Camp Nou

41°22′51.2″N 2°7′22.1″E

Estadi del Futbol Club Barcelona

Camp Nou
Location	Barcelona, Spain
Owner	FC Barcelona
Operator	FC Barcelona
Capacity	98,787
Surface	Grass
Construction
Broke ground	March 28, 1954
Opened	24 September 1957
Construction cost	288 million pesetas
Architect	Francesc Mitjans-Miró Lorenzo García Barbon Josep Soteras Mauri
Tenants
FC Barcelona (La Liga) 1957 - present

The Camp Nou (Catalan for "new field", sometimes reversed in other languages to become Nou Camp) is a football stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It has a capacity of 98,787. The stadium is the home ground of FC Barcelona. It is one of the biggest stadiums in the world and the largest in Europe. Its official name —Estadi del Futbol Club Barcelona— translates as FC Barcelona Stadium, although it is popularly called the Camp Nou by football fans.

Opposite the Camp Nou is the Palau Blaugrana, the stadium for indoor sports and adjacent is the Ice Rink, the stadium for ice based sports. Just Behind the complex is the Mini Estadi, the stadium where the FC Barcelona B plays its games.

History

The stadium, built between 1954 and 1957, was designed by architects Francesc Mitjans-Miró, Lorenzo García Barbon and Josep Soteras Mauri, and ia Warsaw]]. FC Barcelona won their first game at Camp Nou in impressive fashion, a 4-2 victory with Eulogio Martínez scoring the first goal at the new stadium. Over 90,000 fans were present at this momentous occasion.

The stadium consists of facilities such as a memorabilia shop, mini pitches for training matches, and a quaint little chapel for players to seek divine assistance before matches.

The Camp Nou has been host to other important events outside the sphere of football. Notable music artists who have performed in the stadium include:

• Pink Floyd
• Bruce Springsteen
• Michael Jackson
• Julio Iglesias
• Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Youssou N'Dour, Tracy Chapman, Peter Gabriel and El Último de la Fila at the Amnesty International's Concert for Human Rights
• The Three Tenors: Josep Carreras, Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti
• Josep Carreras
• Lluís Llach
• U2

Pope John Paul II preached a mass to a congregation of over 120,000 at the Nou Camp on November 17, 1982.

The inauguration ceremony of the 1982 World Cup was held on June 13. In front of a 100,000 strong crowd, Belgium beat Argentina 1-0.

File:Noucamp.jpg

The inside of the Camp Nou

Notable matches

• 1964: Real Zaragoza 2 - Valencia CF 1 (final, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup)
• 1972: Rangers F.C. 3 - FC Dynamo Moscow 2 (final, European Cup Winners' Cup)
• 1979: Nottingham Forest 1 - Barcelona 0 (European Super Cup final)
• 1982: FC Barcelona 2 - Standard Liège 1 (final, European Cup Winners' Cup)
• 1982: Belgium 1 - Argentina 0 (opening match, 1982 World Cup)
• 1989: A.C. Milan 4 - Steaua Bucharest 0 (final, European Cup)
• 1992: Spain 3 - Poland 2 (final, 1992 Olympics)
• 1999: Manchester United 2 - Bayern Munich 1 (final, Champions League)

Stadium information

• Name - Camp Nou
• City - Barcelona
• Capacity - 98,787
• Inauguration - 1957
• Pitch size - 105 x 72 metres