National Stadium: Warsaw

 Poland's new National Soccer Stadium is almost done! The opening game of Euro 2012 will take place at Warsaw’s new 58,000 capacity National Stadium, now almost completed. It will also host two other group matches, a quarter-final and a semi-final.

 The outdoors is paneling that make the Poland flag. Which is really nice for the new National Stadium. Even though it's very similar to the new major stadiums popping up in Europe, and the renovations at BC Place stadium in Vancouver

There are some additional pictures over at Stadium Porn, which you should look through!

Stadium Report Cards: Wembley Stadium

When I was in England, Ghana and England had a friendly. One of my friends was actually at the game, and we have him to do a report card.

Team: England National Soccer Team
Location: London, ENG, UK
League: UEFA
Built: 2007
Capacity: 90,000
My event: International Friendly, vs Ghana

1. Outdoor Design

Wembley Stadium is one of the most recognizable stadiums in the world. The Old Wembley had the iconic "twin towers", while the New Wembley Stadium has the iconic arch. You see the arch and know you’re at Wembley. Heck, you can even see it from the London Eye miles away.
10/10

2. Indoor Design

While there’s nothing too unique about the interior of Wembley, other than the retractable roof, the bowl design allows for every seat to be facing the center of the pitch, and additionally for there to be no poles blocking the views like in the Old Wembley.
7/10

3. Prices
The prices were actually fantastic, in my opinion. We sat about 35 rows up behind the goal to the side in the lower bowl for only 25 pounds, which is like $40 a ticket. To see an NFL game here in Indy at those same seats, it’d probably cost $150. So compared to everything else in London too, prices get a good score here.
9/10

4. Food
I personally didn’t have anything at the match itself, but there are plenty of different choices for food at Wembley. They have, like, over 600 kiosks in the pace for food, so that’s pretty good as far as most stadiums go.
7/10

5. Staff
The staff was very friendly, and it was nice to see that they let the Ghanan fans that hat tickets in the England sections stay there unless there was an issue. When I toured Wembley, the tour guide was very nice and insightful.
9/10

6. Cleanliness
Wembley Stadium was top-notch as far as cleanliness goes. Felt like I wasn’t in a stadium with how clean it was, to be honest. Really nice, and a deserved really good score here.
10/10

7. Parking
Nobody really parks at Wembley. Of the 80,000 that go to a match at Wembley, I’d say 70,000 at least are taking the Tube (subway) home. The parking is limited, as Wembley’s in a residential area, and those places that you can park are very expensive. Parking is reserved for residents of the area, so everyone drives to a Tube station and takes the Tube to Wembley.
5/10

8. Atmosphere
I’d give this a 20/10 if I could to be honest. The best atmosphere I’ve ever been in at a game, and that includes hockey games in Toronto and Montreal as well as 3 Final Four games. Seriously, if there’s one place you’ve gotta go for a game, it’s Wembley.
10/10

9. Playing Surface
The pitch at Wembley is top-notch. You can’t beat it. Getting close to it on the tour was really cool, and the grass is beautiful.
10/10

10. Scoreboard

The scoreboards at either end of the stadium are just kind of generic, although that’s typical for soccer stadiums, they just tell you the score of the match in essence. But the screens themselves are nice and high quality, just there’s nothing unique about them.
6/10


So if I counted that up right, that gives Wembley Stadium an 83, good for third overall on the rankings. I think that’s a bit deceiving, because of the whole parking thing, but hey that’s just me.

London's New Digs

If you don't know, the city of London is hosting the 2012 Summer Olympics. That means, new things! Yay! The main feature is the 80,000 seat stadium hosting the Track and Field events, opening, and closing ceremonies. The London Olympic Stadium.

That picture is old. They actually completed it when I was in town. They even had a foiled terrorist attack on it. But with a few cleaning supplies, lights, and Christmas spirit, this is what it will look like next summer.

The break down is simple. Field, lower deck, box seats, upper deck, outside design, arches. Easy.

They are not just opining the main focal point of the games. There will be 6 new stadiums in "The Olympic Zone". The Olympic Zone will encompass all of the facilities within the 500 acre Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. This park was developed on existing waste and industrial land. It will include an Aquatics Center...

Basketball arena...

Handball Arena, Cycling Center...

Field Hockey, and finally the Olympic Stadium.

Thats quite a bit of money, but it's cool, so it is worth it. Enjoy it, Brits.

The Oval

So the place I stayed while in London had one stadium, and it wasn't even soccer! Reffering to the map in the last post, I was in LA(or Lambeth). No stadium, but there was a cricket ground two blocks away from the apartment. One day I walked around it, and got the picture above.

The stadium was built in 1845(Woah), which the right side of the picture above is from. The old brick foundation dates back to that time, which is pretty remarkable.

But the left side of the second picture was built after the 2002 season, which increased the stadium size to 23,000. That actually makes sense, because I was confused about the dramatic architectural difference while walking around.

I honestly didn't see another stadium. I saw lights to one in Edinburgh, Scotland, but I don't know what that was to.

London Soccer

Not sure if I told you, but I'm going to England and Scotland this Wednesday. I'm flying into London. Not sure if you know this either, they like soccer.

Unlike here, where 2 teams per market is the norm, London has 15 teams. Not everyone is huge, but they pretty much half are. When I'm there I will try to snap as many pictures as I can!