| No. | Stadium Name | Home To | Capacity | Description |
| 1 | La Bombonera | Boca Juniors | 57395 |
If there's a more intimidating place for away fans to watch football or opposition players to
have to play it, then we've yet to come across it. Situated as it is in the colourful La Boca
area of Buenos Aires, a Superclasico trip into this neighbourhood for the more upper-class
followers of River Plate is precarious in itself. With Boca's army of fans in full voice it's
a venue that seems, quite literally, to be rocking. The stadium's full name is actually Estadio
Alberto J. Armando, but is commonly referred to as La Bombonera, meaning the Chocolate Box,
a reference to its shape - one totally flat stand along one side and then 3 other sheer sides,
rising up almost vertically, giving the stadium fantastic acoustics. This, combined with Boca's
frenzied support, make it a venue to fear for the club's rivals and has lead to Boca's fans
being nicknamed La Doce, "the 12th man".
|
| 2 | Ali Sami Yen Stadium | Galatasaray | 25500 |
The pure horror of the Ali Sami Yen Stadium came to the forefront of the British media in the
1990's, as Galatasaray unearthed a decent team and started to do well in Europe. Televised
games from the ground left viewers stunned - pictures taken hours before the kick-off showed a
stadium already packed with delirious fans, jumping up and down in unison, with friendly messages
such as "Welcome to Hell". And their was no let up, the atmosphere reaching fever-pitch shortly
before kick off, continuing throughout the entire game, a relentless mass of male bodies moving
and chanting. And it certainly worked, with a whole host of top European teams all failing to
handle the atmosphere and leaving defeated. Located in Mecidiyekoy, one of Istanbul's roughest
urban areas, the Ali Sami Yen is the complete package - dodgy both inside and outside the stadium.
For the opposition, there is literally nowhere to hide. There is some good news for rival fans though -
despite spending money renovating the ground in recent years, they are now contemplating a
move to a state-of-the-art stadium in another area of town. Things will never be the same.
|
| 3 | Estadio Centenario | Penarol
Nacional
Uruguay | 65000 |
Home ground of the legendary Penarol, the Estadio Centenario is also home to bitter rivals
Nacional for their big games, including the Montevideo derby. Sited in the city's Parque Batlle
area, the stadium has a great history - built to celebrate both 100 years of Uruguay's
independence and also the first World Cup finals, it has been the scene of many great games.
A fortress for the national team, the beautiful game of its more celebrated rivals, Argentina
and Brazil, has often come unstuck when faced with the Cetenario's cauldron of noise.
Similarly, when Australia played a World Cup play-off there in 2002 they were unprepared for
the atmosphere. Shocked by the level of hostility and abuse, the Socceroos couldn't handle it and it
cost them the game. Back on the domestic front, its the Penarol-Nacional derby that the stadium
almost lives for. In this country, nearly everyone is either Penarol or Nacional from the
cradle to the grave, and the derby game is proof that the rivalry is amongst the most intense
in club football.
|
| 4 | Maksimir Stadium | Dinamo Zagreb
Croatia | 40000 |
As England found out in October 2006, the Maksimir Stadium is not a place for the faint-hearted.
Be it a game involving the Croatia national team, or a home match for Dinamo Zagreb, the
Maksimir can be an extremely hostile place to be. The Croatian and Zagreb fans are
renowned for their noise and movement on the terraces, although they often take this way over
an acceptable mark - Croatian fans once formed a human swastika against Italy, and racist chanting
against coloured players is almost commonplace. Croatia's top derby is the clash between
Dinamo and Hajduk Split, the rivalry is as bitter as anywhere else in the world, and it
generates the sort of atmosphere where their rivals legs can turn to jelly.
The stadium itself is a non-roofed affair, which can sometimes mean a loss of atmosphere
in some grounds, but not here. 2006 saw renovation work start and this will include a
retractable roof and and extra 12000 places, making it an even
more unpleasant environment for opposing players.
|
| 5 | de Kuip | Feyenoord
Holland | 51137 |
Its actual name is the Feijenoord Stadion, buts its universally called de Kuip (meaning the
Tub - a reference to its shape). And what a stadium it is - a proper football ground that,
despite extensive renovation in the 90's, retains a really traditional feel to it, almost a
throwback to the 60's and 70's. This is something that's not lost on the Feyenoord supporters,
who genuinely love their stadium, they take a pride in it that's second to none in football.
