El Sadar Stadium


Estadio El Sadar is a football stadium in Pamplona, Navarre, Spain. The stadium holds 23,576 people. It was built in 1967 and is the home of CA Osasuna. It is currently used mostly for football matches.

Name

The stadium was known as El Sadar, after a river near the stadium, from 1967 to 2005 and again since 2011. From 2005 to 2011 the stadium was called Reyno de Navarra by its sponsor, the Government of Navarre, using the medieval Spanish spelling reyno instead of the modern reino which lent it a somewhat archaic touch.

History

The inauguration of the El Sadar Stadium took place on September 2, 1967 with a match between Real Zaragoza and Vitoria de Setúbal from Portugal. The stadium replaced the San Juan stadium that was sold the previous year. The stadium accommodated a capacity of 25,000 spectators at its opening with only 7,000 of those seated. Its inaugural game was played on 2 September between Zaragoza and Portuguese side Vitoria de Setúbal and ended in a one-all draw. The following day Osasuna defeated Vitoria de Setúbal 3-0 for its first win in the new stadium. Osaba scored the first goal for Osasuna in El Sadar in the 28th minute.
Bon Jovi performed at the stadium during their These Days Tour on June 5, 1996.
In November 2014, Osasuna was forced to sell the stadium to the regional government of Navarre because of the club's huge economic crisis, threatening its continued existence. The measure was approved in the regional parliament with 31 votes in favour and 18 against.
In the summer of 2015, the capacity of the stadium was reduced from 19,800 to 18,375 due to security-related renovation works.