Santiago Bernabeu

Santiago Bernabéu is a stadium in Madrid, associated with FC Real Madrid. The stadium project was initiated in 1944. Real Madrid accepted the name of Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in 1955, after the president of the club. After undergoing enlargement the stadium reached a peak capacity of 120 000. This included standing places as well. In 1998 UEFA issued new regulations, forbidding fans at UEFA games to stand upright. Currently the capacity of the stadium is 80 354. There are plans to add a removable roof.
Santiago Bernabéu has hosted many famous championships in its history, including the World Cup final in 1982, the European Championship final in 1964 and the European Cup final in 1957. The pitch has a grass surface, width of 72 m and length of 107 m. It opened officially in 1947. The first match held here was between Portuguese team Os Belenenses and Real Madrid.
Real Madrid was founded in 1902. Over the first decade of its existence the club played on various grounds. In 1912 it moved to Campo de O'Donnell, and stayed there for the next 11 years. Then it changed its venue again, moving to the Campo de Ciudad Lineal. This was a relatively small stadium, which could only hold 8000 fans. Just a year later the team moved to Estadio de Chamartin and stayed there until the 40s of the last century. Santiago de Bernabeu was elected club president in 1943, and declared that Chamartin was too small for the popular, ambitious club. Thus construction of the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu commenced. It took this name in 1955, almost a decade after it was inaugurated.
At first the stadium had capacity of 75 300. It was extended in 1953, when the capacity peaked following addition of a third tier. At this time the club enjoyed tremendous successes - they won the European Cup against Fiorentina and a number of other awards, with one in their very own Santiago Bernabeu. The national team of Spain played its first official match at this stadium in 1964. It was against the then-Soviet Union.
As the World Cup was anticipated in 1982, it was decided that the stadium had to undergo another refit. In the course of these activities its capacity diminished to 90 000. The stadium hosted the final match between Germany and Italy (1:3) and the pool B games (England, Spain and Germany) before that. The stadium underwent another renovation in 1992, reaching capacity of 106 000. The façade was restored as well, acquiring the appearance we know today. An important feature is the spectacular entrance towers at the sides. This enhancement of capacity caused a bitter rivalry with FC Barcelona regarding which stadium could hold more fans. Barcelona achieved a triumph when UEFA issued its regulations in the 98/99 season, under which all standing places had to become seats at Santiago Bernabeu. This caused a drop in capacity to 74 000 at Real's stadium.
Currently the stadium is undergoing another renovation, which is almost complete toward the present. Modernization of the east stand has enhanced the capacity to around 80 000 and has rendered the grounds fully covered. UEFA will bestow a 5-star standing upon the stadium when it is inaugurated in its renovated state. This means that the stadium will be able to host all future European Cup finals.
Recently reappointed club president Florentino Perez proposed the construction of a removable roof over the premises. In his opinion this will make the Santiago Bernabeu the best and most unique stadium in the entire world. To most Real fans it already is.