Vicente Calderon Stadium

The Vicente Calderon is a football stadium located on the banks of the Manzanares, in the Arganzuela district of Madrid, Spain. It was home to the club of Atletico Madrid until 2017, before they moved to the Wanda Metropolitano located in San Blas-Canillejas.

The Vicente Calderon is to be demolished in 2018, giving way to a park to be named ‘Park Atletico Madrid’. The Vicente Calderon has a capacity of 54,907 and Atletico have been its tenants since 1966.

History

The stadium was built in 1966 and was formerly known as Estadio Manzanares till 1971. The name was later changed to Vicente Calderon in honour of long-term president Vicente Calderon, who had overseen the construction of the stadium.

The first match was held here on 2 October 1966, between Atletico and Valencia, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

The stadium was completed in 1970 and had a capacity of 62,000 seats without any standing areas. It was the first large all-seater stadium in Europe.

The stadium’s seats are coloured red, white and blue, symbolising the club’s colours. The stadium will see its end in 2018 as it will be demolished and replaced with a park due to land reclassification.

Major Matches

The Vicente Calderon was one of the venues for the 1982 FIFA World Cup and hosted three group D matches involving Austria, France and Northern Ireland. The stadium has hosted eleven of Spain’s international matches, most of them being friendlies and World Cup qualification matches.

The Copa del Rey finals have taken place in the Vicente Calderon on 14 occasions, the years being 1973-1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1986, 1989, 1994, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2017.

The stadium is one of the few in the world to have such a legacy and to be erased from the city in spite of protests from a few groups against the stadium's destruction.

Controversies

The stadium’s demolition in the upcoming year itself has been controversial and has not gone well with a lot of the home supporters who have grown and loved the Vicente Calderon. They have also not liked the club’s decision to spend on a new stadium instead of developing the club further.

The Save the Calderon Group and the Atletico Supporters group put up a protest but things didn't go well for them and the team relocated to the Wanda Metropolitano in the La Peineta region.