Estadio El Madrigal

El Madrigal
Feudo Amarillo
Full name	Estadio El Madrigal
Former names	Campo del Villarreal (1923-1925)
Location	Villarreal, Spain
Built	1923
Opened	17 June 1923
Renovated	1952 (Pitch Expansion) 2005 (Champions League)
Owner	Villarreal
Surface	Grass
Capacity	25,000
Field dimensions	105 x 68 m
Tenants
Villarreal

Estadio El Madrigal is a multi-purpose stadium in Vila-real, Spain, used since 1923. It is currently mostly used for football matches, as the home of Villarreal CF of La Liga, the highest football league in Spain.

The stadium has 25,000 seats, a figure which is half the population of the city of Vila-real.

History

The stadium was inaugurated on June 17 of 1923 with the match between CD Castellón and Cervantes, and named Campo del Villarreal, but it was renamed to its current denomination only 2 years later, in honour to the rural lands on which it was erected. Nicknamed the Feudo Amarillo ("Yellow Feud"), it is located at Plaza Labrador, 5 kilometres away from the Mediterranean Sea, and at an altitude of 50 metres.

The first remodelling works took place on the summer break of 1952. The size of the pitch was taken from 95 x 65 m to 105 x 65 m, matching that of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium of the 1952 Summer Olympics, a reference to copy during those years.

During the 1960s the club erected a small covered stand, and during the 1971/72 season the southern stands were finished. In 1988 it was demolished to make room for a new stand opened on March 8, 1989 with a friendly match against Atlético Madrid.

For the club's 75th anniversary the club started new renovation works. The south stand was again demolished to erect a new one with a roof, an amphitheatre, the VIP sector, and the northern stand were built, finishing the works at the 1999/00 season.

Plaque at the stadium's exterior.

The stadium was first floodlit for night matches on September 16, 1973 for the third division match between Villarreal CF and SE Eivissa-Ibiza. The city hall provided help for the construction of the floodlight towers located at each of the four corners of the field, with nine halogen lamps on top of each one.

The locker rooms were moved several times. Until the 1935/36 season they were at the south eastern corner of the stadium, then at the north east until the 1989, when they were moved to the south western part. After the last modifications to the stadium, the dressing rooms are now under the main stand.

The "Casals Grocs"

El Madrigal provides all sorts of comforts for its fans that search for added-value services to watch their favourite football team. For them, there are 30 Casals Grocs VIP boxes with air conditioning, TV with direct transmission of the matches (for those who cannot see a match without replays), catering service, individual seats and independent access from the southern stand with 3 elevators to quickly reach the box parking. Of the 30 boxes, five accommodate 20, twenty-three accommodate 16, and the last two 12 fans. There is also a statue of a yellow submarine outside the stadium to represent the club's famous nickname.

Champions League

To be approved for the UEFA Champions League, stadiums have to fulfil a series of requisites, for which the Stadium had to be quickly renovated in 2005 to meet those regulations. The façade was covered with yellow tiles, both to improve aesthetics, and to benefit the local industry of tiles. The dressing rooms were also renovated, creating an office for the coach, physiotherapy room, and a bath and showers area. There were also created an office for the UEFA delegates, an anti-doping hall, and the room for press conferences was expanded.

The separation of the pitch from the public has been expanded one meter, and the entrance to the dressing rooms had to be revised. Two restaurants have been created inside the facilities, and the advertising system was computerized.

External links

• El Madrigal at Villarrealcf.es
• History and Images at Estadios de Espana
• El Madrigal Images and Information at worldstadia.com