netherlands that is rated with five stars by UEFA, the other being the Feijenoord Stadion in Rotterdam.[5]
The Ajax Museum is located in the stadium, which shows Ajax's more than 100 years of history.[6]
The nearest train station is Amsterdam Bijlmer Arena.
Sport events
Association football
The inaugural match was between the home team Ajax and Milan, which ended with a 3–0 win by Milan. The first goal was scored by Dejan Savićević.
The stadium is the home of AFC Ajax in the Eredivisie. The 1998 UEFA Champions League Final where Real Madrid defeated Juventus, was played in the arena. It was also one of the stadiums in UEFA Euro 2000.
The stadium also hosts most of the Dutch national team's matches, though the Netherlands no longer has a dedicated national stadium for football.
In addition, the arena hosts friendly matches of Dutch national teams.
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Euro 2000 matches
| Date | Result | Round | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 June 2000 |  Netherlands | 1–0 |  Czech Republic | Group D |
| 18 June 2000 |  Slovenia | 1–2 |  Spain | Group C |
| 21 June 2000 |  France | 2–3 | Netherlands | Group D |
| 24 June 2000 |  Turkey | 0–2 |  Portugal | Quarter-finals |
| 29 June 2000 | Netherlands | 0–0 (1–3 on pen.) |  Italy | Semi-finals |
After the death of Rinus Michels in 2005, Ajax fans tried to convince the stadium's board to rebrand the stadium as the Rinus Michels Stadium. The board declined. At every Ajax home game, however, fans bring a large banner displaying the words 'Rinus Michels Stadion'. The stadium was also home to the 2013 UEFA Europa League Final where Chelsea defeated Benfica 2–1.
Euro 2020
The Amsterdam ArenA is one of the stadiums that will host matches in the Euro 2020
American football
The stadium was also the home of the American football team Amsterdam Admirals of the NFL Europe, until the National Football League (NFL) ended its European competition in June 2007.[7] The team played over 50 matches in the stadium from 1997 to 2007.[3] World Bowl IX was played at the Arena in 2001, when the Berlin Thunder defeated the Barcelona Dragons.
Kickboxing
As kickboxing is the most popular combat sport in the Netherlands, the It's Showtime and K-1 promotions have held a number of fight cards at the arena. Many of the sport's biggest stars such as Peter Aerts, Semmy Schilt, Badr Hari and Ernesto Hoost have fought there.[8]
Music events
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Despite frequent complaints about the acoustics of the Arena, concerts are often held in the stadium.
Tina Turner was the first to perform at the arena during her Wildest Dreams Tour, with more than 157,000 people attending the three sold-out concerts on 6–8 September 1996.
Michael Jackson performed at the arena during his HIStory World Tour in five sold-out concerts, on 28, 30 September; 2 October 1996 and 8 & 10 June 1997, for a total audience of 250,000 fans.[9] (50,000 people per show).[9]
The Gay Games were held in Amsterdam in the summer of 1998 and a huge opening- and closing ceremony with national and international artists took place in the Arena.
The Rolling Stones performed at the stadium eight times: the first, the second, the third, the fourth and the fifth were on 29 June and 1, 2, 5 and 6 July 1998 during their Bridges to Babylon Tour, in front of a total sold out crowd of 261,277 people. The sixth and the seventh were on 19 August – 22 September 2003 during their Licks Tour. The eighth one was on 31 July 2006 during their A Bigger Bang.
Backstreet Boys performed at the stadium on 5 June 1999 during Into the Millennium Tour.
Bon Jovi performed at the stadium four times: the first and the second were on 5 and 6 June 2001 during their One Wild Night Tour. The third one was on 3 June 2003 during their Bounce Tour. The fourth one was on 13 June 2008 during their Lost Highway Tour, in front of a sold out crowd of 34,512 people.
