La Bombonera – stadium description

What does La Bombonera look like in a nutshell?

La Bombonera was inaugurated on May 25, 1940, and the facility stood on the site of the previous wooden stadium, which existed from 1924 to 1938. Since its inception, the stadium has served as the home ground of the Boca Juniors, one of Argentina's most recognizable and successful football clubs.

Due to the tight plot of land, the stadium has an unusual shape, with tall, three- tiered stands on three sides and a narrow building with storied boxes on the east. The facility ranks among the most famous stadiums in South America and is known for its heated atmosphere at Boca Juniors matches, especially during the popular derby with River Plate.

What is the history of La Bombonera?

La Bombonera was built between 1938 and 1940 to replace the previous Boca Juniors stadium. In 1941 and 1951–1953, the stadium's stands were expanded to three levels. A brand new building with boxes to the east was also built in 1996.

What stadium preceded La Bombonera?

The Boca Juniors club was founded in 1905, and in its early years the team changed the facility where it played its games several times. In 1922, the club rented a new site for the construction of the stadium, which was located next to the railroad tracks, at the intersection of the streets Brandsen and Del Crucero (now Del Valle Iberlucea). Work began back in 1922, and the stadium was inaugurated on July 6, 1924.

The new stadium, known simply as Estadio Boca Juniors or Estadio de Brandsen y Del Crucero (after the street names), had wooden stands capable of holding 25,000 spectators. The Boca Juniors won several championship titles at this venue, and in 1925 the stadium was even one of the two venues for the South American Championship (later Copa América), hosting 4 of the 6 matches of the tournament, in which, by the way, the Argentines took the gold.

How was La Bombonera created?

In 1931, for a price of 2.2 million pesos, the club's board of directors bought the previously leased plot of land on which the stadium was located. The decision was made to build a completely new stadium to replace the existing wooden venue. The project was handled by Viktor Sulčič, José Luis Delpini and Raúl Bes (Delpini-Sulcic-Bes office).

On February 18, 1938, in the presence of the country's president at the time, Agustín Pedro Justo, the ceremonial laying of the cornerstone took place. The last match with the old stands took place on April 10, 1938, after which the old stadium was demolished.

Construction of the new facility began on August 6, 1938, with work being carried out by the German company GEOPÉ. For the duration of construction, Boca Juniors players moved to Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste (the current Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverri). Unlike the old stadium, the new facility was to receive stands made of reinforced concrete.

When was La Bombonera inaugurated?

The inauguration of the new stadium took place on May 25, 1940, and at the opening the Boca Juniors defeated the San Lorenzo 2–0 in a friendly match. The first league match in the new venue took place on June 2, 1940, when the hosts won against Newell's Old Boys, also 2–0. In the 1940 season Boca Juniors were undefeated in their new stadium, which helped them win the title.

How was La Bombonera expanded?

A constraint for the stadium's designers was the cramped plot of land, so an unusual solution was decided upon: stands were to be built on only three sides, and on the eastern side, only a narrow, oblong building with stacked boxes would stretch along the pitch. The east side was also graced with a tall obelisk that stood in the middle.

At the time of the stadium's opening in 1940, the lodges and the aforementioned obelisk were ready, while only two tiers were made of the stands, and not fully, as the second tier was still missing from the stand behind the north goal. The missing part of the second story was added very quickly, and was inaugurated on November 16, 1941.

The decision to build a third floor of the stands was not made until 1949. Work began in 1951, and the opening of the facility with the finished 3rd level of the auditorium took place on February 12, 1953. Artificial lighting was also added as part of this expansion.

In the following decades, the stadium remained essentially unchanged in form, although it underwent more modest modifications, such as the installation of seating. The next major change didn't come until 1996, when the existing lodges on the east side were demolished along with the high obelisk.

In their place, a modest lower level stand was built, with a new, much larger building with stacked lodges above it. The moat surrounding the pitch was also removed. The stands were painted in the club's colors, blue and yellow, and plastic seats were installed on some of them. The modernized facility was inaugurated on May 5, 1996.

In the 21st century, minor renovations and upgrades continued. In 2008, a video screen was installed on the north stand. Another two screens, which were placed on two towers located on the sides of the box building, were installed in 2017.

What is the name of the Boca Juniors stadium?

The stadium is popularly known as La Bombonera (the chocolate box). The nickname originated while the venue was still being designed. An anecdote is widely known about how the stadium's architect, Viktor Sulčič, received a box of chocolates from a friend as a birthday present.

Sulčič used to take this box of chocolates to meetings with the design team, and since the shape of the box of chocolates closely resembled the stadium they were designing, the architects began calling it La Bombonera. The name caught on, and club officials were already using it at the opening ceremony.

The facility did not receive its first official name until April 20, 1986, when it was named in honor of Camilo Cichero (Estadio Dr. Camilo Cichero), the club's president at the time the facility was built.

