Stadio Maradona Renaming (2020)

Lore & Background

Following the death of Diego Maradona, then-mayor Luigi de Magistris and Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis proposed renaming the stadium to 'Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.' The proposal was approved by the Naples city council on 4 December 2020.

In Their Own Story

The rain fell softly on the pitch of San Paolo, blurring the floodlights into a halo above the stands. A lone groundskeeper paused near the center circle, wiping sweat from his brow as he looked up at the newly installed banner. It didn't just say 'Stadio'; it whispered of a boy who arrived in 1984 and never truly left. The silence of the empty stadium felt heavy, not with emptiness, but with anticipation, as if the very grass remembered the touch of the greatest feet to ever walk upon it. Tonight, the city slept, but the stadium breathed his name.

Reader's Guide

The stadium is located in the Fuorigrotta suburb of Naples. It opened as Stadio del Sole on 6 December 1959, was renamed Stadio San Paolo four years later, and held that name for 61 years before its renaming. Renovations in 2018–2019 reduced capacity to 54,726.

Did You Know?

• The stadium was originally designed to hold approximately 90,000 spectators, most of them standing.
• On 15 December 1974, Napoli broke the record for the most spectators in attendance for a home match, with 90,736 people.
• The stadium hosted a semi-final of the 1990 FIFA World Cup between Italy and Argentina, where Diego Maradona scored in the penalty shoot-out.
• The stadium's first renovations were for the 1980 UEFA European Football Championships, adding an electronic scoreboard and new floodlights.