Mini stadium
The Miniestadi was a football stadium owned by Fútbol Club Barcelona, inaugurated on September 23, 1982. It was located in the Les Corts district of Barcelona, Spain, and was part of a complex sports complex that includes the club's main stadium, the Camp Nou, as well as the Palau Blaugrana, the Palau de Gel, the Museum, the Can Planes farmhouse and the club's offices, among other facilities. It was demolished after the construction of the Johan Cruyff stadium.
Until the construction of the Johan Cruyff stadium, the Miniestadi was the pitch of the Barça subsidiary, F. C. Barcelona "B". It was also the home field of Juvenil "A" and F. C. Barcelona Femenino when they played in official European competitions, the UEFA Youth League and the Women's Champions League, respectively.
According to the Espai Barça project, in the 2019-20 season the activity of the Miniestadi moved to the new stadium in the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper. The current enclosure was demolished and a new Palau Blaugrana will be built in its place.
Features
The Miniestadi occupied an area of 15,000 square meters. It was part of a sports complex that included the Camp Nou, the Palau Blaugrana and the Palau de Gel. Although it was separated from these facilities by Avenida Arístides Maillol, an elevated walkway over this street connected it directly with the Palau Blaugrana.
It had a capacity for 15,276 spectators, all seated, divided into two stands, with a covered grandstand. The dimensions of the playing surface were 103 meters long by 65 meters wide. At the time of its inauguration it was considered an example of modernity and comfort, serving as a model for other stadiums such as Cartagonova, in Cartagena, built in 1986. according to the plans of the Miniestadi, or the New Castalia Stadium, in Castellón. As its name identifies, its appearance is proportionally a "mini" of the Camp Nou.
Next to the Miniestadi there were two training soccer fields, the so-called "Campo 3" and "Campo 4", with artificial grass. In the latter, with regulatory dimensions of 100x70 meters, and with a grandstand with a capacity for 1,000 seated spectators, the FCB Escola teams used to play their matches. of the club, before moving to the Sports City. Since 2007 these fields have been partially affected by the construction works of the Camp Nou metro station on L9.
History
The construction of its own facilities for grassroots football was one of the first projects undertaken by Josep Lluís Núñez after becoming president of the Fútbol Club Barcelona in 1978. Until then, the Barcelona subsidiaries played their matches at the Campo de Fabra and Coats, a rental stadium in the San Andrés de Palomar neighborhood. On July 24, 1979, the members' assembly gave the green light to the construction projects of the Miniestadi and the La Masía residence. The chosen location was the so-called Camp Nou sports area, a piece of land adjacent to the stadium that had fields training facilities and facilities for the athletics, handball, hockey and rugby sections.
The Miniestadi was designed by the Catalan architect Josep Casals and the quantity surveyor Ramon Domènech. The works were carried out in parallel to the expansion of the Camp Nou. It was built in just nine months by the company Fomento de Obras y Construcciones. 270 million pesetas were invested and 450 tons of iron and 8,500 cubic meters of concrete were used.
It was inaugurated on September 23, 1982, the eve of the festivities of La Merced, patron saint of Barcelona; barely a month after the reopening of the Camp Nou. On the day of its inauguration, a friendly football match was played between the first team of F. C. Barcelona and the subsidiary. Diego Armando Maradona played in the first team, who had been signed by Barça two months earlier. As a tribute to the club's youth academy, the recipient of the new stadium, Maradona was replaced a few minutes before the end of the match by a young player from the club's youth team, who was only 14 years old: it was Guillermo Amor who, years later, he would become one of the most title-winning players in the club's history as a first-team player. The result of the match was 3-2 in favor of the Azulgrana Team over the Yellow Team. The first goal came in the 2' minute. party and it was the work of Manolo.
However, the first official match played at the Mini Estadi did not take place until October 30, 1982 in Matchday 9 of the Spanish Second Division League 1982/83. The rival was Real Oviedo and the result was a draw at 0.
For years the best players from the F.C. Barcelona academy played at the Miniestadi, from Guillermo Amor to Andrés Iniesta, including Xavi Hernández, Pedro Rodríguez, Luis Milla, Carles Puyol, Víctor Valdés, Iván De la Peña, etc.
In 2002 it hosted the football matches of the FC Barcelona Dragons, the Barcelona team that participated in the League of the European division of the NFL.
Since 2003, the Miniestadi hosted some official matches of the Andorra national team.
Apart from sporting events, the Miniestadi was also the scene of musical events, such as the concerts offered by artists such as Queen in 1986, Elton John or David Bowie.
The Miniestadi was a place where, on numerous occasions, the ballot boxes were placed on the occasion of the elections for the presidency of F. C. Barcelona.
