Home ground of Futebol Clube de Porto, the Estadio do Dragao is an all seater football stadium located in Porto, Portugal. Estadio do Dragon, when translated to English is known as the Stadium of the Dragon.
The name of the stadium came from the presence of a dragon on the club’s crest composing of football in the arms.
Estadio do Dragao Stadium Capacity
It has a capacity of accommodating about 50,000 spectators, making it the third largest football ground in Portugal. The capacity increases to 55000 for concerts.
History
The construction of the stadium began in the year 2001 and was completed in two years by 2003. It was designed by Portuguese architect Manuel Salgado and built by Portuguese contractor Somague. The cost to build the stadium was €97,755,318, of which €18,430,956 was subsidized by the government.
It was built to replace Porto's previous ground, the Estadio das Antas, and was inaugurated on 16 November 2003.
The first match played here was a friendly match of Portugal against Spanish giant club FC Barcelona, which set an attendance record of 52,000 spectators.
The stadium has four stands and each stand carries one or two sponsor names like Super Bock for south stand, TMN for east stand, MEO for west stand and Coca-Cola for the north stand.
Matches Played
The stadium hosted UEFA Euro 2004 matches, including the opening of UEFA and has held several other international club competition and national team matches.
In 2009, the stadium also hosted the Race of Champions South Europe finals. It has hosted Euro 2008 and 2012 matches and World Cup qualification matches in 2006, 2010, 2014.
Controversies
The construction of the stadium was forced to halt in between, after the Porto mayor criticized the plan. The construction resumed only after a consensus was reached.
