I can remember the first time I went to the Nou Camp to see FC Barcelona it was early 2004 and Ronaldinho was playing in those days – actually it was the first season that Joan Laporta was the president of Bara. When I walked into the stadium I was impressed by its sheer scale and walking in at ground zero was shocked to look down at the pitch.
It seems the pitch is 2 metres or so below ground level and done so as to increase the stadium’s capacity at some specific point in its history. The Nou Camp was opened in 1957 and although it has been extended and expanded since that point, at one time it could hold more than 100,000 spectators. However , there days out as the stadium is all-seater it can only hold 98,000 – that is still lots of folks.
With such a huge crowd you could think it takes forever to empty the stadium after a match. But it is highly surprising that it empties so fast and in reality the club claims to can empty in just 5 minutes. The streets round the stadium get pretty packed though and transport it tough. The roads get blocked by folk, buses full and the metro is log jammed with folks – fortunately I was inside walking distance.
When I initially began going to watch Barça play it was after a period of comparatively inadequate performance and it is fair to say that Laporta inherited a club that had lost any faith in its capability to win prizes.
But with Frank Rijkaard as coach and stars such as Ronaldinho, the club started to win. Though they did not win the Spanish League that year they actually did the following. As significantly they revived their self-esteem and crowds started to come back to watch them play. Nowadays it’s much more difficult to get good seats at all but matches against the lowliest of teams as season tick holders and club members have the pick of what’s available.
You can buy FC Barcelona tickets for La Liga Simply Barcelona Tickets website. Check out availability of Barcelona tickets for forthcoming matches for La Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey now!
