After an exhilarating tournament which saw FC Sevilla lay claim to back to back titles, we thought we’d celebrate the competition thus far by taking a look at the host venues since the Europa League replaced the UEFA Cup in 2009.
The competition has been a great platform for newly built European Stadia which feature capacities between 35,000 – 55,000. The final three iterations of the UEFA Cup saw the final hosted in such diverse venues as Fenerbahçe’s Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, Manchester City’s The Etihad Stadium, and Scotland’s Hampden Park in Glasgow.
Hopefully this is a trend which UEFA will continue, and it has to be said that so far, they’ve shone the spotlight on some cracking venues, which as follows are:
[no_toc]
2009/2010 – Hamburg Arena
Home team: Hamburger SV
Opened: 1998 (Rebuilt)
City: Hamburg, Germany
Capacity: 51,500
Result: Atletico Madrid v Fulham (2-1)
2010/2011 – Dublin Arena
Home team: Irish National Team
Opened: 2010
City: Dublin, Ireland
Capacity: 51,700
Result: Porto v Braga (1-0)
2011/2012 – Arena Națională
Home team: FC Steaua București
Opened: 2011
City: Bucherest, Romania
Capacity: 55,634
Result: Atletico Madrid v Athletic Bilbao (3-0)
2012/2013 – Amsterdam Arena
Home team: Ajax
Opened: 1996
City: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Capacity: 53,490
Result: Chelsea v Benfica (2-1)
2013/2014 – Juventus Stadium
Home team: Juventus
Opened: 2011
City: Turin, Italy
Capacity: 41,254
Result: Sevilla v Benfica (0-0)
2015 – National Stadium, Warsaw
Home team: Poland National Team
Opened: 2012
City: Warsaw, Poland
Capacity: 58,145
Result: Sevilla v Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (3-2)
2016 – St. Jakob-Park
Home team: FC Basel
Opened: 2001
City: Basel, Switzerland
Capacity: 37,500
Result: TBD
2017 – Friends Arena
Home team: AIK Fotboll
Opened: 2012
City: Solna, Sweden
Capacity: 50,653
Result: TBD
—
As for the future, what stadiums would you like to see host the Europa League Final? Football Tripper would love to hear your suggestions. Comment below!