The Santiago Bernabeu: A history of the world’s greatest stadium
A promising future
In 2004, Florentino Perez announced the most ambition renovations plan for the Bernabeu yet. A 400 million redevelopment plan that would see the stadium exterior coated in futuristic sliver skin and an extendible roof.
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The plan has been hit with nothing but obstacles over the last 14 years and funding for the project remains in major doubt despite Perez’s insistence last May that building would begin in 2019. That aim seems unlikely a with spokesperson for Madrid’s Sustainable Urban Development department telling ESPN FC that the club’s latest plans contained issues that needed resolving.
Nonetheless, it seems only matter of time before Perez pushes ahead with his ambitious plans for the Bernabeu, which include expanding the museum and adding a hotel. Renovated or not, the Bernabeu is a special place in world football. So often overlooked in the history of this proud club, its story is in extricable linked with how Real Madrid established itself as the biggest club in world football.