A place built around performance, identity and community. From the old stadium in Ghencea to today's modern arena, the story continues.
Construction of the old Steaua Stadium began in March 1973. Only one year later, on 9 April 1974, the inaugural match took place, with the Army team facing OFK Belgrade. In front of 30,000 spectators, Steaua drew 2-2 with the previous season's UEFA Cup quarter-finalists.
Browse the album devoted to the beginnings of Steaua Stadium. Drag a page corner or use the controls.
Steaua's first official match in Ghencea also ended 2-2, on Sunday, 28 April 1974, against Steagul Roșu Brașov.
Although plans may have existed for a 55,000-seat stadium, the arena's initial capacity was ultimately 32,000. It was inevitably reduced to 28,365 in 1991 when the wooden benches were replaced by individual seats. At that time, the main stand included 126 press seats, 440 seats in VIP boxes and 733 armchairs.
Work on the floodlighting system also began in the early 1990s. It was inaugurated on 1 September 1991, when Steaua defeated Dacia Unirea Brăila 2-0.
In 1996 the stadium underwent another phase of modernisation: the training camp beneath the second stand was renovated to four-star hotel standard and the utilities were brought up to the standards of the time. The final intervention took place in 2006, bringing the arena into line with UEFA requirements for hosting European competition matches. A new electronic scoreboard came into use on 7 April 2007. Yet every improvement seemed only to postpone the inevitable, as the stadium offered spectators less and less comfort and frequently suffered drainage problems.
For 41 years, however, this stadium witnessed achievements that rightly entered the history of Romanian football and, far from coincidentally, came to be known as the “Temple of Romanian football”.
These are some of its landmark moments:
Steaua v OFK Belgrade 2-2.
Steaua v Steagul Roșu Brașov 2-2.
Steaua v Poli Timișoara 2-0.
Steaua v Sportul Studențesc 2-3.
Steaua v FC Bruges 1-1.
The publication for the European match played on 29 September 1976.
Steaua v Young Boys Bern 6-0.
Playing for Brașov, in Steaua v FC Brașov, 2-1.
Playing for Constanța, in Steaua v FC Constanța, 1-1.
A hat-trick in Steaua v ASA Târgu Mureș, 5-0.
Local video footage from the end of the 1984–1985 season.
Steaua's largest victory in Ghencea: Steaua v Anderlecht 3-0.
The programme for the European Cup semi-final played on 16 April 1986.
Local video footage of the European Cup semi-final.
For their first home match as European champions, against Victoria, a 4-0 victory, Steaua were welcomed not only by a capacity crowd but also by a unique display laid out directly on the pitch.
Steaua v Benfica 0-0.
Steaua v Corvinul 11-0.
The programme for the record victory on 7 December 1988.
Lăcătuș scored three times in Steaua v IFK Göteborg, 5-1.
The programme for the European match played on 15 March 1989.
Steaua v Galatasaray 4-0.
Steaua v Corvinul 4-0.
Steaua v Dacia Unirea Brăila 2-0.
Steaua v Rangers 1-0, goal by Didi Prodan.
Steaua v Dinamo 5-0.
Romania's national team played the first of a long series of memorable matches in Ghencea on 23 March 1977, defeating Turkey 4-0 in a Balkan Cup fixture. Three of the scorers were Steaua players: Liță Dumitru, Iosif Vigu and Anghel Iordănescu. Three weeks later, Romania defeated Spain in the qualifiers for the 1978 World Cup, in the first official international played in Ghencea.
Over 32 years, the national team recorded memorable victories at Steaua Stadium that carried it to three World Cup final tournaments, in 1990, 1994 and 1998, and to two European Championships, in 1996 and 2000.
The national team's golden era will always be connected with this place. Romania defeated Spain, Denmark, Belgium, Wales and Ireland here, while those in the stands had the opportunity to see some of the world's greatest footballers in person, from Zidane, Schmeichel, Deschamps and Zubizarreta to Butragueño, Scifo, the Laudrup brothers, Figo, Ian Rush, Maldini and Del Piero.
These are some of the national team's milestones at Steaua Stadium:
Romania v Turkey 4-0.
Romania v Spain 1-0.
Local video footage of the national team's first official match at Steaua Stadium.
Romania v Austria 4-0.
Romania v Denmark 3-1.
Romania v Liechtenstein 8-0.
Steaua Stadium hosted several matches, including the final between Spain and Greece, which Spain won 1-0.
