One of the world’s most famous stadiums may be living its last years. But if Boca Juniors demolish the stadium and relocate, it won’t be without a fight from their fans.

It’s not breaking news by no means – the word has been out for many months. Boca Juniors have to leave La Bombonera if they want to boost matchday revenue or simply improve comfort for spectators.  

The legendary stadium has absolutely no space for expansion, the west side already overhangs a railway line and stands are incredibly steep and high. Even meeting safety standards may be challenging and the eastern skybox building also cannot be expanded as it also hangs over cars in the street. Just look at the Google Street View images below:

No room to grow, no room for any additional facilities. The answer (on the table since 2014) is building a new stadium near Casa Amarilla, within the club’s training centre located just 200m (700 feet) north. We’ve drawn the location and possible scenario below:

The club’s current board led by Daniel Angelici in recent weeks announced to pursue such a plan. One condition is being re-elected in the December election. As it seems now there’s no way some fans would let go of their iconic home ground.

There’s been a wave of protests both in the stadium or in the street and in the internet. Most of them under the slogan “De la Bombonera no nos vamos” or i English “From Bombonera we won’t go”. The slogan became a hashtag and the number of tweets claiming #DeLaBomboneraNoNosVamos is growing fast.

On Tuesday a petition was launched at Change.org to show how many people want to stay at the current location. The goal was set at 5,000, but it was reached easily after two days. Now it stands at 7,500, but should the campaign gain momentum, it might be set higher again.