San Mamés

Lore & Background

Planning began as early as 2004, with initial contracts signed in late 2006 after approval in March 2006. The ground-breaking ceremony took place on 26 May 2010. The stadium was built next to the old San Mamés on land occupied until 2003 by the Bilbao International Trade Fair. Initially three-quarters of the new stadium were built, then matches took place while the old one was demolished to complete the new arena. The total cost was €211 million, with 52.6% paid by public institutions. The stadium was inaugurated on 16 September 2013, 102 days after the final game at the old stadium. At that time the official capacity was 35,686. The first match was a league match between Athletic Club and Celta Vigo, which the local team won 3–2. The first ever goalscorer was Celta's Charles; the first Athletic scorer was Mikel San José. The first match under full capacity was a Champions League playoff tie against Napoli on 27 August 2014, attended by 49,017. Roof extensions were added at a cost of €12.6 million, completed on 20 November 2016. The extension design won an international structural engineering award in 2017.

Reader's Guide

The stadium is equipped with a sophisticated exterior lighting system that can illuminate hundreds of panels in solid colours or show flashing or moving graphics. It features a giant external video screen (15.5m x 9.8m) overlooking the Pozas street. A bust of Pichichi is located at the entrance to the players' tunnel, where visiting captains leave a bouquet of flowers. The club museum opened in August 2017, featuring a stuffed lion. Safe standing rail seats were installed in part of the north stand in 2019, expanded into a 'singing section' across the whole lower tier in 2022. In 2023, a feature depicting the exact placement of the old pitch's goal lines was unveiled, followed by a statue of José Ángel Iribar.

Did You Know?

• The stadium hosted the 2018 finals of the European Rugby Challenge Cup and Champions Cup; the match between Leinster and Racing 92 set the single-game attendance record at 52,282.
• On 30 January 2019, San Mamés hosted a Copa de la Reina match between Athletic Bilbao and Atlético Madrid that beat the Spanish attendance record for a women's football match with 48,121 spectators.
• The stadium was awarded Sports Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival in Singapore on 5 November 2015.
• A 'beam back' event was held in May 2015 for the 2015 Copa del Rey final, with giant video screens on the pitch for fans who could not attend in Barcelona.