San Mamés Stadium (1913)

San Mamés
La Catedral
San Mamés before a Europa League tie, 2009
Full name Estadio San Mamés
Location Bilbao, Spain
Owner Athletic Bilbao
Operator Athletic Bilbao
Capacity 40,000[1]
Field size 105 x 68 m
Surface Grass
Construction
Built 20 January 1913
Opened 21 August 1913
Renovated 1952, 1982
Closed 5 June 2013
Demolished 6 June 2013
Construction cost 50.000 ptas
Architect Manuel Maria Smith
Tenants
Athletic Bilbao
Basque Country national football team

San Mamés Stadium (Spanish: Estadio San Mamés [esˈtaðjo sam maˈmes]; also known as La Catedral [la kateˈðɾal], "The Cathedral"), was a football stadium in Bilbao, Biscay, Spain. The stadium was the home of Athletic Bilbao, known as Los Leones de San Mamés-Bilboko lehoiak (The Lions of San Mamés). They are known as Los Leones because their stadium was built near a church called San Mamés (Saint Mammes). Mammes was an early Christian, born in A.D 259, who was thrown to the lions by the Romans.

The club's new stadium, of the same name, was inaugurated on 16 September 2013.[2]

History

Opened in 1913, it was Spain's oldest built stadium before its demolition (the oldest playing field being El Molinón[3]) a distinction that together with its religious heritage has given rise to the nickname La Catedral (The Cathedral).

The first match at the stadium in August 1913 was a friendly between Athletic and Racing Club de Irún in a replay of the 1913 FEF Copa del Rey Final, which was the opening game of a triangular tournament also involving Shepherd's Bush F.C. The first goal was scored by the famous striker Pichichi.[4]

San Mamés could seat almost forty thousand people and was renowned for the unique and boisterous atmosphere its crowds of devoted and loyal fans would create on match-days.[5]

The stadium was almost entirely rebuilt to host matches in the 1982 FIFA World Cup. In March 2006, a project was approved to replace the stadium with a new and larger version, thereby increasing the stadium capacity to 53,000. The New San Mamés Stadium is built on the former site of the Bilbao International Trade Fair, adjacent to the current stadium. Construction began in April 2010, and after it was three quarters completed, Athletic Club moved into their new home and the original San Mamés was demolished.

AC/DC's final concert of their Black Ice World Tour was held in the stadium, on 28 June 2010, it was the last gig of the legendary guitarist and co-founder Malcolm Young.

Final months

The last Athletic match in La Liga at the stadium was a 0–1 loss to Levante on 26 May 2013; the goalscorer was Juanlu in stoppage time.[6] Therefore the final Athletic scorer was Fernando Llorente in the previous home fixture against Mallorca. However the last competitive game took place on 2 June 2013 when the reserve team Bilbao Athletic (who occasionally play important matches away from their small stadium at the club training ground) drew 2–2 with Atlético Levante in their promotion play-offs.[7]

On 5 June 2013 Athletic played a farewell friendly match at the stadium to mark its closure, against a Bizkaia XI (a team comprising players born in the region based with other clubs). Athletic introduced several old heroes back onto the field as substitutes in the later stages: Orbaiz, Guerrero, Andrinua, Dani and Iribar, while others were also in attendance including the 94-year-old Rafael Iriondo. Several of the Bizkaia players had begun their careers at Athletic, such as Expósito, Arriaga, Azkorra, Tarantino and Unai Medina, plus Beñat and Etxeita who had both already agreed to rejoin the club. Bizkaia won 1–0, with the last-ever goal being scored by Alain Arroyo.[8][9] In the days following the match, demolition of the stands began.[10] By the time of its official centenary date in August 2013, little remained of the old stadium as work intensified to clear the site and complete its replacement.[4]

The iconic arch over the main stand of the stadium (which originally supported its roof) was preserved in the demolition and moved in several pieces to the club's training ground, Lezama, where it was installed at the side of the pitch used by the reserves and women's team.[11][12]

Panoramic view.

1982 FIFA World Cup

The stadium was one of the venues of the 1982 FIFA World Cup, and held the following matches:

Date Team #1 Res. Team #2 Round
1982-06-16England 3–1 FranceGroup 4 (First Round)
1982-06-20England 2–0 CzechoslovakiaGroup 4 (First Round)
1982-06-25England 1–0 KuwaitGroup 4 (First Round)

Concerts

Concerts at San Mamés Stadium
DateArtistTourAttendance
04 June 2011 Shakira The Sun Comes Out World Tour 25,000

References

  1. ↑ https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/StatDoc/competitions/-Publications/01/67/58/96/1675896_DOWNLOAD.pdf
  2. ↑ Colocan la primera piedra en San Mamés Barria
  3. ↑ http://stadiumdb.com/stadiums/esp/estadio_el_molinon
  4. 1 2 "El viejo San Mamés cumpliría hoy cien años" [Old San Mamés would be 100 years old today] (in Spanish). El Mundo. 21 August 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  5. ↑ http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=692836&cc=5739
  6. ↑ "Juanlu hace el último gol de San Mamés: el Athletic, sin Europa" [Juanlu scores the last goal at San Mamés: no Europe for Athletic] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  7. ↑ "Bilbao Athletic 2-2 Atlético Levante" (in Spanish). RFEF. 2 June 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  8. ↑ "Broche de oro en San Mamés: Iribar jugó los últimos minutos" [Gold pin in San Mamés: Iribar played the last minutes] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 5 June 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  9. ↑ "Athletic 0-1 Bizkaia" (in Spanish). Athletic Club. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  10. ↑ "Las grúas empiezan con el derribo de la fachada de San Mamés" [The cranes begin the demolition of the facade of San Mamés] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 10 June 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  11. ↑ "El arco de San Mamés ya está instalado en Lezama" [The arch from San Mamés has been installed at Lezama]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 18 March 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  12. ↑ "El arco ya ilumina las instalaciones de Lezama" [The arch illuminates the Lezama facilities]. El Desmarque (in Spanish). 14 October 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2017.

Coordinates: 43°15′48.62″N 2°56′54.21″W / 43.2635056°N 2.9483917°W / 43.2635056; -2.9483917

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