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| Camp Nou - 55 years old and still at the top of the game |
Structurally, very little has changed at the Camp Nou in the past 20 years. There is the perennial changing of the colour configuration of the seats, but when you have over 99,000 of them, it must seem to be a never ending job. There is of course talk of rebuilding or starting afresh elsewhere. In 2007 for instance, British architect Sir Norman Foster’s design won a competition to renovate the Camp Nou. At an estimated cost of 250 million euros, the plan included the addition of 7,000 seats for a maximum capacity of 106,000. To finance this, the board approved the sale of the land on which the Mini Estadi stood, but in 2009 just before work was due to begin, the project was halted thanks to the world financial crisis and subsequent fall in real estate prices.
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| The existing Camp Nou will witness a few more sunsets yet |
As Barça started an era of unparalleled success on the pitch, talk of redeveloping the Camp Nou was put on the back-burner. Everybody knew that this iconic structure was outdated and lacked little of the commercial and media infrastructure that so many of its competitors had. But whilst the team remained all-conquering, little else seemed to matter. Then, just as Barça’s infallibility was being questioned, and with news emerging of Real Madrid’s imminent redevelopment of the Santiago Bernabéu, the club’s board acted. In January 2014 the club announced a €600m redevelopment of the stadium and surrounding area. Beginning in the summer of 2017, the rebuild will tackle the principle problems that currently exist at the Camp Nou; namely sight-lines, cover and corporate revenue. The project will also see the building of a new indoor arena, replacing the ageing Palau Blaugrana, which will stand on land currently occupied by the Mini Estadi. Sadly, this means that the B Team will move their fixtures to a new 6,000 seat stadium at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, Barça's training facility at Sant Joan Despí.
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| Ch-ch-changes - We want to be a richer man |
The first phase of the redevelopment will see the realignment of the lower tier, addressing the shallow rake of the seats which has proved problematic since the pitch was lowered in 1993. A new ring of corporate boxes will be built, which will add 3,500 VIP seats along with restaurants and improved media facilities. Between 2018 and 2020, the North & South Grada’s will be extended, rounding-off the ends that currently taper down towards the main stand. The summer of 2020 will see the old roof removed and another tier added to complete the bowl. A ring of roof piles will be incorporated within a new exterior, and finally in 2021, a 3-ringed cantilevered roof will be constructed to cover all four sides of the stadium. The new capacity will stand at 105,053 and Barça estimate that revenue will increase by €29m per annum. The stadium will still be known as the Camp Nou, but the club has not ruled out the selling of naming rights. Given that they say the cost of the rebuild will be repaid within 8 years, it seems certain that the stadium will adopt some corporate suffix.
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| The youngsters will have to move out. Conceptual plans of the new Camp Nou |
This is all very exciting, but what of the stadium today? Well it is a truly uplifting experience, even if like me, you visit it in the pouring rain. The Museum, which opened in 1984, is the city's most popular and it is beautifully choreographed. Sure, some of the stairwells are beginning to show their age, but stepping out into the arena for the first time is breath-taking. I've talked about the problems with sight lines on earlier posts, but even on the top tier, you are still remarkably close to the pitch. On the way out of the museum, you pass a video wall, where hundreds of the club's socios tell you what Barça means to them. If you ever wondered why they say "Més que un club", then you can be in no doubt after watching their video tributes. The Camp Nou really is one of the wonders of the footballing world.
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