Estádio Algarve
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Estádio Algarve (English "Algarve Stadium") is an association football (soccer) stadium in Faro, Portugal. The home teams are SC Farense , who play in the Portuguese Third Division (they are six promotions away to the Superliga) and Louletano DC, who plays in the Portuguese Second Division Serie D (two promotions away to the Superliga).
The stadium has a capacity of 30,002[1], and was built for the 2004 European Football Championship. However, following the tournament, the stadium stood empty as none of the local teams was large enough to take on the running of the stadium as of August 2006. Louletano DC & SC Farense are the stadium holders similar to the AC Milan/Inter Milan sharing of stadiums.
Apart from football, the stadium has hosted music festivals and concerts, and it was converted into a rally track during the 2007 Portugal Rally (part of WRC 2007 season), and reconverted again into a football pitch.
The stadium was designed in the summer of 2000 to UEFA and FIFA standards by Damon Lavelle of HOK Sport Architecture London. The design team included WSAtkins engineers and local partners including Marobal.
The Stadium will also be hosting the inaugral Algarve Challenge Cup tournament on the 22nd & 24th of July 2008 featuring Cardiff City FC, Celtic FC, Middlesborough FC and Vitoria de Guimaraes
The design is regional in nature, alluding to the maritime traditions of Portugal and harmonising with the distinctive local landscape.
The stadium is considered a model small/regional flexible use stadium for European Football and cultural events.
[edit] See also
|
Main Portuguese football stadia
|
||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||||||
