Lia Manoliu Stadium

Infobox Stadium
stadium_name = Lia Manoliu Stadium
nickname = Lia Manoliu Stadium


UEFA
fullname = Lia Manoliu Stadium
location =
coordinates =
broke_ground =
built = 1953 (5 month)
opened = August 02, 1953
renovated =
expanded =
closed = November 22, 2007
demolished = December 18 2007-February 20, 2008
rebuilt =
owner = Municipality of Bucharest
operator = Romania
surface =
construction_cost =
architect =
former_names = 23 August
nicknames =
tenants =
Romania
1981 Summer Universiade
seating_capacity =
60,120 (football, rugby)
70,000 (concerts)


original_capacity =
dimensions =
The Lia Manoliu Stadium ("Stadionul Lia Manoliu" in Romanian) was a multi-use stadium in Bucharest, Romania. It was used mostly for football matches.

The stadium held 60,120. It was built in 1953, for the 4th World Festival of Youth and Students. It was first known as Stadionul 23 August, and later on as Stadionul Naţional (National stadium). It is now named after Lia Manoliu, a discus thrower who competed at a record six Summer Olympics, winning three medals.

It hosted numerous concerts after the 1989 Revolution. One of the biggest ones was Michael Jackson's Dangerous World Tour concert, on October 1, 1992. Some 70,000 people attended the concert, which was the only concert broadcast live by the HBO channel; it has since been the highest rated program to air on HBO and had the largest TV audience in history. Other bigger concerts include Depeche Mode (2006), The Rolling Stones and George Michael (both in 2007).

In October 2005, it was decided to rebuild the stadium completely; however, initially no funding was found, so some repairs proceeded in lieu of rebuilding. Later, funds became available and the rebuilding is expected to begin in November 2007. The plan calls for completion of a new five-star arena by April 2010, with further plans to host the 2011 UEFA Cup final. The last football match played was a 6-1 win against Albania on November 21, 2007. After the match, a few seats were removed from the stadium, as a symbolic start of the rebuilding operations. The stadium has subsequently been demolished to make room for a new one.

References

[http://www.gsp.ro/Super-Articole/Cum-s-a-construit-stadionul-23-August-Momentele-de-umilinta-si-modernizare-ale-stadionului.html?a=4039/140187/ Stadium History]