Stadio San Paolo
| San Paolo |
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| Full name |
Stadio San Paolo |
| Location |
Naples, Campania, Italy |
| Broke ground |
1948 |
| Opened |
December 6, 1959 (1959-12-06) |
| Renovated |
1989 |
| Owner |
Comune di Napoli |
| Surface |
Grass |
| Architect |
Carlo Cocchia, Luigi Corradi |
| Capacity |
82,000 (originally)
60,240 (current) |
| Field dimensions |
105 × 68 m (344 × 223 ft) |
| Tenants |
| S.S.C. Napoli (1959–present) |
Stadio San Paolo is a multi-purpose stadium in the western suburb of Fuorigrotta in Naples, Italy, and is the third largest football stadium in Italy after the San Siro and Stadio Olimpico. For the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, it hosted the football preliminaries. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home of Napoli. The stadium was built in 1959 and underwent extensive renovations in 1989 for the 1990 World Cup. The present capacity of the San Paolo is 60,240.
The stadium is probably most famous for hosting the 1990 World Cup semi-final between Italy and Argentina. Considered to be the most intriguing match of that World Cup, Diego Maradona asked for the Napoli fans to cheer for Argentina. The Napoli tifosi responded by hanging a flag in their "curva" of the stadium saying "Maradona, Naples loves you, but Italy is our homeland".[1] It was touching for Maradona as Napoli was the only stadium during that World Cup that the Argentinian national anthem was not jeered. The match finished 1–1 after extra time. A penalty shoot out ensued with Maradona fittingly scoring the winning penalty for Argentina.
Recent times
Even with Napoli in Serie C1 during the 2005–06 season, Napoli achieved the feat of having the 3rd highest average home attendance in Italy for the season with only two Serie A clubs, Milan and Internazionale having higher attendances. Napoli's final game of the season drew a crowd of 51,000 which now stands as a Serie C record.
San Paolo also hosted Italy's Euro 2008 Qualifier vs Lithuania on 2 September 2006 with the possibility of other qualifiers to be played there in the future.
Renaming
The Naples city council asked the Italian government for permission to rename the stadium after Diego Maradona. The Argentine legend helped Napoli to win Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990, and he remains a popular figure in the city.
The council voted to ask for the renaming of the San Paolo stadium, but one stumbling block is an Italian law prohibiting public buildings to be named after any person who has not been dead for at least 10 years.
References
- ^ Maradona, Diego (2004). El Diego, pg. 166.
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1900: Vélodrome de Vincennes · 1904: Francis Field · 1908: White City Stadium · 1912: Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm Olympic Stadium (final), Traneberg · 1920: Jules Ottenstadion, Olympisch Stadion (final), Stade Joseph Marien, Stadion Broodstraat · 1924: Stade Bergeyre, Stade de Colombes (final), Stade de Paris, Stade Pershing · 1928: Monnikenhuize, Olympic Stadium (final), Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel · 1936: Hertha-BSC Field, Mommsenstadion, Olympic Stadium (final), Poststadion · 1948: Arsenal Stadium, Champion Hill, Craven Cottage, Cricklefield Stadium, Empire Stadium (medal matches), Green Pond Road, Griffin Park, Selhurst Park, White Hart Lane · 1952: Helsinki Football Grounds, Kotka, Lahti, Olympic Stadium (final), Tampere, Turku · 1956: Melbourne Cricket Ground (final), Olympic Park Stadium · 1960: Florence Communal Stadium, Grosseto Communal Stadium, L'Aquila Communal Stadium, Livorno Ardenza Stadium, Naples Saint Paul's Stadium, Pescara Adriatic Stadium, Stadio Flaminio (final) · 1964: Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium, Mitsuzawa Football Field, Nagai Stadium, Tokyo National Stadium (final), Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium, Ōmiya Football Field, Prince Chichiba Memorial Football Field · 1968: Estadio Azteca (final), Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Estadio Nou Camp, Jalisco Stadium · 1972: Drei Flüsse Stadion, ESV-Stadion, Jahnstadion, Olympiastadion (final), Rosenaustadion, Urban Stadium · 1976: Lansdowne Park, Olympic Stadium (final), Sherbrooke Stadium, Varsity Stadium · 1980: Dynama Stadium, Dynamo Central Stadium, Grand Arena, Grand Arena (final), Kirov Stadium, Republican Stadium · 1984: Harvard Stadium, Navy – Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Rose Bowl (final), Stanford Stadium · 1988: Buson Stadium, Daegu Stadium, Daejeon Stadium, Dongdaemun Stadium, Olympic Stadium (final) · 1992: Estadi de la Nova Creu Alta, Estadi del FC Barcelona (final), Estadio Luís Casanova, La Romareda, RCD Espanyol Stadium · 1996: Florida Citrus Bowl, Legion Field, Orange Bowl, RFK Memorial Stadium, Sanford Stadium (final) · 2000: Brisbane Cricket Ground, Bruce Stadium, Hindmarsh Stadium, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Olympic Stadium (men's final), Sydney Football Stadium (women's final) · 2004: Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Karaiskakis Stadium, Olympic Stadium (final), Pampeloponnisiako Stadium, Pankritio Stadium, Panthessaliko Stadium · 2008: Beijing National Stadium (final), Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Shanghai Stadium, Shenyang Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium, Workers Stadium · 2012: City of Coventry Stadium, Hampden Park, Millennium Stadium, St James' Park, Wembley Stadium (final) · 2016: Estádio Nacional de Brasília, Arena Fonte Nova, Estádio do Maracanã, Mineirão, Estádio do Morumbi
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