On December 27, 2000, the stadium's patron was changed to Alberto José Armando (Estadio Alberto José Armando), the long-time president of Boca Juniors (between 1954–1955 and 1960–1980). To this day, however, the name La Bombonera remains in common use.

In addition, the second-floor stand behind the north goal is named Tribuna Natalio Pescia, in honor of the distinguished Boca Juniors midfielder of the 1940s and 1950s. The name was given in 1990, a year after the footballer's death.

What kind of events take place at La Bombonera?

Since its inception, the stadium has primarily served as the home venue for Boca Juniors, one of the most recognizable and successful football clubs in Argentina.

Boca Juniors regularly play their national and international matches at La Bombonera, and the stadium has witnessed many of the team's triumphs or the famous derby matches against River Plate (Superclásico). The stadium has hosted Copa Libertadores finals and Continental Cup matches, among others.

The Argentine national team has also played here many times, including World Cup qualifying matches. On February 27, 1977, at the Boca Juniors stadium, in a friendly against Hungary (5–1), Diego Maradona made his debut for the Albicelestes (at the age of 16).

Argentina has only once failed to advance to the World Cup from the qualifiers. That was in qualifying for the 1970 World Cup, and the chances of promotion were buried with a match against Peru on August 31, 1969 at La Bombonera, tied 2–2.

Interestingly, the venue was never chosen as an arena for a major tournament like the Copa América or the World Cup that was held in Argentina in 1978, although its predecessor, which stood on the same site, hosted South American championship matches in 1925.

The stadium has also hosted concerts, with performances of Lenny Kravitz, Elton John, James Blunt, the Bee Gees and the Backstreet Boys, among others.

What does La Bombonera look like?

La Bombonera has a pretty interesting, distinctive shape, which has been determined by the limited amount of free space. Tall, three-story stands rise around the pitch on three sides, but on the eastern side there is only enough space for a modest, low stand, above which rises a narrow building with stacked boxes.

The building with lodges stretches along the entire pitch and rises more or less to the height of the second story of the stands, forming a kind of wall that encloses the facility and makes it so that inside one does not get the impression that the stadium is missing a single stand. On the sides of the building are two towers with balconies.

The stands on the north, west and south sides are slightly arched and are divided into three tiers that partially overlap. Behind the goals there is mostly standing room, and the north stand is home to the club's most ardent supporters, the so-called “Jugador Número 12” or “La 12.” The stands do not have a canopy.

The stands are painted in the club's colors: yellow and blue. There is a video screen above the north stand; two smaller screens are also placed on towers on the sides of the box building. The facility is equipped with floodlights.

The stadium houses the Boca Juniors store and the club's museum (Museo de la Pasión Boquense), inaugurated on April 3, 2001. The museum features numerous memorabilia related to the club's history, trophies, jerseys from different periods, photographs and multimedia presentations, as well as statues dedicated to key players and coaches.

The facility is known for the heated atmosphere created by the energetic supporters. Many have experienced the vibration of the stands during a match, and a popular saying is that La Bombonera “doesn't tremble, but pulses”.

Where is La Bombonera located?

The stadium is located in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, about 2 km southeast of the Plaza Constitución train station and about 5 km south of the Retiro station, in the La Boca neighborhood, at the junction of Brandsen and Del Valle Iberlucea streets. Just behind the stadium's west stand run the railroad tracks.

A piece north of the stadium is the complex of Boca Juniors' sports facilities, the so-called Complejo Pedro Pompilio, with training fields and sports hall (known as Estadio Luis Conde or La Bombonerita), used mainly for basketball and volleyball.

What will be the future of the Boca Juniors stadium?

The future of La Bombonera has long been debated. The stadium, although an iconic facility, is far from modern norms and standards. In addition, the possible installation of seats in all stands would drastically reduce capacity, meanwhile the club is thinking more about increasing the number of seats for spectators.

One much-discussed idea was the 2015 La Bombonera expansion concept, which involved buying out the buildings to the east of the stadium so that a fourth stand could be built to close the three-level oval around the pitch. A roof was also to be built over the stands.

However, the concept has not been implemented to date. Other options for expanding La Bombonera were also considered, such as by adding a fourth floor to the existing stands. As an alternative, the construction of an entirely new stadium a piece to the north, in place of the training fields, was proposed.

Further proposals emerged on the occasion of the club's presidential election in 2023. In addition to the previously known variants, there was also a project to build a new stadium more than 1 km to the east, on Demarchi Island, and its capacity would be as high as 112,000 spectators.

Despite the numerous ideas, no binding decisions have yet been made, and the question of the future of the Boca Juniors stadium remains open. Although building a new stadium from scratch in a different location could create more opportunities, many fans are opposed to moving out of the legendary La Bombonera.