Mestalla Stadium ( , ) 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 ...

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, Spain. The stadium is the home of

and has a capacity of 49,430 seats, making it the 8th-largest stadium in Spain, and the largest in the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

. The stadium's name originates from the historic irrigation canal of Mestalla, which was developed and consolidated during the Moorish dynasty between the 10th and 11th centuries, and was originally outside the south stand of the stadium where it had to be jumped over in order to get to the ground. The North Stand of the stadium is known for its very steep section.

History

The Estadio Mestalla was inaugurated with a friendly match on 20 May 1923 between

and Levante. The new stadium had a capacity of 17,000 spectators, which was increased to 25,000 four years later. During the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, the Mestalla was used as a

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

and storage warehouse. It would only keep its structure, since the rest was an empty plot of land with no terraces and a grandstand damaged during the war. During the 1950s, the Mestalla was renovated, resulting in a stadium with a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 60,000 spectators. It was severely damaged by the flood of October 1957 when the Turia River broke its banks. The stadium soon returned to operational use with some more improvements, such as the addition of artificial lighting, and was inaugurated during the 1959 Fallas festivities. In 1969, the stadium's name was changed to Estadio Luis Casanova, to honour club president Luis Casanova Giner. The change lasted for a quarter of a century, when Casanova admitted that he was completely overwhelmed by such an honour and requested in 1994 that the stadium's name be returned to the Mestalla. 1972 saw the inauguration of the club's head office, located in the back of the numbered terraces. It consisted of an office designed in the

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

style with a trophy hall, which held the flag the club was founded on. The summer of 1973 ushered in another change at the Mestalla, the introduction of goal seats, which meant the elimination of fourteen rows of standing room terraces.

Future

A replacement stadium, the Nou Mestalla, started construction in 2007, but is yet to be completed due to the club's financial crisis. The new stadium is due to have a capacity of 61,500. On 10 January 2025, construction for the new stadium has resumed and is estimated for completion prior to the 2027-28 season.

Internationals and Cup Finals

The Mestalla held the

Spain national football team The Spain national football team () has represented Spain in men's international Association football, football competitions since 1920. It is governed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. Spain i ...

for the first time in 1925. It was chosen the national team's group venue when Spain staged the 1982 World Cup, and at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

held in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, all of Spain's matches up to the final were held at the Mestalla, as they won Gold. The Mestalla has been the setting for important international matches, has held nine

cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

finals, has also been a temporary home for Levante, home of the

and exile for Castellón and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

in the European Cup. The Mestalla hosted four El Clásico finals in

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

between

and

, with

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

, 1990,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. In total, the stadium hosted ten Copa del Rey finals, with the first one played in 1926.

1982 FIFA World Cup

The stadium was one of the venues of the 1982 FIFA World Cup (known as Luis Casanova Stadium at the time of the tournament), and held the following matches:

Transport

Metro: Aragó station (Lines 5 and 7) Metrovalencia Facultats-Manuel Broseta station (Lines 3 and 9) Metrovalencia Bus lines: Amadeo of Savoia street in: line 32. Reyes Prosper street: line 71. Avenida de Aragón: lines 10, 12, 80, 41 and 79 Avenida Blasco Ibáñez: lines 10, 29, 30, 31, 71, 79, 81, 89 and 90.

References

External links

*
The new Mestalla

Estadios de España
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mestalla Valencia CF Football venues in Valencia Venues of the 1992 Summer Olympics Tourist attractions in Valencia Sports venues completed in 1923 1923 establishments in Spain Buildings and structures in Valencia