The stadium with a price tag of €37.5 million is to accommodate just over 14,000 spectators and will be the new home of Rapid. Stadionul Giulești is ready - almost exactly two years after the groundbreaking.

Is it fast or slow? We have certainly seen many stadiums that took longer to build. On the other hand, the arena was supposed to be ready for Euro 2020 as a training facility. The plans were not implemented on time, but Rapid fans will probably say "better late than never". On January 4, the club from Bucharest officially became the host of the new venue. Rapid will play their first home game here at the end of February.

© Compania Națională de Investiții / CNI Facebook

Stadionul Giulești does not impress with its dimensions, because there was not much space to build it. But it can be said that the creators of the arena managed to get a lot out of this plot of the land. They overcame numerous constraints thanks to stacking up the stands, making two overlapping tiers and rounding off the top rows.

Ultimately, the facility has a capacity of 14,050, including 900 seats for VIPs and 75 for the disabled fans. In addition, the 40,491 square metres of the floor space is spread over five overground levels, which is quite impressive.

© Ministerul Dezvoltării, Lucrărilor Publice şi Administraţiei

The investment cost RON 185 million (€ 37.5 million), RON 60 million more than initially planned. Another RON 60 million will be spent by the government to equip the space inside the stadium. The venue will be used for training of boxers and wrestlers.  There will also be a regeneration room, a gym, and... a bowling alley.

The sports complex is equipped with a modern DMX (Digital MultipleX) lighting system that can also be used to illuminate the main facade of the building by integrating it with DMX. At the same time, the sectors behind the goals were secured with nets due to the small distance between the pitch and the edge of the stands.

© Ministerul Dezvoltării, Lucrărilor Publice şi Administraţiei

The Romanian Ministry of Development was responsible for the construction of the new stadium for Rapid. It was part of a wider project to upgrade the capital's most important venues into a training base for Euro 2020 (Stadionul Steaua and Stadionul Național de Rugby Arcul de Triumf were also built).  Stadionul Giulești is UEFA Category 4. The new arena will be able to host friendly matches, European cup games and Romanian first division fixtures.

The former Rapid stadium was legendary in Romania. Although it did not impress with its size and in recent years the venue seemed to be a relic of the past, it became the arena for many memorable matches.

The facility was built in 1936 and its  distinctive feature was the tower above the building. It ceased to exist in the first half of 2019, when it gave way to the construction of the new Giulești.

Author: Rafał Zagrobelny