- Estádio Algarve
Infobox_Stadium
stadium_name = Estádio do Algarve
nickname =
UEFA
fullname =
location =Faro ,Algarve ,Portugal
opened = 2004
surface = Grass
tenants =Sporting Clube Farense andLouletano Desportos Clube
seating_capacity = 30,000The Estádio Algarve "(English "Algarve Stadium")" is an
association football (soccer) stadium in Faro,Portugal . The home teams areSC Farense , who play in thePortuguese Third Division (they are six promotions away to the Superliga) andLouletano DC , who plays in thePortuguese Second Division (two promotions away to the Superliga).The stadium has a capacity of 30,002 [http://www.fussballtempel.net/uefa/listeuefa2.html] , and was built for the
2004 European Football Championship . However, following the tournament, the stadium stood empty as none of the local teams was large enough to take on the running of the stadium as ofAugust 2006 .Louletano DC &SC Farense are the stadium holders similar to theAC Milan /Inter Milan sharing of stadiums.Apart from football, the stadium has hosted music festivals and concerts, and it was converted into a rally track during the 2007 Portugal Rally (part of WRC 2007 season), and reconverted again into a football pitch.
The stadium was designed in the summer of 2000 to
UEFA andFIFA standards by Damon Lavelle of HOK Sport Architecture London. The design team included WSAtkins engineers and local partners including Marobal.The Stadium hosted the inaugral Algarve Challenge Cup tournament on the 22nd & 24th of July 2008 that saw
Cardiff City FC ,Celtic FC ,Middlesbrough FC andVitoria de Guimaraes in action. Cardiff City were the eventual winners of the tournament with victories over Celtic and Vitoria de GuimaraesThe design is regional in nature, alluding to the maritime traditions of Portugal and harmonising with the distinctive local landscape.
The stadium is considered a model small/regional flexible use stadium for European Football and cultural events.
See also
*
List of football stadiums by capacity
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