The Estadio Nacional Complutense (or Complutense National Stadium in English), is a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

stadium in the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

capital

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

and located on the main campus of the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loc ...

. The stadium is commonly used by the Spanish national rugby union team who competes in the

European Nations Cup European Nations Cup may refer to: *UEFA European Championship, formerly known as European Nations' Cup * Europcar Cup, a European Tour golf tournament * European Nations Cup (golf), a European Ladies Tour golf tournament * European Nations Cup (fi ...

. It is also home to Olympus Rugby XV Madrid, CD Arquitectura and CR Cisneros.

History

The plans for the construction of the University City ( es, Ciudad Universitaria), and thus also of rugby stadium, began on 17 May 1927, when the then King

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alf ...

awarded the construction contract. The official architects of the venue were Luis Lacasa Navarro, Javier Barroso and the famous Civil engineer Eduardo Torroja.Historia de Madrid Crecimiento urbano (in Spanish)
/ref> The opening ceremony of the sports facilities and the stadium was on 12 October 1943, on the Spanish national holiday. Originally, the stadium was built for university sports, but in 1954 the Spanish national rugby union team used the stadium for a home match against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, Spain won 23-0. Following the high number of spectators, the stadium was made the home stadium for the men's rugby team, hosting all home matches in the

and any friendly's that occur during the Mid-year rugby union tests or the End-of-year rugby union tests.

Gallery

File:EspPorRaguebi.JPG, A phase of a rugby union match between

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

. File:España-alemania2.JPG, A line out between

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

References

{{reflist Estadio Nacional Complutense Rugby union stadiums in Spain Sports venues completed in 1943 Sports venues in Madrid Buildings and structures in Ciudad Universitaria neighborhood, Madrid

History

Gallery

See also

References