Stadionul Național (1953)
Romanian multi-purpose stadium
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Stadionul Național (Romanian pronunciation: [stadiˈonul natsi.oˈnal]; "The National Stadium") was a multi-purpose stadium in Bucharest, Romania. The stadium held 60,120 people.
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 Interactive map of Stadionul Național | |
Former names | Stadionul 23 August (1953–90) |
|---|---|
| Location | Bucharest, Romania |
| Owner | Municipality of Bucharest |
| Operator | Romania national football team |
| Capacity | 60,120 (football, rugby) 70,000 (concerts) |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1953 |
| Opened | August 2, 1953 |
| Closed | November 22, 2007 |
| Demolished | December 18, 2007 – February 20, 2008 |
| Tenants | |
| Romania national football team Steaua București (some matches) Dinamo București (some matches) | |
It was also used for many events such as 2050 de ani de la crearea statului dac centralizat, Liberation from Facist Occupation Day (23 August), televised propaganda events, and Cîntarea României.
History
It was built in 1953, for the 4th World Festival of Youth and Students. According to the book București published in 1968 by Institutul Proiect București, Complexul Sportiv August 23 was designed by the well known architect Vily Juster.
It was first known as Stadionul 23 August, and later on as Stadionul Național. The sports complex that included Național Stadium, is named Lia Manoliu (1932–1998) after the famous Romanian athlete.
It was used mostly for football matches.
It hosted numerous concerts after the 1989 Revolution, including Michael Jackson's Dangerous World Tour concert on October 1, 1992 where 90,000 fans attended, as well as the HIStory World Tour concert on September 14, 1996 where 70,000 fans attended.
In October 2005, it was decided to rebuild the stadium completely; however, initially no funding was found, so some repairs proceeded in lieu of rebuilding. Later, funds became available and the rebuilding is expected to begin in November 2007. The plan calls for completion of a new five-star arena by April 2010. The last football match played was a 6–1 win against Albania on November 21, 2007. After the match, a few seats were removed from the stadium, as a symbolic start of the rebuilding operations. The stadium has subsequently been demolished to make room for a new one.
Attendance
List of matches of Romania national football team on National Stadium (former August 23), with more than 50,000 persons.
| Date | Home team | Score | Away team | Attendance | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 28, 1955 |  Romania | 1–0 |  Belgium | 90.000 | [1] |
| October 26, 1958 | Romania | 1–2 |  Hungary | 90.000 | [2] |
| September 18, 1955 | Romania | 2–3 |  East Germany | 90.000 | [3] |
| November 16, 1969 |  Romania | 1–1 |  Greece | 62.577 | [4] |
| October 25, 1953 | Romania | 0–1 |  Czechoslovakia | 90.000 | [5] |
| May 29, 1955 | Romania | 2–2 |  Poland | 80.000 | [6] |
| November 25, 1962 | Romania | 3–1 |  Spain | 72.762 | [7] |
| May 30, 1965 | Romania | 1–0 | Czechoslovakia | 80.000 | [8] |
| May 12, 1963 | Romania | 3–2 |  East Germany | 80.000 | [9][10] |
| May 22, 1960 | Romania | 0–2 | Czechoslovakia | 80.000 | [11] |
| May 14, 1972 | Romania | 2–2 | Hungary | 60.300 | [12] |
| April 16, 1983 | Romania | 1–0 |  Italy | 80.000 | [13] |
| June 1, 1975 | Romania | 2–2 |  Scotland | 52.203 | [14] |
| October 15, 1980 | Romania | 2–1 |  England | 80.000 | [15][16] |
| November 3, 1957 | Romania | 3–0 | Greece | 54.465 | [17] |
| September 29, 1957 | Romania | 1–1 |  Yugoslavia | 68.758 | [18] |
| November 8, 1959 | Romania | 1–0 |  Bulgaria | 80.000 | [19] |
| August 2, 1959 | Romania | 0–0 |  Soviet Union | 80.000 | [20] |
| November 2, 1958 | Romania | 3–0 |  Turkey | 70.000 | [21] |
| October 9, 1955 | Romania | 1–1 | Bulgaria | 70.000 | [22] |
| October 12, 1969 | Romania | 1–0 |  Portugal | 58.573 | [23] |
