The arena in Amsterdam is named after the great Johan Cruijff and is one of the venues for the 2021 European Championship.
Since 2017, the Amsterdam stadium has been named after the great Johan Cruijff. With “Voetball Totaal”, he and his team revolutionized soccer in the 1970s. The arena that now bears his name was also a game changer in European soccer when it was completed in 1996 with its closable roof and futuristic look.
In the mid-1990s, it appeared like a UFO that had landed within sight of the Amsterdam ring road – the Amsterdam Arena. Due to its curved and closable roof, it had a completely new silhouette that differed significantly from previous European stadiums. With a capacity of around 55,000, the arena could not compete with the Bernabéu Stadium or Camp Nou in terms of size. But the high-tech building embodied the measure of all things in European soccer in almost every other respect.
He had that in common with the home team Ajax at the time. In the mid-nineties, the club won everything there was to win in club soccer. However, the move from the old De Meer Stadium to the new building in 1996 almost marked the end of this great era in Ajax’s history. Successful coach Louis van Gaal moved to Barcelona, and numerous players followed him. But just as the Ajax style of play of those years resonated for a long time, the Amsterdam Arena also became the blueprint for numerous soccer arenas that followed it.
The arena was actually designed as part of Amsterdam’s bid to host the 1992 Olympic Games. As is well known, the games went to Barcelona and Ajax saw the opportunity to have a contemporary home. The old De Meer Stadium from the 1930s had long since been outgrown. A plot of land had been found in the Bijlmer district, which offered good transport links by train and car. The stadium was also part of the efforts to upgrade the large Bijlmermeer housing estate, which is directly adjacent to the stadium, and to create a stronger link with the historic city. Shortly before construction of the arena began, the El Al flight of 1862 crashed into one of the apartment blocks in Bijlmermeer, killing 39 residents of the district. The accident brought the problematic living conditions of the mostly immigrant residents of Bijlmarmeer to the forefront of international attention.
Reconstruction in full swing
A lot has happened around the arena, which has borne the name of the footballer of the century Johan Cruijff since 2017, since the 1990s: a new business and nightlife district has emerged, including the Ziggo Dome, one of the largest event halls in Europe. Parts of the old structure of the large Bijlmermeer housing estate have since been demolished and replaced by small-scale buildings. Other of the elongated high-rise buildings have been converted. NL Architects from Amsterdam were awarded the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Prize in 2017 for the renovation concept of the “Kleiburg” block. The Johan Cruijff Arena has also been continuously expanded and maintained over the past 25 years. In preparation for Euro 2020/2021, work has begun to extend the outer perimeter around the stands.
To this end, the exterior of the building will have an outwardly curved façade construction made of diamond-shaped ETFE elements. This gives the building a very contemporary look. Only parts of the new façade have yet been installed, but the conversion is due to be completed in the next few years. And after years of European mediocrity, Ajax Amsterdam is also looking to build on its former successes: in 2019, it reached the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time in many years.
The Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam hosted three Group C matches and one round of 16 match during the 2021 European Championships.
Find out more about the Sevilla Olympic Stadium here. Here you can find the overview of the EURO 2021 stadiums.
