Anoeta Stadium, currently known as the Reale Arena for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain that was inaugurated in 1993. The stadium lies at the Anoeta Sports Complex, and is mostly used for football matches where La Liga side Real Sociedad contest their home games. The total seating capacity of the stadium, which was originally 32,000, was restricted to around 26,800 due to redevelopment works; its capacity for the September 2019 completion has been quoted as 39,500 seats, making it the 11th-largest stadium in Spain and the 2nd-largest in the Basque Country.
History and uses
It is the third home stadium of Real Sociedad preceded by Ondarreta, and Atocha. The external concourse area features a bust of the late Alberto Ormaetxea, the club's manager during their successful early 1980s period. Real Sociedad's Basque rivals, Athletic Bilbao, were also permitted to use Anoeta for their first home game of the 2013–14 La Liga season, as their own new ground was still under construction. The stadium has also occasionally hosted matches of the Basque Country national football team. political event at Anoeta, 2015 In recent years, it has also been used for concerts, and for occasional Heineken Cuprugby union fixtures by nearby Top 14 club Biarritz Olympique. Since the 2009–10 Top 14 season, both Biarritz and fellow Pays Basque club Aviron Bayonnais took home matches to the Anoeta, which is the closest large stadium to their towns. Four of the unofficial Basque Country team's friendly fixtures have been held at the stadium.
Opening
Anoeta's initial construction costs were said to be 3 billion pesetas. The stadium was officially opened on 13 August 1993 with a friendly between Real Sociedad and Real Madrid. The first goal was scored by Txuriurdin defender Loren, and the match finished 2–2.
Expansion in the 21st century
Proposals
In 2004, José Luis Astiazarán, then the president of Real Sociedad, launched a project called Gipuzkoarena. Planned to be completed in 2007, it was intended to increase the stadium's capacity to 42,000, which would include the removal of the athletics track - over the years, fans were never happy with the stadium in its original configuration due to the track causing a distance between the stands and the field itself, resulting in a "cold" atmosphere during matches. The project also intended to construct a hotel and shops, among other items. This proposal was soon rejected by the city council and left behind. Towards the end of 2007, :es:Iñaki Badiola|Iñaki Badiola, candidate for the presidency of Real Sociedad, proposed that the club buy the stadium. This was also soon rejected by the city council. In 2008, Badiola, by now the president, made another two proposals for the stadium, one of them similar to Gipuzkoarena. These proposals were to be studied by the city council, but after 20 December Badiola was no longer the club's president. Later, his successor, :es:Jokin Aperribay|Jokin Aperribay, launched a new attempt to refurbish the stadium.
2015 project
In 2015 the club announced that it would begin reforms on Anoeta in 2016, enlarging the stadium as well as removing the track around the field. Construction eventually began in May 2017. When completed in October 2019, the remodelled arena would hold around 42,300 spectators. The €47 million cost of the project was borne between Real Sociedad, the Basque Government and the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council. the architect is Izaskun Larzabal, who also designed many of the facilities at the club's Zubieta training complex. After the project completion, the total cost announced including some new improvements that would take place until 2020 was of €78,6 million. Depending on any issues and delays encountered, it was reported that the construction work could lead to Real Sociedad playing some matches in Bilbao or elsewhere at some point during the period. The first phase of reconstruction concluded just after the start of the 2018–19 La Liga season, requiring the club to play their first three fixtures away from home, before hosting FC Barcelona on the fourth matchday. Over 3,000 additional members were admitted to the club due to the increase in capacity offered by the remodelled stadium. The second phase of work on the new north end stand was expected to be completed over the course of that season. Real Sociedad played away from home for each of the first three rounds of the 2019–20 La Liga campaign to allow the stadium rebuild to move to completion. It was announced that the first match at Anoeta – or the Reale Arena to use its new sponsored title – with all seats in place, a capacity quoted as 39,500 would be between the home side and Atlético Madrid on Saturday 14 September 2019, almost exactly a year after the first new stand was opened. Real won 2–0, with the official attendance given as 33,374, greater than the old maximum for Anoeta and therefore a club record, but some way short of the new capacity. Five months later, a Basque derby against Athletic Bilbao, a 2–1 win for the home side, set a new record of 36,730. The reforms have transformed the atmosphere inside the stadium, with the Aitor Zabaleta singing section acting as the main focal point.
