AMSTERDAM - Amsterdam ArenA (53,052)

[EPA001]

Originally Posted by Kuvvaci

so, it is a milestone

Yes, it is! No doubt about it. And of course, the perfect stadium does not exist. There is always something which is not perfect!

[xlchris]

I took this a year ago;





And these are from Google;

[redbaron_012]

I am surprised to hear negative posts about this stadium...but then, I only saw it as a tourist and don't understand soccer or it's presentation in such a place. Looks OK to me...

By redbaron_012

[hugenholz]

The Amsterdam Arena is looking for expansion to host big events in the future like the Champions League-final and to host one of the matches in the 2018 World Championship bid. Arcadis is investigating how to increase the capacity (66.000/80.000) of the stadium. Plans for a third stadium-ring (see picture)
are still in development.



An other plan is to make 2 separate roof part (dormers) on the north and south side. This wil increase the capacity to 66.000 (I personally don't like the plan)

[Ballota]

Wow..that planned third tier is realy steap. Like Bernabeu...

[EPA001]

Bernabeu is steeper, but the Amsterdam ArenA comes close. The photoshopped picture is a bit misleading. The current different plans range from 66.000 to maximum 72.000 seats. Appearantly the 66.000 version with large extensions on the short ends of the stadium has been rejected, leaving a small expansion or a small third ring option. That last option is the most expensive one bringing the stadium to 72.000 seats. A full third ring (like in the photoshopped picture) would bring the capacity to 80.000++ seats. That is not going to happen. Still, 72.000 seats is very impressive imho.

[trmather]

That picture above looks amazing. Very intimidating for anyone on the away team playing there.

[Marin Mostar]

Whi dont they yust lover the pitch(if nececary) and extend the fisrt tier torwards the grass??? They would gain at least 3000-4000 doing this.

[Wuppeltje]

They are thinking of using that space too, however the city of Amsterdam prefer a bigger stadium so that big European matches can be held there too.

[fionapoulsen]

Really gorgeous. It will be one of the best looking stadiums out there when it will be finished.

[Sjoerd]

http://www.parool.nl/parool/nl/544/P...xstadion.dhtml

a dutch interview with arena director Henk Markerink.
Hes talking about expansion of the arena and making it a red-white stadium.
he wants to paint the concourses. he wants to place new red white seats. and he wants the ditches filled with stands. this will all happen in about 5-10 years. but the budget isnt very large.

a quick translation of what he is saying:

"The colors of the seats were desinged by the architect to make the stadium look filled when it wasnt completely filled. In five years the seats will be replaced because the seats their value is 0.

If they are replacing the seats. are they also changing the colors to a red whit black pattern? There have been some rumours about changing the seating patterns and colors, but we`ll wait till the value of the seats are 0 because replacing them is very expensiv. When we`ll replace the seats with red, white and black colors we were thinking of some nice shadow words like in the english stadia.

what is the arena doing to make it an ajax stadium? whe did hang some nice crests at the corners of the stadium. at the offices we placed the old crest and we placed posters with old players in the concourses. but there is more possible

the most common color is grey ,isnt it? its a lot of concrete. its quite boring because of the budget. the concourses could use a lick of paint. especially the aisles. but it has to fit in our budget. We also repaced the 10 year old lcd screens with new ones that costed 2 million euros. because of that replacements which had to happen there is no money voor the red white black decorations. "

The world cup organisation told us that a final stadium has to be a 80000 all seater. the municipality said that a new 80000 stadium wasnt an option. so if amsterdam wants an wc final it has to expand the arena. that will be a very hard and expensive operation. then it will need a third tier by lifting the roof when Ajax is still playing there. i want also the biggest stadium. it actually has always to be bigger than in rotterdam. but if you are realistic its nice for a wc but it has to be nice for always. there is also a second plan only expanding the short sides of the stadium making it a 60-65000 stadium.

is that neceserry? because for a wc final it has to be 80000 and with 60-65000 you only have a bigger stadium.
then you are qualified for half finales and that sort of matches. and that model fits better in ajax`s future and the arena`s future. if you see that ajax sold 42000 seasontickets every year since the opening. then there probably is a possibility to sell more tickets.

the third possibility is to fill the ditches with stands and also to fill the corners. that makes it a 54000 stadium. i think well do that as fast as possible. there are some study`s at this moment how we can make it permanent. But for the knvb and uefa its neceserry that no-one can enter the pitch. you can stop that in 3 ways. a smaller (2.5 meter) ditch. a fence or a row of stewards. in the arena is the ditch wider because some other things have to drive through the stadium.

ajax and the arena dont want a third tier on the stadium."


i think they only paint the stadium change the seats and expand the first tier by closing the ditches and filling it with stands.

[HendrX]

What a lousy translation.

[HendrX]

A drawing of a possible expansion. Right side = original situation Left side = with expension.. Nice, but not possible..... or is it?

[Andre_idol]

If they will do the expansion will be amazing to watch

[Sjoerd]

Originally Posted by HendrX

A drawing of a possible expansion. Right side = original situation Left side = with expension.. Nice, but not possible..... or is it?

nah
you cant see the complete pitch from the second and third tier

[EPA001]

The pitch would also be way too small if the stadium would be remodelled like this. But this is not a realistic option, the parking garage and the road underneath the stadium need to be kept intact.

The third ring is not desired by the ArenA and Ajax, since they feel the stadium would be too big for them after the WC. Also the costs of the third tier would be enormous since the roof has to be raised and due to the parking garage underneath the pitch level is at + 12 meters above the ground. Those 12 meters have to be overcome when a third tier would be build, and combined with lifting the roof makes it very, very expansive. Also there is hardly any free space around some parts of the stadium left. This makes such a large expansion even more costly. The director of stadium just confirmed this yesterday in Dutch television. They will for sure fill up the trench (capacity rises to 55.000 seats, and they will likely expand on the shorter sides of the stadium to get 65.000 to 70.000 seats in. But that is where the expansion most likely stops.

For a possible WC-final in Dutch/Belgian bid, the new Feyenoord Stadium "De Nieuwe Kuip" is the most likely candidate. That is planned to have at least 85.000 seats with a sliding roof and sliding pitch. If Feyenoord and the city can realise the financing of the project, an iconic stadium half in the river Nieuwe Maas (which is actually part of the river Rhine) and very close to the 12-lane Van Brienenoordbrug. That will make quite a sight to see.

[xlchris]

That version on the pic of HendrX is not possible, because there is a road underneath the ArenA. That has to be closed then, the parking garage as well.

[HendrX]

if they remove the road it is possible. only sightlines will cause trouble. Well, they should lower the pitch a bit and extend the first ring downwards. that should create some extra capacity.

[hugenholz]

Credits: zjroen and Sjoerd Kramer from www.vblforum.nl

[skaP187]

Dig out the parking... okay, but like said, you won´t be able to see the complete pitch from second and third ring. I hope it´s possible to find a solution for that, but I doubt it. The new lower ring can´t be very steep that´s for sure.