Estádio São Januário

Estádio São Januário

Estádio da Colina
Full name	Estádio Vasco da Gama
Location	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Owner	Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama
Operator	Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama
Capacity	24,584
Field size	110 x 75m
Surface	Grass
Construction
Built	1926-1927
Opened	April 21, 1927
Tenants
Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama

Estádio Vasco da Gama, also known as Estádio São Januário, owing to its location on a street of the same name, is the home ground of Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama. Its facade is listed by the National Historical and Artistic Heritage.

It is located in the Vasco da Gama neighborhood, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on a hill near the National Observatory of Brazil. Because of its position it is often referred to as Estádio da Colina (Hill's Stadium) which in turn has given Vasco the nickname of Gigante da Colina (Hill's Giant). It is one of the few Association Football specific stadiums in the world which has both team benches and coaching areas behind the goal line at the same end of the field.

The stadium had a capacity of 25.000 and it was inaugurated on April 27, 1927, with the presence of Washington Luís, Brazilian president in that time. The first event held in the stadium was a match between Vasco and Santos, which Santos won. The stadium stands as the biggest private venue in the State of Rio de Janeiro.

This stadium has also historic importance, because Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas used it many times to do deliver speeches to the Brazilian people. Vargas announced the first Brazilian work laws on the tribune of São Januário. For the 2016 Olympics, the stadium will act as the venue for Rugby Sevens in its debut as an Olympic sport.

Vasco da Gama, owner of São Januário, is the only Rio de Janeiro big soccer club to have its private stadium. Other big clubs (as Flamengo, Fluminense and Botafogo) have to rent other places (Flamengo and Fluminense play at Maracanã owned by Rio de Janeiro State and Botafogo plays at Engenhão owned by Rio de Janeiro City).

São Januário Sports Complex

Aquatics centre

The Sao Januario Aquatics Centre opened on August 30, 1953 and is used by the swimming school. In 1998, it held one event of the FINA Swimming World Cup.

Courts

This stadium has two courts. The first opened on September 23, 1956, and it is the main court. In 1999, this court was remodeled and its capacity increased to 2,500 seats. The second court, denominated forninho (little oven in Portuguese), is smaller than main and it's located behind the Aquatic park.

Chapel

Between the football stadium and Aquatic park it's located the Nossa Senhora das Vitórias's chapel. The project of this chapel was made by Álvaro Nascimento Rodrigues and José Ribeiro de Paiva and it was opened on August 15, 1955.

The importance of this chapel is so big that many projects to remodel the stadium was discarded just because they considered its demolition.

Trophy room

Located just after the stadium front door, the trophy room has about 8,000 trophies, cup, plates, medals and photos earnings on the whole club's history

Derbies

Until the construction of Maracanã, Vasco used to play the city derbies at São Januário. After Maracanã was opened, in 1950, the derbies moved to there. Since then, though, a few of those derbies have been played at São Januário, mostly when Maracanã was undergoing refurbishing. The last derby played there was in 2005 against Flamengo for the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2005, with Vasco winning, 2-1. Here is Vasco's home record against its major rivals:

Opponent	G	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD
Botafogo	43	17	11	15	66	51	15
Fluminense	46	22	13	11	81	56	25
Flamengo	34	15	10	9	66	51	15
G – games played; W - wins; L - losses; D - draws; GF – goals for; GA – goals against; GD – goal differential

External links

Media related to Estádio Vasco da Gama at Wikimedia Commons

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