Estádio Leonardo Vinagre da Silveira, commonly known as Estádio da Graça, is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

stadium located in Cruz das Armas neighborhood, João Pessoa,

Paraíba Paraíba ( , ; ) is a states of Brazil, state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and it is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Paraíba i ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

History

The first game at the stadium was played during his inauguration, on January 9, 1944, when Dolaport and Santa Cruz drew 2-2. The first goal of the stadium was scored by Dolaport's Odilon, during the 17th minute of the game. During the April 14, 2002

Campeonato do Nordeste Copa do Nordeste (English: ''Cup of the North-East''), also known as Campeonato do Nordeste (''English: Championship of the North-East'') or Copa Nordeste (English: ''Northeastern Cup'') is a Brazilian football competition among Northeastern re ...

game between Botafogo-PB and

Sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

, the stadium reached its highest attendance ever: approximately seven thousand people watched the game. On July 7, 2008, the stadium's most ambitious reformation started, with the purpose to adequate it to

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

's and Supporter's Statute's regulations. The stadium area was expanded from 1,419 m² to 2,118 m². The works were concluded on March 27, 2010, costing approximately R$3,5 million.

Structure

After the reformation, the stadium was upgraded with three sets of covered bleachers, supporting approximately 5,000 seated people, a luxury box, two bars and six bathroom areas. The field was improved with a new type of grass and a new floodlight system. The locker room for athletes and referees was improved. It has six cabins for the news media.

References

{{coord missing, Paraíba Football venues in Paraíba Estadio Da Graca Sports venues completed in 1944