Balaídos

Balaídos
Full name Estadio Municipal de Balaídos
Former names Stadium de Balaídos (1928–1946)
Address Avenida de Balaídos, s/n
36210 Vigo
Pontevedra
Location Vigo, Galicia, Spain
Owner Concello de Vigo
Operator R.C. Celta de Vigo, S.A.D.
Type Stadium
Capacity 29,000
Record attendance 45,000 (vs Getafe 16/05/82)
Field size 105 m × 68 m (344 ft × 223 ft)
Field shape Rectangular
Surface Grass
Scoreboard Yes
Construction
Broke ground 1925
Opened 30 December 1928 (1928-12-30)
Renovated 2004, 2015–present
Expanded 1967, 1982
Architect Jenaro de la Fuente Álvarez
General contractor Stadium de Balaídos, S.A.
Tenants
Celta Vigo (LaLiga) 1928–present
1982 FIFA World Cup

The Estadio Municipal de Balaídos (Galician pronunciation: [balaˈiðos], "Balaídos Municipal Stadium") is the home of La Liga club Celta Vigo.

Location

Balaídos is located on the Avenida Balaídos, in the district of Coia. It occupies the block bounded by Avenida Balaídos, Rúa Val Minor, Avenida Alcalde Portanet and Rúa dos Olimpicos Galegos.

Structure

The stadium comprises four stands: Tribuna, Río, Gol and Marcador, giving a total official capacity of 29,000.

The record attendance at the stadium is 45,000 which was set in a Segunda División match between Celta and Getafe in 1982.

Tribuna

The Tribuna stand runs parallel to Avenida Balaídos. It is a two-tiered stand; The upper-tier is Tribuna and lower-tier is Preferencia. The club's bar, named 'Celta Bar', is located in the Trinbuna stand

Río

The Río stand is two-tiered and is the newest of the stands (built in 1981). The upper-tier is known as Río Alto and lower-tier is Río Bajo. The stand is named Río (River) as it was built over the original course of the Lagares river.

Gol

Marcador End 
Río Stand 
Gol End 

Access

The stadium is accessed through 25 gates, numbered 0-24, distributed across the four stands that make up the stadium; Gates 0-7 are located in the Tribuna stand, Gates 8-16 in the Marcador end, Gates 17-20 in the Río stand and Gates 20-24 in the Gol end.

In 2012, as part of the renovations made to the exterior of the stadium the club decided to name each of these gates after a notable player.

Gate Number Gate Name Stand
0 Quinocho Tribuna/Preferencia
1 Polo Tribuna/Preferencia
2 Atilano Tribuna/Preferencia
3 Manolo Tribuna/Preferencia
4 Handicap Tribuna/Preferencia
5 Borja Oubiña Tribuna/Preferencia
6 Vicente Tribuna/Preferencia
7 De Las Heras Tribuna/Preferencia
8 Vlado Gudelj Marcador/Fondo
9 Pahiño Marcador/Fondo
10 Hermidita Marcador/Fondo
11 P. Villar Marcador/Fondo
12 Mostovoi Marcador/Fondo
13 Ibarretxe Marcador/Fondo
14 Marcador/Fondo
15 Marcador/Fondo
16 Juan Marcador/Fondo
17 Pichi Lucas Río Alto/Río Bajo
18 Rodilla Río Alto/Río Bajo
19 Santi Castro Río Alto/Río Bajo
20 Abel Río Alto/Río Bajo
21 Del Cura Gol
22 Nolete Gol
23 Gelo Gol
24 Genaro Borrás Gol

History

Construction

In September 1924 a group of local businessmen took the first steps towards the construction of the stadium by buying the 75,000 m2 on which the stadium would be built. The first job they faced was diverting the Lagares river. Two years later these businessmen would create the company Stadium de Balaídos, S.A., who would carry out the actual construction work on the new stadium.

Inauguration

Balaídos was inaugurated on 30 December 1928. The stadium was blessed by the archpriest of Fragoso, Father Faustino Ande.[1]

The inaugural match was played at 3:00pm between the hosts, Celta Vigo, and the Basque team Real Unión. The ceremonial kick-off was made by Carmen Gregorio-Espino, the daughter of former mayor Adolfo Gregorio Espino.

Celta Vigo's Graciliano was the first player to score a goal in the new stadium, in a 7-0 win.

30 December 1928
15:00 UTC
Celta Vigo 7–0 Real Unión
Graciliano
Chicha
Reigosa
Rogelio
Polo
Losada
Balaídos, Vigo
Attendance: 22,000
Referee: Manolo de Castro 'Handicap'
Celta:
GK 1 Lilo
RB 2 Cabezo
LB 3 Luis Pasarín
RH 4 Ramiro Paredes
CH 5 Joaquín Cárdenes
LH 6 José Vega
OR 7 Luciano Reigosa
IR 8 Chicha
CF 9 Rogelio
IL 10 Ramón Polo
OL 11 Graciliano
Real Unión:
GK 1 Antonio Emery
RB 2 Manuel Alza
LB 3 Anza
RH 4 Malla
CH 5 Francisco Gamborenea
LH 6 Alberto Villaverde
OR 7 José Altuna
IR 8 Wherli
CF 9 Santiago Urtizberea
IL 10 José Echeveste
OL 11 Emilio Garmendía

1982 FIFA World Cup

Balaídos underwent its second large-scale renovation in preparation for the 1982 FIFA World Cup; The Rio stand was completely re-built, the Gol end was added to the stadium whilst the Tribuna stand and Marcador were renovated.

The stadium hosted Italy's group fixtures in the 1982 FIFA World Cup. The other Group 1 games were also held in Galicia, at Riazor, A Coruña.

Renovations

In the 2002–03 season Celta qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history. Their celebrations were cut short when the stadium failed the subsequent UEFA stadium inspection required to host their fixtures. It was briefly mooted that Celta might have to play their home fixtures at Porto's Estádio do Dragão. The necessary upgrades were paid for by the local authorities.

Novo Balaídos

Due to the poor state that Balaídos finds itself in, the idea for a New Balaídos (Galician: Novo Balaídos, Spanish: Nuevo Balaídos) has been proposed several times in the past decade.

2003

In 2003, the then president of Celta Vigo Horacio Gómez presented an ambitious project for a new stadium and the surrounding area. The 95,000m2 redevelopment would include a shopping centre, a hotel and sports centre. It was approved by the financiers, Caixanova, but was rejected by the local authorities - due to the strong opposition from Javier Riera, the Director General of the nearby PSA Peugeot Citroën factory, because of the increased disruption it would cause in the area.

2015-16

Starting from 2015, Balaídos has been going under major renovations. The stands have been entirely reconstructed to allow a much more closer view for the spectators. After the remodelation works, the capacity of the stadium will become 31,000 seats. It is expected to finalize the renovations during 2017. It is noteworthy that the stadium continued to host Celta's home matches during the renovation process.

References

  1. ↑ Lamas, Jorge (2008-12-29). "Balaídos cumple hoy 80 años" [Balaídos is 80 years old today]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish).

External links

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