Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López

From Justapedia, unleashing the power of collective wisdom
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Brigadier Estanislao López Stadium
Estadio Brigadier Gral E. López
"El Cementerio de Los Elefantes"
Escudo Colon Con Estrella.png
Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López - Colón de Santa Fe.jpg
Aeriel view of the stadium in 2015
Full nameEstadio Brigadier General Estanislao López
Former names
  • Estadio Eva Perón (1952–55)
  • Estadio Centenario (1955–58)
LocationSanta Fe, Argentina
OwnerClub Atlético Colón
Capacity46,000 [1]
Opened9 July 1946; 78 years ago (9 July 1946)
Tenants
Website
clubcolon.com.ar/estadio

Brigadier General Estanislao López Stadium, popularly known as The Elephants Cemetery, is a football stadium in Santa Fe, Argentina. It was inaugurated in 1946 and is owned and operated by Club Atlético Colón, which is based there.

For a long time it has also been known as the Elephants Cemetery,[n 1] due to Colón's wins over notable teams that visited Santa Fe. One of them was the famous Santos of Pelé who fell 2-1 in 1964.[2] This Brazilian team had a record of 43 undefeated matches and was two-time Intercontinental champion at that time.[3] The same Colón team later beat the Argentine team itself 2-0.[4] Other teams that were defeated there were Peñarol in 1967,[5] Millonarios, Olimpia, U de Chile, Alianza Lima, Atlético Mineiro, among others.

It currently has the capacity to hold 46,000 spectators,[1] of which 28,500 are box seats or stalls and 16,500 are popular only, and the dimensions of the playing field are 105 x 70 m. It is entirely surrounded by concrete grandstands, including an upper tray on the north, east, and south sides, plus outfitted boxes on the northwest and southwest elbows.

The Argentina national football and rugby teams played some friendly and test matches at Estadio Brigadier López.[6] It was also one of the venues of the 2011 Copa América.

History

The stadium under construction

At the beginning, Colón played their home matches at a field, until in March 1938 the land was expropriated due to a unpaid debt so the club was eviceted from that place. Because of that, Colón played its home games at the Gimnasia y Esgrima de Ciudadela Stadium and Estadio 15 de Abril. In 1939, C.A. Colón acquired a land to build a new stadium.

After some delays, the stadium was finally inaugurated on 9 July 1946, with a friendly match between Colón and Boca Juniors with an attendance of 10,000.

Eva Perón being honored by the club in 1947

On December 7, 1947, Eva Perón arrived in Santa Fe to inaugurate the Children's Hospital that bore her name. After that, he visited the Colón stadium and kicked off a classic from Santa Fe, of which the second half could not be completed because she took an hour to arrive due to the busy schedule and the stadium facilities still did not have lighting. On April 2, 1949, the lighting was finally inaugurated during the Colón 5–1 Huracán match, thanks to a subsidy of $ 150,000 provided by the National Government.

On September 18, 1950, the leaders of Colón managed to acquire a land adjoining the stadium, thanks to a loan of $750,000 granted by the National Government. The land itself was located in its southern sector, which, in the end, was acquired in cash for the sole purpose of continuing with the expansion of the stands. In 1952, the first section of cement on the west side was completed, which included 1,000 stalls. In this way, it increased its capacity to 20,000 people, becoming the one with the largest capacity in Santa Fe.

That same year the stadium was named "Eva Perón" who had supported Colón's affiliation to the Argentine Football Association in 1948.[7] and later financially help the institution for the construction of the first cement grandstands and artificial lighting. However, after the coup d'état that overthrew Juan Domingo Perón, the names of the president and his wife were banned, so the stadium was renamed "Brigadier General Estanislao López" in honor of the Argentine caudillo who governed the province of Santa Fe between 1818 and 1838.

In 2009, the AFA chose the Brigadier López Stadium as one of the venues for the 2011 Copa América hosted in Argentina. That same year, the stadium was refurbished and expanded. Works included new grandstands, scoreboards, press boxes, and a renovated lighting system.

Sports events

Football

The stadium hosted the following matches of the 2011 Copa América:

Date Group Team #1 Res. Team #2
3 July Group B  Paraguay
0–0
  Ecuador
6 July Group A  Argentina
0–0
  Colombia
10 July Group A  Colombia
0–0
  Bolivia
16 July Quarter-finals  Argentina
1–1
  Uruguay

Rugby union

The stadium hosted the following tests:

Date Home team Score Away team Ref.
25 Jun 1985 Santa Fe RU
7–82
  France [8]
26 May 2007  Argentina
22–20
  Ireland [9]
11 Jun 2016  Argentina
30–24
  Italy [10]
17 Jun 2017  Argentina
25–35
  England [6]

Concerts

Estadio Brigadier López has hosted several concerts of Argentine and international bands, such as:

Artist Year
Los Piojos 1997
Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota 1997
Teen Angels 2008
Joaquín Sabina 2010
Ricardo Arjona 2012

Notes

  1. ^ Nickname attributed to Ángel José Gutiérrez, sports journalist for the newspaper El Litoral

References

  1. ^ a b Colón suspende el trámite de nuevos socios por llegar al tope del aforo permitido, El Litoral
  2. ^ Se cumplen 44 años de la tarde en que Colón conmovió al mundo El Litoral, 10 May 2008
  3. ^ Gabriel Briceño. "'El cementerio de los elefantes', el escenario de Argentina-Colombia" ['The Elephants graveyard', the scenario of Argentina-Colombia] (in Spanish). Fútbol Red. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
  4. ^ .ellitoral.com/index.php/diarios/2014/09/09/deportes/DEPO-02.html El día que Colón venció a la Selección, El Litoral by Tomás Rodríguez
  5. ^ =5 Government of Santa Fe, March 27, 1967
  6. ^ a b England seize second stunning win over Argentina at ESPN, 17 Jun 2017
  7. ^ el-centenario-de-su-nacimiento/ El vínculo de Colón con Eva Perón at Aire de Santa Fe
  8. ^ Memoria y Balance 1985 at UAR
  9. ^ Memoria y Balance 2007 at UAR
  10. ^ Memoria y Balance 2016 at UAR

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López.

Coordinates: 31°39′47.58″S 60°43′31.42″W / 31.6632167°S 60.7253944°W / -31.6632167; -60.7253944

Retrieved from "https://justapedia.org/index.php?title=Estadio_Brigadier_General_Estanislao_López&oldid=1119682932"