Stadio Paolo Mazza (formerly Stadio Comunale) is a multi-use stadium in
Ferrara, Italy. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of
SPAL
Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, commonly known as S.P.A.L. (), is a professional football club based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The team plays in Serie B, the second tier of the Italian football league system.
Founded in 1907, sinc ...
.
Located in the Rione Giardino, west of Ferrara within the city walls, it was built in the immediate vicinity of the area where the former playground of SPAL, Campo di Piazza d'Armi, stood since 1919. The municipal stadium of Ferrara is the fifth oldest Italian ground still in operation.
It was opened in September 1928 as Stadio Comunale; initially, it had a capacity of 4,000. It assumed its current name in February 1982 to honor the former president of the club
Paolo Mazza, who died two months earlier.
In concomitance with the access of SPAL to
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...
, in 1951 it was subjected to a heavy restructuring that brought capacity to 25,000. Between 1960s and 1980s it was renovated again, stabilizing the number of possible spectators to 22,000 until mid-2000s.
From 2005 to 2016, capacity was limited to 7,500 due to safety reasons and cost containment. In 2016–17, in conjunction with the club's promotion to
Serie B
The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...
and then Serie A, the stadium was restructured again to match the modern needs of comfort and safety. In summer 2018, further remodeling took place to bring capacity from 13,135 to 16,134 seats.
References
External links
*
{{coord, 44, 50, 23, N, 11, 36, 27, E, type:landmark_region:IT, display=title
S.P.A.L.
Paolo
Paolo Mazza
Sports venues in Emilia-Romagna