Work started in the summer 1961 on a daring new cantilevered stand, quite unlike any other in Spain. At 72 metres in length and made out of pre-cast concrete sections, its dominant feature was a huge curved roof, which despite it's size had an elegance that mirrored the shape of the waves that crash onto the Playa El Sardinero. The stand was built behind the existing tribuna, but did not include new changing rooms. These still remained in the old clubhouse, located in the south-west corner of the stadium. The old stand was demolished at the end of the 1961-62 season and the pitch was extended and moved a few metres westwards. A year later, just in time for the clubs golden jubilee, floodlights were installed, but by then, Racing had dropped back into La Segunda. The club spent the majority of the next decade in the second flight, even dropping to the Tercera for two seasons from 1968. By the time of Racing's next appearance in La Primera, in 1973, the east terrace had gained a full length propped cover.
 |
The original El Sardinero was less than 30 metres from the beach
Santander missed
out on hosting matches at the 1982 World Cup. El Sardinero was beyond
redevelopment and Racing was broke and back in La Segunda. New
floodlights were installed in 1982 and a year later the club sold the stadium
to the municipality for 175 million pesetas and the two began the process of
finding and building a replacement. They didn't have to look far as the new
site was on scrub ground 150 metres to the west of the old ground. The last
official match at the old El Sardinero took place on 15 May 1988, when Racing
drew 0-0 with Granada. A friendly between Racing legends and a former National
Select XI was the last match played at th stadium on 3 June 1988. Demolition of
the old stadium started on 17 June 1988 and 8 weeks later Racing inaugurated
the new Estadio El Sardinero with a match against Real Oviedo.
The site of the old stadium is now the Parque Mesones, but in the south east corner you'll find a neat circle of privet hedges. Inside the circle, in Racing's colours of green and white, is a marble replica of a corner segment of the pitch. It's a simple but effective reminder of the thousands of matches played on the site.
|
 |
Racing force one last corner at El Sardinero |