Rotterdam's a true working-class city, and they say that whilst Amsterdam is where the Dutch
go to play, Rotterdam is where they go to work. This is reflected too in the football, with
Feyenoord viewing Ajax, and Amsterdam in general, as a pompous, arty, arrogant bunch of
canal-lovers. Feyenoord obviously like to play on this, which is probably one of the reasons
why the ground is so intimidating for opposition players and fans alike. Nicknamed
'Het Legioen' ('the Legion'), they expect their players to give everything, 110% for 90 minutes,
and in return they give them full vocal backing - and that's the real difference with this
stadium to many others, its the whole of the stadium that backs the team, not just a popular
section behind one of the goals.
|
| 6 | Stadion Crvena Zvezda
(Red Star Stadium) | Red Star Belgrade
Serbia | 51500 |
Nicknamed 'Marakana', due to its resemblance to the famous Brazilian stadium, the Serbian version
had a capacity of 110,000 back in the seventies. The introduction of seats has taken the capacity
down to less than half that but it remains a formidable venue, a real fortress for both Red Star
and the Serbian national team. With an athletics track running around the pitch the fans are a bit
further away from the players than most of the other grounds in the top ten, "thank God" think the
players - big games in the 'Marakana' are harrowing enough for the opposition without the fans
being right next to them. The 'Eternal Derby' between Red Star and Partizan Belgrade is an electric
affair, real fire and brimstone stuff, an explosion of noise and colour, but one that has
suffered of late from wide-scale hooliganism, becoming increasingly precarious for the
'normal' fan.
|
| 7 | Stadio San Paolo | Napoli | 78200 |
The 3rd biggest ground in Italy is probably its most intimidating. The Neapolitans are a
passionate people and this transmits to its football team as well. During the glory days of
Maradona and Careca the San Paulo became a true stronghold - a wall of noise, blue flares,
banners and fans draping over the enormous upper tier curves. A real theatre of adrenaline.
If ever there was a fitting home for Maradona to ply his trade then it was here.
The team may no longer be in Serie A following years of financial debacles but the fans are
still turning out in force. Get them back in Serie A, or hand them a plum Coppa Italia
tie and the Stadio San Paulo, like the nearby Mount Vesuvius, will be like a Volcano waiting
to erupt.
|
| 8 | Arena AufSchalke
(Veltins-Arena) | Schalke 04
Germany | 61500 |
With its retractable roof and slide-out pitch, Schalke's stadium is one of the finest in Europe,
and so is the cauldron-like atmosphere inside it. Schalke's legendary fans are amongst the most
passionate in Germany - even when the club were doing terribly they still turned out in massive numbers, and
they really know how to back their team. A Ruhr derby with Dortmund or Bochum is not one for the
faint hearted.
|
| 9 | Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium | Olympiacos | 33296 |
Whilst rivals Panathinaikos and AEK may play at the much larger Olympic Stadium, the atmosphere
at the smaller Karaiskakis is still second to none. The Greek fans, like their Turkish
counterparts, can be a rabid bunch, and the Olympiacos supporters are no exception. Smoke,
torches, fires, flares, malakes, drums, and basically anything else they can get their hands
on that makes a visual or audible impact, is used to whip the stadium up into a complete frenzy.
With plenty
of big matches in the Greek league and regular European football, the partisan Olympiacos fans
get plenty of chance to scare the bejeezus out of opposing players, but are at their
most ferocious during the 'Eternal' derby with Panathinaikos. UEFA finally had enough when a
match with Shakhtar Donetsk ended with more items on the pitch than in the stands, forcing them
to play 4 games behind closed doors.
The stadium was the scene of a tragedy in 1981 when 21 supporters died as Olympiacos
fans rushed out of the ground celebrating a victory over AEK.
|
| 10 | Stade Geoffroy-Guichard | Saint Etienne
France | 36500 |
Think French football and you don't normally think of intimidating fans or stadiums, but Les
Verts Stade Geoffroy-Guichard is an exception. Along with Marseille's Stade Velodrome and
Lens' Stade Felix Bollaert, it's one of the few French grounds where the supporters really get
behind their team. As with Lens, Saint Etienne is a grim, industrial, working-class city, and
their football club is what they're most proud of. The stadium has earned a number of nicknames
since the glory days of the 60's and 70's, and they give a taste of what opposition players can
expect - "le Chaudron" literally means "the Cauldron" and "l'enfer vert" translates as "the
Green Hell". Big domestic matches and European games can be real powder-keg affairs, and the
Rhone-Alpes Derby between St Etienne and Lyon is France's only genuine English-style
derby match.
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"Take a walk on the wild side" sang Lou Reed, apparently about a journey around tough New York.