Romania v Hungary 2-0.
Romania v Portugal 1-1.
Romania v Austria 1-1.
After four decades filled with memorable moments, unique sporting achievements, tremendous emotion and countless joys, the old Steaua Stadium was demolished in August 2018, three years after its final official match, played on 22 March 2015.
Steaua Stadium was rebuilt as part of the Romanian Government's commitment to UEFA for Bucharest to host four matches at the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament. During the competition, the new stadiums, including this one, served as training bases for the teams playing in Bucharest: North Macedonia, Ukraine, Austria and Switzerland.
The stadium was built on the site of the old arena but moved 20 metres closer to Ghencea Boulevard. For the design and construction work, the National Investment Company selected a consortium of three Romanian companies, with Construcții Erbașu S.A. as general contractor, alongside Concelex and Terragaz Construct. The design team comprised Graphic Studio for architecture, Popp și Asociații for structural engineering, and MC General Construct for building services, while Construcții Erbașu and Popp și Asociații acted as general designer.
The new project was conceived as a modern, multipurpose venue offering exceptional performance conditions for athletes and a high-quality experience for spectators. The result is a multifunctional complex with more than 800 rooms and a total built area of 82,000 m², meeting the highest standards in the field in 2021, when the project was completed.
Construction took 818 days from the start of demolition of the old structure to the acceptance of the new one: two years, two months and 26 days. By comparison, Arena Națională took three years, eight months and 19 days to complete.
Local timelapse footage of the construction of Steaua Stadium.
Construction is completed and the testing and acceptance phase begins.
The stadium is handed over for use by Clubul Sportiv al Armatei “Steaua”.
The first football team training session on the new pitch is held by North Macedonia.
The new stadium was inaugurated on 7 July 2021 with a friendly against the same opponent as in 1974, OFK Belgrade. This time the result was not a draw: Steaua won emphatically, 6-0, in front of 15,000 spectators. Despite considerable interest, pandemic restrictions meant that only half of the possible number of tickets could be offered for sale.
On the same day, Steaua marked the 35th anniversary of the triumph in Seville in the presence of the heroes of that achievement and retired the number 7 shirt worn by its legend Marius Lăcătuș, in tribute to his entire career.
The football pitch has standard dimensions, measuring 105 m long and 68 m wide. Its surface is natural grass reinforced with synthetic fibre and can host both football and rugby matches. Beneath it is a complex installation comprising high-performance irrigation, drainage, de-icing and winter heating systems.
The arena has four state-of-the-art changing rooms, relaxation areas for athletes, a medical station, an anti-doping room, a conference room, several multifunctional rooms and an office area.
Beneath the stands are eight training rooms for different sports: table tennis, boxing, judo, wrestling, weightlifting, shooting, fitness and strength training, along with a hotel offering 24 double rooms and the new headquarters of Steaua TV.
An ambient lighting system is installed beneath the roof, similar to those at the stadiums of Juventus, Atlético Madrid and Chelsea. It can produce choreographed light displays synchronised with music. A display on the arena facade can show large-format text messages.
Thanks to the building's facilities and the conditions it provides for staging matches, recovery, rehabilitation, accommodation and operations, Steaua Stadium was classified as UEFA Category 4 – Elite in August 2021 following an inspection. This is the highest category awarded by European football's governing body.
At the 19th Bucharest Architecture Annual in 2021, the Steaua Stadium project received the “Architecture and public investment” distinction in the Built Architecture / Public Architecture section. View the project on the Bucharest Architecture Annual 2021 website (opens in a new tab).
Further information about the arena is also available on the websites of the companies that contributed to its construction. All links open in a new tab.
The rebuilding of Steaua Stadium understandably generated exceptional public interest. Here are some of the relevant articles about the appearance of the new arena.
View media coverageSteaua Stadium can become equally attractive on every day of the week to everyone who crosses its threshold, whether they come for a sporting event or for something else.
We want this complex to become a natural, regular home for some of the community's most cherished events. Steaua Stadium should not remain a space devoted exclusively to sporting emotion; it can add to that emotion all the joy and fulfilment of the social events that bind the community around the arena together.
The diversity of its spaces gives event organisers the opportunity to consider this venue for a wide range of non-sporting occasions. The many options, the way the spaces interconnect and the facilities already installed make Steaua Stadium one of the most complex buildings capable of hosting social and cultural events.
We invite you to write the next pages in the history of this arena together with us.