Stadio Renzo Barbera

"La Favorita" redirects here. For the opera by Gaetano Donizetti, see La favorite. For film, see La Favorita (film).
Stadio Comunale Renzo Barbera
La Favorita

Stadio Renzo Barbera prior to a UEFA Cup tie between Palermo and West Ham United in 2006
Full name Stadio Comunale Renzo Barbera
Former names Stadio Littorio (1932–1936)
Stadio Michele Marrone (1936–1945)
Stadio La Favorita (1945–2002)
Location Palermo, Italy
Owner Municipality of Palermo
Capacity 36,349[1]
Field size 105 x 68 m
Surface Grass
Construction
Opened 24 January 1932[1]
Renovated 1989
Tenants
U.S. Città di Palermo
Public at stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo during a league game

Stadio Renzo Barbera (previously and still commonly known as Stadio La Favorita) is a football stadium in Palermo, Italy. It is currently home of U.S. Città di Palermo football team. The stadium was inaugurated on 24 January 1932, and was named Stadio Littorio in homage to the Fascism. The opening match was Palermo vs Atalanta, with Palermo winning 5–1. A track surrounded the pitch and there were no stands behind either goal. In 1936, the stadium was renamed Stadio Michele Marrone, in memory of a soldier killed during the Spanish Civil War. The name was changed again at the end of World War II to Stadio La Favorita, from the name of the nearby ancient game preserve of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor in the 13th century.

In 1948, the track was removed and stands behind each goal were built. In 1984, the second main redevelopment took place, involving the addition of a second tier to the stadium which increased capacity to 50,000 spectators. This higher capacity was, however, completely covered in only twice, respectively in a Serie C1 league match against Messina and a friendly match against Juventus. A third redevelopment ended in 1990, the last main one to which the venue was subjected and was undertaken due to city of Palermo having been chosen to host a number of the 1990 FIFA World Cup First Round matches. Due to this redevelopment, the capacity of the stadium was lowered to its current 37,619 seats.

On 18 September 2002, the stadium was renamed as Renzo Barbera, past chairman of Palermo in the club's last Serie A tenure, as well as the two Coppa Italia finals throughout the 1960s and the 1970s, who had died that same year on 19 May.[2][3] In the Serie A 2004-05 campaign, which marked the first Palermo appearance in the top division in over 30 years, all seats in the stadium were already assigned in the summer to season-ticket holders. However, this was not repeated in the next years.

Plans were recently announced by current Palermo chairman Maurizio Zamparini in order to build a new stadium to be owned directly by the club.[4]

Transports

The stadium is linked to the city center and the central railway station by bus line 101.

1990 FIFA World Cup

The stadium was one of the venues of the 1990 FIFA World Cup, and held the following matches:

Date Team #1 Res. Team #2 Round
12 June 1990 Netherlands1–1 EgyptGroup F
17 June 1990 Republic of Ireland0–0 EgyptGroup F
21 June 1990 Republic of Ireland1–1 NetherlandsGroup F

Concerts

Especially during the 1980s the stadium was frequently used as a concert venue. Starting in the 1990s however, concerts and other cultural events were gradually banned from the stadium due to fears they could damage the grass on the field. From the early 1990s, large open air concerts were held at the Velodromo Paolo Borsellino instead. As a matter of fact, the Renzo Barbera Stadium is currently the only stadium in Italy where concerts are prohibited. Below is a list of artists who have performed at the Renzo Barbera Stadium in the past.

Date Band/Artist Tour Notes
17, 18, 19 July 1970[5] Aretha Franklin; Duke Ellington; Johnny Halliday; Arthur Brown; Little Tony; Rosa Balistreri; Ricchi e Poveri; and others Palermo Pop Festival 70 Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones were announced as headliners,

but both bands cancelled their appearances. Arthur Brown was arrested after an impromptu striptease on stage. He was released on the premise that he would never return to Sicily again.

5, 6, 7 September 1971 Black Sabbath; Manfred Mann's Earth Band; The Pretty Things; and others Palermo Pop Festival 71
17 July 1980 Antonello Venditti Buona Domenica Tour
14 July 1982 Frank Zappa 1982 European Tour A riot occurred during "Cocaine Decisions" in which the police shot teargas into the crowd.[6]

Zappa was reported stating "We played for an hour and a half with tear-gas in our face and everything else, and when it was all over we went off stage and we were trapped inside this place". The riot inspired the back cover of the album The Man From Utopia.

21 July 1982 Claudio Baglioni Alè-oò Tour
22 August 1985 Vasco Rossi Cosa succede in città Tour
5 to 11 July 1986[7] Miles Davis; Herbie Hancock with Branford Marsalis; Pat Metheny Trio; Wayne Shorter Quartet; and others Jazz Estate '86: Fusion Time Festival The festival was held over a period of one week. Due to concerns

over the grass the playing field remained off-limits for the audience. The stage was set up in front of the southern tribune stands. Attendance averaged 10,000 patrons per day.

28 May 1987 Duran Duran The Strange Behaviour Tour
13 June 1987 Frank Sinatra Italian Tour
4 August 1987 Spandau Ballet Through the Barricades Tour
11 August 1987 Antonello Venditti Venditti e segreti Tour
27 August 1992 Antonello Venditti Alta marea Tour
10 June 1994 Pino Daniele, Eros Ramazzotti & Jovanotti Pino, Jova, Eros in concerto
29 September 1994 Adriano Celentano European Tour Cancelled due to US Palermo's concerns about possible damage

to the grass on the playing field. The concert was scheduled to take place only 4 days before a match.

28 September 1995 Antonello Venditti Ogni volta Tour
1 July 1997 Zucchero The Best Of Tour
13 August 1998 Claudio Baglioni Da me a te Tour The concert was promoted as an anti-mafia event in the press[8] and

attracted around 41,000 fans, grossing 2 billion Italian lira (US$1.2 million), becoming the highest grossing non-sportive event at the stadium.

12 July 2003 Claudio Baglioni Tutto in un abbraccio Tour Cancelled due to restructuring works on the field.

References

  1. 1 2 "Stadio" (in Italian). U.S. Città di Palermo. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  2. ↑ "Addio a Barbera presidente della A" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 20 May 2002. Retrieved 18 October 2009.
  3. ↑ "Zeman, la domenica del dolore l' addio a Vyckpalec e Barbera" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 20 May 2002. Retrieved 18 October 2009.
  4. ↑ (Italian) L'Espresso
  5. ↑ http://reportagesicilia.blogspot.de/2009/01/festival-pop-palermo-1970.html Italian article and photographs of the Palermo Pop Festival '70
  6. ↑ https://books.google.de/books?id=VRcIAQAAMAAJ&q=%22cocaine+decisions%22++riot&dq=%22cocaine+decisions%22++riot&source=bl&ots=ix8wXQoSnx&sig=lWy2qZtua9AOUE-2H7vJvg4mxs4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=bqFbUIqBN8a_0QHkrIDoCA Frank Zappa: the negative dialectics of poodle play
  7. ↑ http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2013/09/29/quando-miles-davis-apparve-allo-stadio.html Italian article about Miles Davis' performance at the stadium
  8. ↑ http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1998/agosto/14/Baglioni_Palermo_coro_anti_mafia_co_0_9808148197.shtml

Coordinates: 38°9′9.96″N 13°20′32.19″E / 38.1527667°N 13.3422750°E / 38.1527667; 13.3422750

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