Cam Nou stadium opens

The Spanish take their football (soccer) seriously. The FC Barcelona football squad can trace its roots back to the 19th century, and has played on through a civil war, two world wars, and a whole host of small-grade conflicts. Their regular matches against rival club Real Madrid, called El Classico, inspires fanaticism (on both sides), so it was hardly surprising that there were frequently more willing spectators for its matches in the old 60,000 seat Camp de Les Corts then there were places for them.

On this day, September 24, in 1957, to replace the aging, and relatively small Camp de Les Corts, the Camp Nou football stadium opened in Bracelona, Spain. Appropriately enough for the occasion, Handel’s Messiah classical piece played for the opening.

Development costs overran projections by something like 330%, but the completed stadium was truly majestic. Able to fit 100,000 people, and temporarily expanded to an astounding 120,000 for the 1982 FIFA World Cup, it has underground parking, a memorabilia shop, mini pitches for practice, and even a small chapel — for players only.