The Estádio da Madeira, formerly named Estádio Eng. Rui Alves and informally known as Choupana, is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

located in the city of

Funchal Funchal () officially Funchal City (), is the capital, largest city and a Municipality (Portugal), municipality in Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it ...

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, and is owned by Clube Desportivo Nacional, where it plays its matches. The stadium currently has a capacity of 5,200 people. The stadium is located in Cidade Desportiva do C.D. Nacional (), which also includes training pitches and a youth campus called Cristiano Ronaldo Campus Futebol, in honour of

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...

. The Cidade Desportiva is located in the north of

, high up in the mountains in the Choupana neighbourhood.

History

It was in 1998, with president Rui Alves at the helm, that construction began on Nacional's new stadium, named Eng. Rui Alves, which was inaugurated in 2000 with just one stand for 2,500 spectators. That same year, the club moved permanently to Choupana and stopped playing at the municipal stadium, Estádio dos Barreiros, which was shared between the region's three biggest clubs. In January 2007, after a period of construction, the stadium underwent its second expansion, increasing its capacity to 5,200 seats with a new fully covered stand. Since then, the stadium has had just two stands running the length of the pitch, with the two ends of the pitch occupied by high fencing. On 1 June 2007, the stadium was renamed Estádio da Madeira, after the club reached an agreement with the local government to promote the Madeira Region. The name also symbolises the fact that, at the time, the stadium was the most modern sports venue on the

Madeira Island Madeira is a Portuguese island, and is the largest and most populous of the Madeira Archipelago. It has an area of , including Ilhéu de Agostinho, Ilhéu de São Lourenço, Ilhéu Mole (northwest). As of 2021, Madeira had a total population o ...

, although not the largest. That position was held by the old municipal stadium,

Estádio do Marítimo The Estádio do Marítimo, formerly and often still referred to as Estádio dos Barreiros, is a football stadium located in the city of Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, and is owned by Club Sport Marítimo, where it plays its matches. The stadium cur ...

, home of Nacional's rivals,

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M (), commonly known as Marítimo or Marítimo da Madeira, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in the city of Funchal, on the island of Madeira. Established in 1910, Marítimo is best known for its football team ...

, which has since been renovated. Also in 2007, the academy campus was renamed the Cristiano Ronaldo Campus Futebol. The official inauguration of the Cidade Desportiva took place on 16 November 2007 in an event that pitted C.D. Nacional against

S.L. Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...

, with the Reds coming out on top with a single goal from Yu Dabao. The investment of 23 million euros by the

Regional Government of Madeira The Government of the Autonomous Region of Madeira is the local government of this Portuguese autonomous region. The Regional Government is one of the two organs of self-government of the Autonomous Region along with the Regional Legislative A ...

has put Nacional on a level of infrastructure like few others in Portugal. In addition to the stadium, the club now has three grass pitches for training and other support infrastructures.

References

External links

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Stadium pictures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Estadio da Madeira Football venues in Portugal C.D. Nacional C.F. União Sport in Madeira Buildings and structures in Funchal 1998 establishments in Portugal Sports venues completed in 1998