Giulești-Valentin Stănescu Stadium was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. It was the home stadium of

FC Rapid București Fotbal Club Rapid 1923, commonly known as Rapid București () or simply as Rapid, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in Bucharest, that competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1923 by employees of the Grivi� ...

for almost 80 years. It was named after Valentin Stănescu, the coach that helped Rapid to win its first title, but was most commonly known as the "Giulești Stadium", after the name of the neighborhood in which it was located. Landmarks near the stadium include

Podul Grant Podul Grant (''Grant Bridge'') is a bridge that serves both motorway and lightrail transportation in Bucharest, Romania. It is named after Effingham Grant, the British consul in Bucharest during the mid-19th century. Initially, the bridge was ...

, Giulești Theatre and Prunaru market. Gara de Nord is not far away from the stadium and the

Grivița Grivița () is a district of Bucharest, Romania, centered on the Grivița Railway Yards (''Atelierele CFR Grivița''), which were and still are an important landmark within the manufacturing landscape of the city. Located near Gara de Nord, the ...

Railway Yards are right next to it. The stadium was entirely demolished in 2019, and has been replaced with the Rapid Arena, a new all-seater stadium that opened in 2022.

History

Construction started in the 1936 and the stadium was inaugurated on 10 June 1939. At the time, it was the most modern stadium in Romania, a smaller replica of

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

's Highbury Stadium, with a capacity of 12,160 seats. Among the guests at the opening ceremony were King

Carol II of Romania Carol II (4 April 1953) was King of Romania from 8 June 1930, until his forced abdication on 6 September 1940. As the eldest son of King Ferdinand I, he became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I, in 1914. He was the f ...

, Prince Mihai of Romania and Prince

Paul of Greece Paul (; 14 December 1901 – 6 March 1964) was King of Greece from 1 April 1947 until his death on 6 March 1964. Paul was born in Athens as the third son of Constantine I of Greece, Crown Prince Constantine and Sophia of Prussia, Crown Princess ...

. It was noted for its Art Deco architecture and quickly became a symbol of the working-class Giulești neighborhood. It escaped systematization attempts from 1975 to 1990. Replacement of the north stand was completed in the mid-1990s, increasing the capacity to 19,100 seats. The stadium was renovated again in 2003. Since the summer of 2004, the stadium had been administered by Rapid București. Its capacity was restricted to 11,704 seats due to safety concerns regarding parts of the stadium. On 24 November 2018 the stadium was closed for demolition, with a new ground planned to take its place. The last match played in the Giulești Stadium was between

and Înainte Modelu, which Rapid won 1-0. On 10 January 2019 the demolition process began. It was completed on 7 May 2019.A început demolarea Stadionului Giulești. Va fi pus la pământ după fix 80 de ani
digisport.ro

Romania national football team

The following

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

matches were held in the stadium:

Gallery

File:Giulesti Stadium - stand of home supporters.JPG, File:Bucharest Stadionul Giulești 3.jpg, File:Giulesti Stadium - Rapid.JPG, File:Bucharest Stadionul Giulești 4.jpg, File:Bucharest Stadionul Giulești 2.jpg, File:Bucharest Stadionul Giulești 6.jpg, File:Bucharest Stadionul Giulești 5.jpg,

References

External links

Giulești StadiumStadium pictures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giulesti-Valentin Stanescu, Stadionul FC Rapid București 2019 disestablishments in Romania Sports venues in Bucharest Defunct football venues in Romania Sports venues completed in 1939 1939 establishments in Romania Sports venues demolished in 2019 Demolished buildings and structures in Romania

History

Romania national football team

Gallery

See also

References

External links