Stadionul Steaua

Coordinates: 44°24′46.10″N 26°2′25.60″E / 44.4128056°N 26.0404444°E / 44.4128056; 26.0404444

Steaua
Ghencea

UEFA

Location 45 Ghencea Blvd., Sector 6, Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania
Owner Ministerul Apărării Naționale al României
Capacity 28,365 (Football)
Surface Grass
Construction
Opened 9 April 1974
Renovated 1996
Construction cost €20 million
Architect Ministerul Apărării Naționale al României
Tenants
Steaua București (1974–2015)
Unirea Urziceni (UCL & UEL matches) (2009–2010)
Romania national football team (1977–2009)

Steaua Stadium (Romanian: Stadionul Steaua), informally also known as Ghencea, is a football stadium in Bucharest, Romania, home of Ministry of National Defence of Romania. Also called Ghencea Stadium, it was inaugurated on 9 April 1974 when Steaua played a friendly game against OFK Belgrade, 2–2.[1]

Tătaru II was the first player to score on the new stadium. First 11 of Steaua in that match was: Coman – Sătmăreanu, Sameș, Smărăndache, Cristache – Dumitru, Iovănescu – Pantea, Iordănescu, Năstase, Ion. Reserves: Haidu, Ionescu, Dumitru, Tătaru II and Răducanu.

History

At the time it was one of the first football-only stadiums ever built in Romania, as there are no athletic (track and field) facilities, and the stands are very close to the pitch.

The original capacity was 30,000 on benches, but in 1991 when the plastic seats were installed, the capacity dropped to 28,365,[2] along with 126 press seats, 440 seats in VIP boxes and 733 armchairs. The floodlighting system, with a density of 1400 lux, has been inaugurated in 1991.[3]

The stadium has been renovated in 1996 and 2006 in order to host UEFA Champions League games, and is now offering some state-of-the-art facilities such as: a four-star establishment with all the facilities required for the team, internet for the press-room, 17 cameras for video surveillance, electrically heated pitch, an automated irrigation system, and a modern scoreboard capable of playing replays.[3] Lately there have been talks for increasing the capacity to either 45,000 or 60,000 with the company that, among others, has worked on building stadia such as Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt and renovating ones as Olympiastadion in Berlin.[4]

The Romanian national football team was also a tenant. The first game played by the national team at Steaua was in March 1977 against Turkey. Since then other 59 games were played, the last one in May 2008 against Montenegro.[5] Also, several matches from the 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, including the final, have been hosted by the arena.

Romanian national football team

The following national team matches were held in the stadium:

Important matches

Date Match Result Notes
09-04-1974 Steaua–Belgrade 2–2 A friendly game, the first ever played on Ghencea Stadium.
28-04-1974 Steaua–Brașov 2–2 First official match played on Ghencea Stadium.
23-03-1977 Romania–Turkey 4–0 A Balcanic Cup game. The first game played by Romania on Ghencea Stadium.
03-10-1979 Steaua–Young Boys 6–0 Steaua's largest win in European Cups.
16-04-1986 Steaua–Anderlecht 3–0 European Cup semifinal. Following this win, Steaua qualified for the European Cup final.
06-04-1988 Steaua–Benfica 0–0 European Cup semifinal.
07-12-1988 Steaua–Corvinul 11–0 Steaua's largest win in Liga I.
15-03-1989 Steaua–Göteborg 5–1 European Cup quarter-finals.
05-04-1989 Steaua–Galatasaray 4–0 European Cup semifinal. An important win for Steaua which virtually opened the door to the European Cup final.
15-11-1989 Romania–Denmark 3–1 Following this win, Romania qualified to 1990 FIFA World Cup, the first World Cup Romania attended in twenty years.
01-08-1991 Steaua–Brăila 2–0 A Divizia A game, in which occasion the installation night was inaugurated.
28-09-1991 Steaua–Bacău 4–1 A Divizia A game, in which occasion the floodlighting system was inaugurated.
13-09-1995 Steaua–Rangers 1–0 First match won in UEFA Champions League new format.
04-04-1998 Steaua–Dinamo 5–0 A Divizia A game, Steaua's largest win against Dinamo.
31-05-1998 Greece U21–Spain U21 0–1 A 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Final.
25-02-2005 Steaua–Valencia 2–0 Steaua won 4–3 on penalty shootout, and thus Steaua qualified for the Round of 16 of the UEFA Cup.
Many consider this game, the most important win of the past 15 years, marking the beginning of "a new era" for the Romanian side.
07-04-2007 Steaua–Dinamo 2–4 A Divizia A game, in which occasion the new scoreboard was inaugurated.
24-11-2009 Urziceni–Sevilla 1–0 A UEFA Champions League game. First victory of one Romanian team on their home stadium after 13 years.
A panorama of Stadionul Ghencea as seen from Peluza Nord in 2007

See also

References

  1. ↑ Steaua
  2. ↑ "Stadion". SteauaFC.com.
  3. 1 2 "The added capacity of Stadionul Steaua". SteauaFC.com. Archived from the original on 1 April 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-11.
  4. ↑ Stan, Sebastian. "60.000 de locuri?". prosport.ro. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-11.
  5. ↑ "Istoric – PALMARES ALL-TIME". frf.ro. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
Preceded by
Barcelona		 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship
Final Venue
1998 		Succeeded by
Bratislava
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