About stadium

Stadium introduction

Estadio Anoeta replaced Real Sociedad’s former home, Estadio de Atotxa, in the early 1990s after it the club outgrew the small 17,000 capacity and it wasn’t possible to expand on the current site due to both size limitations and the antiquity of the stadium (Originally constructed over 80 years ago). As a council led imitative, it was important that the new stadium would become a multi purpose sports venue, capable of hosting a variety of events including Athletics (Junior Championships), Rugby (Heineken Cup) and even music concerts. With an approximate budget of 21 million euros, ground was broke in 1990 and it wouldn’t be until August 13, 1993 that the stadium would host its first football match, a friendly between Real Sociedad and Real Madrid which would end in a 0-0 draw. Initially designed to host 27,000 spectators, a small expansion was undertaken in 1998 to bring the capacity up to the current 32,000 plus which remains the capacity today. If Real Sociedad had their way, the club would love to remove the running track between the stands and the pitch to create a more intimate atmosphere but the plan dubbed Gipuzkoarena never came to fruition due to the council rejecting proposals. As of 2007, it seems every presidential candidate proposes that the club either buy the stadium from the council outright to have complete control of the facilities but cooperation has been non-existent so far. This means the club have had to shelf plans to bring the capacity up to 42,000 and the creation of better commercial facilities such as Hotel and shopping centre.

How to get to the Stadium

Anoeta Pasealekua 1, 20014 San Sebastián (Donostia).