Robbie Williams played the venue eight times. Twice in July 2003 as part of Weekends of Mass Distraction; four dates in June 2006, as part of his Close Encounters Tour; and on 13 July 2013 during the Take The Crown Stadium Tour. He also performed on 18 July 2011 as member of Take That during their Progress Live tour.
David Bowie performed a concert in the arena as part of his A Reality Tour on 11 June 2004.
Genesis performed at the stadium on 1 July 2007 during their Turn It On Again: The Tour. The performances of "Turn It On Again" and "No Son of Mine" were recorded for the group's live album Live over Europe 2007.
U2 performed at the stadium five times: the first, the second and the third were on 13, 15 and 16 July 2005 during their Vertigo Tour, in front of a total sold out crowd of 165,516 people. The fourth and the fifth were on 20 and 21 July 2009 during their U2 360° Tour, in front of a total sold out crowd of 125,886 people.
Madonna has performed at three different dates, with all tickets sold out. There were two presentations by the Confessions Tour in 2006 and one presentation by Sticky & Sweet Tour in 2008.
Dutch music group De Toppers have played the venue 28 times since 2005. No other act has performed in the arena that often.
In October 2008, the stadium was home to Dutch children's group Kinderen voor Kinderen. The Arena was selected because of the seating requirement for the group's new format of concert called the "Mega Spektakel". The group had two concerts in the stadium on the same day due to high volume of people, mostly children that attended.
AC/DC performed a show on 23 June 2009 as part of their Black Ice World Tour
The stadium is also host to dance event Sensation.
André Rieu and his orchestra plus about 650 brass instrument players had a huge concert in 2011.
Muse performed a show on 4 June 2013 as part of their The 2nd Law World Tour.
On 8 September 2013 former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters will perform a show of his The Wall Live Concert Tour.
On 24 and 25 June 2014, boy band One Direction performed in the arena as a part of their Where We Are Tour.
Rihanna is set to perform at the venue as a part of her Anti World Tour on June 11, 2016.
Coldplay performed 2 concerts on June 23, 2016 and June 24, 2016 as a part of their A Head Full of Dreams Tour.
Beyoncé performed at the venue on July 16, 2016 as a part of her Formation World Tour. The concert sold out within 20 minutes.[10]
Armin van Buuren is set to play the venue on May 13 as part of his the Best of Armin Only world tour in celebration of 20 years in music. He is the First Solo DJ to do so [11]
References
- ↑ http://www.worldofstadiums.com/europe/netherlands/amsterdam-arena/
- 1 2 3 4 (Dutch) The making of Amsterdam ArenA Archived 30 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Amsterdam ArenA. Retrieved 8 June 2008
- 1 2 (Dutch) Wist je dat.... Amsterdam ArenA. Retrieved 8 June 2008
- 1 2 3 (Dutch) Facts & figures Archived 7 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Amsterdam ArenA. Retrieved 9 June 2008
- ↑ 5-star stadia Football stadiums of the world. Retrieved 9 June 2008
- ↑ The Museum Archived 17 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine. AFC Ajax. Retrieved 9 June 2008
- ↑ (Dutch) Admirals houdt op te bestaan NRC Handelsblad, 29 June 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2008
- ↑ "Fear and Loathing in Amsterdam" by Michael Schiavello. Hd.net.
- 1 2 HIStory World Tour – Tour Dates Archived 2 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine.. Mjbaltic.com.
- ↑ "Tickets for Beyoncé in the Arena rapidly away". Het Parool (in Dutch). February 15, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
- ↑ "Armin van Buuren Announces US Tour Dates, 'Best of Armin Only' 20th Anniversary Show". Billboard. November 10, 2016. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amsterdam ArenA. |
- Official website
- Ajax Museum
- Amsterdam ArenA The Stadium Guide
| Preceded by Olympiastadion Munich |
UEFA Champions League Final venue 1998 |
Succeeded by Camp Nou Barcelona |
| Preceded by Arena Națională Bucharest |
UEFA Europa League Final Venue 2013 |
Succeeded by Juventus Stadium Turin |
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