Sparta Stadion – stadium description

This famous Dutch stadium was built back in 1916 in northern Rotterdam’s Spangen district. Until late 1990s it was officially known as Spangen Stadion, but it’s actually referred to as Het Kasteel (The Castle), due to a two-tower building that was built on its south end.

Now a monument and a portion of the stadium’s floor space, the ‘castle’ pavilion used to be the home of groundkeeping families over the years. It remains as the only lasting piece of the old stadium nowadays, hosting the club museum and megastore.

All remaining terraces were demolished in 1998 and replaced by more uniform and continuous single tier of covered seating by 1999. The new stadium has 5-floor office building on its north-western side, providing room for both club offices and extensive hospitality facilities for Sparta.

Apart from hosting Sparta football games, the building has an Olympic episode, having held two games during the 1928 Olympics centered around Amsterdam.