Stadionul Național (1953)

For the new stadium, see Arena Națională.

Stadionul Național

Full name	Stadionul Național
Former names	23 August
Location	Bucharest, Romania
Owner	Municipality of Bucharest
Operator	Romania national football team
Capacity	60,120 (football, rugby) 70,000 (concerts)
Construction
Built	1953
Opened	2 August 1953
Closed	22 November 2007
Demolished	18 December 2007–20 February 2008
Tenants
Romania national football team FC Steaua București FC Dinamo București 1981 Summer Universiade
Cupa României Final	2006, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1991, 1990, 1988, 1988, 1987, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1982, 1981, 1980, 1979, 1988, 1976, 1975, 1974, 1973, 1972, 1971, 1970, 1969, 1968, 1967, 1966, 1966, 1964, 1963, 1962, 1959, 1958, 1953

Stadionul Național (Romanian pronunciation: [stadiˈonul nat͡sioˈnal], The National Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium in Bucharest, Romania. The stadium held 60,120 people.

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 23 August 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 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, as well as the HIStory World Tour concert on September 14, 1996. Some 100,000 people attended the concert, which was also the only one to be broadcast live by the HBO channel; it has since been the highest rated program to air on HBO and had the largest TV audience in history.

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 23 August), with more than 80,000 persons.

Date	Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance	Ref
28 September 1955	Romania	1–0	Belgium	100.000 or 90.000
26 October 1958	Romania	1–2	Hungary	100.000 or 90.000
18 September 1955	Romania	2–3	East Germany	100.000 or 90.000
6 November 1969	Romania	1–1	Greece	90.000
25 October 1953	Romania	0–1	Czechoslovakia	90.000
29 mai 1955	Romania	2–2	Poland	80.000
25 November 1962	Romania	3–1	Spain	80.000
30 May 1965	Romania	1–0	Czechoslovakia	80.000
12 May 1963	Romania	3–2	East Germany	80.000
22 May 1956	Romania	0–2	Czechoslovakia	80.000
14 May 1972	Romania	2–2	Hungary	80.000
16 April 1983	Romania	1–0	Italy	80.000
1 June 1975	Romania	2–2	Scotland	80.000
15 October 1980	Romania	2–1	England	80.000
3 November 1957	Romania	3–0	Greece	80.000
29 September 1957	Romania	1–1	Yugoslavia	80.000
8 November 1959	Romania	1–0	Bulgaria	80.000
2 August 1959	Romania	0–0	Soviet Union	80.000
3 November 1957	Romania	3–0	Turkey	70.000
9 October 1955	Romania	1–1	Bulgaria	70.000
12 October 1969	Romania	1–0	Portugal	75.000

External links

• Cum s-a născut Stadionul "23 august" (Romanian)
• Naţional Arena: istoria fascinantă a „celui mai mare stadion al ţării“ (Romanian)
• Vezi cine au fost cei care au făcut din Groapa Vergului „cel mai mare stadion al ţării“ (Romanian)

Preceded by Estadio Olímpico Universitario Mexico

Universiade 1981

Succeeded by Commonwealth Stadium Canada