NB This page is out of date – written around 2017 – and awaiting a refresh!
Map of Bucharest stadiums
Still standing
Stadionul Ghencea. Opened 9 April 1974 (with a 30,000 official capacity) and completely modernised in 1996. The capacity is currently 27,063, all-seater. Home to Steaua Bucuresti.
Stadionul Valentin Stanescu (Giulesti). Home to Rapid Bucuresti. Capacity 19,100 (currently 11,700 due to safety concerns – or 9,200 depending on your source!). Construction was begun in 1936 under the auspices of the national railway company (CFR)’s sporting association, and it was opened on 10 June 1939 – apparently the 70th anniversary of the first operating train in Romania – by King Carol II. It was known as “Potcoava” (horseshoe) – the design was modelled on Highbury’s horseshoe shape, but on a much smaller scale: Arsenal, the dominant force in English football during the 1930s, could fit more than 70,000 spectators into Highbury, while Giulesti’s initial capacity was only 12,160. CFR Bucuresti, which had been founded in 1923, was a major player in Romania, winning the Romanian Cup seven times and finishing as runners-up four times before World War II put a stop to regular competition. The north stand was renovated and extended in the 1990s, and the stadium underwent further modernisation in 2003, when ownership passed from the Ministry of Transport to the club. In 2001 the stadium was named after Valentin Stanescu, a post-war CFR goalkeeper and then title-winning manager.
Stadionul Dinamo. Capacity 15,300. Known as “Groapa” (the Pit) because it is below the level of the surrounding streets. Built in 1952, the stadium belongs to the Ministry of the Interior. There is a running track around the pitch.
Stadionul Regie / Belvedere. Capacity 10,020. Founded in 1920, renovated in 2007. Home to Sportul Studentesc, who are currently in Liga IV but who were in the top division as recently as 2011-12.
Arena Nationala. Constructed between 2008 and 2011 on the site of the previous national stadium, and opened in 2011. Capacity over 55,000. The UEFA Cup final was held here in 2012, the first major European final to take place in Romania.
Stadionul Cotroceni. Built in 1949 on the site of a sports ground known as Parcul cu Platani. Rebuilt in 1995, the stadium is owned by the Romanian National Bank (BNR) and has a capacity of around 15,000. It used to be the home ground of Progresul Bucuresti, but the club was kicked out for unpaid debts in 2009; Progresul now play in the fourth division.
Stadionul ANEFS-Rocar (possibly demolished now…). Opened in 1960 and renovated in 2001 and 2008, Rocar stadium has/had a capacity of 6,000. It was home to Rocar Bucuresti (previously known as Autobuzul), which was disbanded in 2009.
Stadionul Concordia. Renovated in 2005, the home of Concordia Chiajna, the pride of Ilfov County. In 2009 it had only 1,200 seats, but now Concordia are a top division team the capacity is around 5,000.
Stadionul Berceni. The previous ground was built in 1957 and demolished in 2006. Home to ACS Berceni, the new stadium holds 2,700.
Stadionul Anghel Iordanescu. Home to FC Voluntari, which was founded in 2010. Voluntari are currently (2015-16) playing home games at Dinamo Stadium because their own stadium is not up to Liga I standard. Its capacity is apparently 4,600.
Stadionul Florea Dumitrache. Home of Dinamo II Bucuresti. Part of the Dinamo complex at Stefan cel Mare.
Defunct stadiums
Stadionul Republicii. Opened in 1948 on the site of the ONEF Stadium (named after the National Office of Physical Education), which had been opened in 1926 but destroyed by bombing during World War II. Demolished in 1980s to make way for the Civic Centre project. Apparently the ruins of the stands are still visible on Google Earth – it’s on the site of the Palace of the Parliament, not far from the gigantic new cathedral. See here and here.
Stadionul 23 August (old National Stadium). Opened in 1953 and demolished in 2007. Was on site of current National Arena.
Stadionul Romcomit. Inaugurated in 1923 here, where the Law Faculty of the University of Bucharest now stands. The club it was built for, Romcomit Bucuresti, which had been formed from employees of the Romano-Italian Bank, was the following year amalgamated with Triumf Bucuresti to form Juventus Bucuresti. Juventus won the national championship, topping the Muntenia Series and then winning three play-off games against other regional champions, in 1929-30. In 1933 Romania’s first floodlit matches were played here; the lights were apparently bulbs hung from wires strung ten metres above the pitch. In 1934 the stadium was demolished, by order of King Carol II, to make way for the new university campus. Juventus was moved to Ploiesti in the 1950s to become Petrolul.
Stadionul Venus. Opened in 1931, where Parcul Operei is today. Its capacity was 15,000. It was the home of Venus Bucuresti – a dominant team of the 1930s – until 1948, when it found itself in a military zone and was demolished. Venus was disbanded in 1949.
Arena Dudesti. Home to Maccabi Bucuresti, a Jewish club, from 1921 until the club was disbanded by Romania’s anti-semitic government in 1940. More here, including a map. Maccabi was merged into Ciocanul Bucuresti in 1945 and then merged again with Unirea Tricolor to form Dinamo Bucuresti.
Sources:
http://sport.rol.ro/Stadioanele-disparute-ale-vechilor-Bucuresti-5961.html
http://www.bucurestiivechisinoi.ro/
http://stadiumromania.blogspot.ro/
http://metropotam.ro/La-zi/care-sunt-cele-mai-vechi-stadioane-din-bucuresti-art3738882185/
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