I recall the first time I went to the Nou Camp to see FC Barcelona it was early 2004 and Ronaldinho was playing in those days – in truth it was the first season that Joan Laporta was the president of Bara. When I walked into the stadium I was impressed by its sheer scale and walking in at ground level was shocked to look down at the pitch.
It seems the pitch is 2 metres or so below ground level and done so as to increase the stadium’s capacity at some particular point in its history. The Nou Camp was opened in 1957 and though it has been extended and expanded since that point, at one time it may hold more than 100,000 spectators. But there days out as the stadium is all-seater it can only hold 98,000 – that's still plenty of folk.
With such a huge crowd you may think it takes a very long time to unpack the stadium after a match. But it is highly surprising that it empties so fast and in reality the club claims to can empty in just 5 minutes. The streets round the stadium get pretty packed though and transport it difficult. The roads get blocked by folks, buses full and the metro is log jammed with people – fortunately I was inside walking distance.
When I first started going to look at Barça play it was after a period of relatively poor performance and it is true that Laporta inherited a club that had lost any faith in its capability to win trophies.
Nevertheless with Frank Rijkaard as coach and stars like Ronaldinho, the club started to win. Although they didn't win the Spanish League that year theydid the following. Just as significantly they revived their self-confidence and crowds started to come back to watch them play. These days it’s much tougher to get good seats at all but matches against the lowliest of groups as season tick holders and club members have the pick of what’s available.
You can buy FC Barcelona tickets for La Liga Simply Barcelona Tickets website. Check out availability of Barcelona tickets for forthcoming matches for La Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey now!