After the inauguration of the new Johan Cruyff Stadium, the board of directors together with the fans held a farewell ceremony for the sports venue on September 24, 2019, ending the use of the sports venue by the club. On October 3, the Barcelona City Council finally granted the license to begin the demolition, which was estimated to take 6 months to complete and would be carried out with cranes to recycle approximately 80% of the materials. The works were They begin on October 29 by removing the south goal of the stadium and dismantling the adjacent training fields. Finally, the demolition of the Blaugrana subsidiary stadium ends on February 24, 2020 with the removal of the walkway that linked it to the Palau Blaugrana.
New Mini Stadium
In 1989, F. C. Barcelona acquired some land in Sant Joan Despí to build its Sports City. This fact, together with the low influx of public to the Miniestadi matches and the high value of the land in the district of Les Corts, has caused that since the 1990s various directives have raised the demolition or transformation of the enclosure to achieve amortization elderly. The first proposal, in this sense, was the "Barça 2000" project, promoted by Josep Lluís Núñez, which proposed the construction of a leisure and commercial complex around the Camp Nou, with the transformation of the Miniestadi into a "rockódromo" for concerts. Despite having the support of the mayor, Joan Clos, the strong neighborhood opposition and the resignation of Nuñez paralyzed the "Barça 2000" project.
In 2007, the board chaired by Joan Laporta presented a Camp Nou remodeling project, whose financing included the construction of 1,600 flats on the site of the Miniestadi. Despite obtaining the support of the City Council to reclassify the 40,000-meter area equipment of the Miniestadi as a developable area, in 2011 a new board of directors, chaired by Sandro Rosell, ruled out the project.
In its place, the Rosell board presented a new project called Espai Barça, which provides for the comprehensive reform of the Camp Nou and its entire surroundings, with the construction of a new Palau Blaugrana in the place occupied by the Mini Estadi, which would be replaced by a new stadium for grassroots football at the Ciudad Deportiva Joan Gamper. Although Rosell resigned a week after presenting the project, it was approved by the partners in a vote on April 5, 2014.
On May 26, 2015, President Josep Maria Bartomeu presented the project for the New Miniestadi, the construction of which has been awarded after a competition to the Batlle i Roig Arquitectes studio, for a budget of 12 million euros. The New Miniestadi will mean a extension of the surface of the Sports City, as it will be built on the land of the neighboring Club Tennis El Forn. It will have a capacity for 6,000 spectators, with covered stands, it will be adapted to UEFA category 3 and will have a car park of 600 plazas. The works are scheduled to begin in January 2016 and the 2017/18 season will be inaugurated.
Main football events
In addition to the blaugrana grassroots football matches, the Miniestadi hosted other relevant matches:
International team matches
International friendly; 17 March 1984 | SpainESP![]() | 2:2 (1:0) | FRA![]() | |||
18:30 (CEST) | Miracles ![]() Emilia ![]() | Report Report | Provost ![]() Wolf ![]() | Assistance: 5000 viewers Arbitrator: ![]() | ||
International friendly; 6 June 2007 | PeruPER![]() | 0:2 (0:0) | ECU![]() | |||
Report | Benítez ![]() of the Cross ![]() | Assistance: 6000 viewers Arbitrator: ![]() | ||||
International friendly; 13 August 2013 | ColombiaCOL![]() | 1:0 (0:0) | SRB![]() | |||
20:00 (CEST) | Guarín ![]() | Report Report | Assistance: 5000 viewers Arbitrator: ![]() | |||
Charity parties and tributes
- Party of La Marató de TV3, which every year faces two teams of celebrities (deporters, artists, journalists, etc.) to raise funds in the research and dissemination of diseases.
- May 24, 2001: Party of homage to Javier Urruticoechea, Urruti. Triangular with the teams of F. C. Barcelona, Real Sociedad and RCD Espanyol.
Social and musical events
The Miniestadi was also the scene of important musical events:
- July 5, 1983: Supertramp Concert.
- June 28, 1984: Concert by Bob Dylan and Carlos Santana, in the framework of his tour "Bob Dylan 1984 European Tour".
- August 1, 1986: Queen Concert, in the framework of his tour "Magic Tour".
- September 15, 1986: Plácido Domingo charity concert in favor of those affected by the 1985 earthquake in Mexico.
- July 7, 1987: David Bowie Concert, in the framework of his tour "Glass Spider Tour".
- July 21, 1992: Concert by Elton John, in the framework of his tour "The One Tour".
Transportation
Subway:
Bus:
Urban:
54, 57, 157, H8
Intercity:
L12
Tram:
Bicycle:
bicing (Stations: 308, 310, 311)