Barcelona Headquarters Camp Nou Stadium Inaugurated In History Today, 24 September 1957

JAKARTA - Today 24 September 64 years ago or in 1957, the stadium that became the headquarters of the Barcelona football team, Camp Nou, was inaugurated. The stadium with a capacity of 99,354 people is the largest in Spain and Europe, as well as being the third largest in the world in terms of audience capacity.

As quoted by the FC Barcelona page, the Camp Nou construction project had become a hot controversy among Barcelona members. Many regretted having to move away from Les Corts, the spiritual home for FC Barcelona.

Many fear that the huge investment in stadium construction will cripple the club. In some ways, the critics proved right. FC Barcelona had a barren year in terms of wins. Many have blamed the burden of paying for the cost of the new stadium for causing FC Barcelona's lack of wins.

Camp Nou was built for three years, between 1954 and 1957. When it opened on September 24, 1957, a match took place between FC Barcelona and a number of players from the city of Warsaw. The stadium replaces Barcelona's Camp de les Corts stadium, which, although it can accommodate 60,000 supporters, is still too small to support the club's growth.

The Camp Nou opening ceremony also coincided with the Merc Festival in Barcelona. In the morning, there is a 'religious' event to celebrate the Merc Festival at Camp Nou. Although women are allowed into Camp Nou for free, only about half the seats are occupied for the mass presided over by the archbishop of Barcelona and the large statue of the Virgin of Montserrat.

But the stadium was packed during the second event, which included a parade of all the big clubs in Catalunya including RCD Espanyol in the back row, the 'esbart' and 'sardana' dances and the release of 11,000 white doves. The celebration ended with the raising of the Spanish flag and the standing of the audience in the stadium in honor of the Spanish national anthem.

The event was flooded with words of admiration and support from the then Spanish leader known as dictator, Francisco Franco. At that time the journalists who covered the opening of the Camp Nou also had to be careful with what they conveyed.

Camp Nou consists of two levels that can accommodate 93,000 spectators. Previously the stadium would be called Estadi del FC Barcelona, but in the end Camp Nou was chosen as the name of the stadium. In the 2000-2001 season, the name was re-elected and 68.25 percent of the members supported 'Camp Nou' as the stadium's official name.

Until the late 1990s, Camp Nou had several standing areas on the third tier. The third tier was eventually eliminated, reducing capacity to under 100,000. Unlike the Bernabéu, Camp Nou lacks many of the modern facilities common in most stadiums in Europe. Over the last decade, Barcelona considered rebuilding the Camp Nou, even building a new stadium.

In the mid-2000s, the club began to present plans to renovate the Camp Nou, which was designed by Norman Foster. But lack of funds hindered realization. The Barcelona club then began to study to create a new stadium.

The new stadium is planned to be built in the Avenida Diagonal area which is one of the main economic and commercial areas in the City of Barcelona. However, the construction of the stadium is expected to cost 1.2 billion euros and the funds are considered too expensive by the club. Barcelona finally decided to renovate the Camp Nou and make the facilities around the stadium more luxurious at an estimated cost of around 600 million euros.

The renovation approval was carried out in 2014 and construction began in 2017 and is expected to be completed in 2021. However, this hope has been dashed due to construction delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The postponement was confirmed directly by the Director of Finance of Barcelona, Jordi Moix.

The renovations are expected to be completed in 2025. "If we get financial approval for this season and work quickly from next summer, maybe the stadium will be finished in 2025," Moix said, citing Reuters.

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