After almost 2 years of work and after more than a year without being able to enter the stadium, today we had the opportunity to take a guided tour of the New El Sadar.
The El Sadar Stadium was inaugurated in 1967, and in its more than 50 years of history it has alternated between the third division, the second and, fortunately, in recent years the first division of La Liga.
Although it was already expanded in one of its stands in 1989, the fact is that it was a stadium that had become too small and needed reform and expansion. The board of directors chose to hold a contest with a closed budget of €16,000,000 and of the five projects presented, it was the «Red Wall» that won by vote of Osasuna suporters with 40% of votes in its favor.
The works began at the end of 2019 and continued during the COVID pandemic in the period when the League was first suspended and then played behind closed doors.
The most noteworthy novelties of the new El Sadar are the following:
Player entrance and locker room area
Both the players’ entrance and the changing rooms have been remodeled. We have had the opportunity to visit the Osasuna dressing room.
Access area to box and press room
Both the accesses to the box area and the press room have been remodeled. In the first case, it has been decided to decorate all the corridors and stairs with wood and in the case of the press room it has been enlarged and provided with an area for people with reduced mobility.
Corridor expansion
Personally, one of the things that has impressed me the most, perhaps unexpectedly, has been the large extension of the exterior corridors.
New bathrooms
Nothing to do with the previous bathrooms, nor to say with the urinals that were in El Sadar in the 80-90s.
New grandstand and new seats
The distance between seats has been extended and therefore the comfort of the spectators, in addition to the fact that an upper tier has been built.
The great verticality that El Sadar boasts ensures that, no matter if you are in the first or last row, the spectator is always «on top» of the players.
Rail-Seat System in South Stand
Although small «experiments» with this system have been seen in Spanish football, the new El Sadar has what is today by far the largest Rail-Seat area in the entire La Liga. This system allows the spectator to follow the match standing up while having their seat assigned and in complete safety given the anti-avalancha bars.
Away fans area
The new area for the visiting fans is located in one of the corners of the new stand. The visibility, as from any other part of the stadium, is perfect.
New video markers
The one in the south end has been assembled using the modules of the 2 video scoreboards that existed, while a completely new one purchased from LG has been placed in the north stand. The 2 share a very outstanding characteristic: their size of 94 square meters. Really huge, the size of a flat.
Update 03/15/2022
The El Sadar stadium has been awared by the website stadiumdb.com as the best stadium of 2021.
http://stadiumdb.com/news/2022/03/stadium_of_the_year_and_the_winner_is_spain
