Stadionul Steaua

Infobox_Stadium
stadium_name = Stadionul Steaua
nickname = "Templul Fotbalului Românesc"
(Temple of Romanian Football)


UEFA
location = Bucharest, Romania
broke_ground =
opened = 9 April 1974
renovated = 1996, 2006
closed =
demolished =
owner = Ministry of National Defence of Romania
operator = FC Steaua Bucureşti
surface = Grass
construction_cost = €20 million
architect = Ministry of National Defence of Romania
former_names =
tenants =
FC Steaua Bucureşti
seating_capacity =
27,557 (Football)

Steaua Stadium (or "Ghencea") (Romanian: Stadionul Steaua) is a football stadium in Bucharest, Romania, home of FC Steaua Bucureşti. Also called "Ghencea Stadium", it was inaugurated on 9 April 1974 when Steaua played a friendly game against OFK Belgrade. 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 27,557 [cite web

url=http://en.uclcityguide.uefa.com/?m24Action=STADIUM&m24Id=50065&m24Tooltip=1
title=UEFA Stadium Guide
work=uefa.com
accessdate=2007-07-17

] , along with 126 press seats, 17 personal boxes of 12 seats each and 733 armchairs. The floodlighting system, with a density of 1400 lux, has been inaugurated in 1991. [cite web

url=http://www.steauafc.com/nou/index.php?cat=stadion
title=The added capacity of Stadionul Steaua
work=SteauaFC.com
accessdate=2007-06-11

]

Today, following two general renovations in 1996 and 2006 in order to host UEFA Champions League games, Ghencea is the most modern stadium in Romania 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. [cite web

url=http://www.steauafc.com/nou/index.php?cat=stadion
title=The added capacity of Stadionul Steaua
work=SteauaFC.com
accessdate=2007-06-01

] 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. [cite news

url=http://www.prosport.ro/index.php?section=articole&screen=index&id=24914&pagina=0
title=60.000 de locuri?
work=prosport.ro
author=Stan, Sebastian
accessdate=2007-06-11

]

Romania is 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. [cite web

url=http://www.frf.ro/index.php?articol=31section=articole&screen=index&id=24914&pagina=0
title=Istoric - PALMARES ALL-TIME
work=frf.ro
accessdate=2007-07-07

] Also, several matches from the 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, including the final, have been hosted by the arena.

The most important matches played at Stadionul Steaua

* 9 April 1974 - Steaua Bucureşti vs. OFK Belgrade 2 : 2. A friendly game, the first ever played on Ghencea Stadium.

* 23 March 1977 - Romania vs. Turkey 4 : 0. A Balcanic Cup game. The first game played by Romania on Ghencea Stadium.

* 16 April 1986 - Steaua Bucureşti vs. RSC Anderlecht 3 : 0. European Cup semifinal. Following this win, Steaua qualified for the European Cup final.

* 6 April 1988 - Steaua Bucureşti vs. SL Benfica 0 : 0. European Cup semifinal.

* 5 April 1989 - Steaua Bucureşti vs. Galatasaray Istanbul 4 : 0. European Cup semifinal. An important win for Steaua which virtually opened the door to the European Cup final.

* 15 November 1989 - Romania vs. Denmark 3 : 1. Following this win, Romania qualified to 1990 FIFA World Cup, the first World Cup Romania attended in twenty years.

* 28 September 1991 - Steaua Bucureşti vs. FCM Bacău 4 : 1. A Divizia A game, in which occasion the floodlighting system was inaugurated.

* 25 February 2005 - Steaua Bucureşti vs. Valencia CF 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.

Footnotes

External links

*ro icon en icon [http://www.steauafc.ro/ Official website]
*en icon [http://www.steaua.com/ English-language fan website]
*ro icon [http://www.fcsteaua.ro/ Fans website]
*ro icon [http://www.steauaonline.com/ Steaua Bucuresti Online]