Mestalla turns 100 years old with Valencia's move to new stadium as uncertain as ever
Construction work on the Nou Mestalla was halted in 2009 amid the financial crisis and fresh plans to restart the project have also been delayed as the club's old home celebrates a century of life
Mestalla is 100 years old today. Valencia’s grand old stadium celebrates a century of life this Saturday at an uncertain time for the club in their fight to stay in LaLiga and with a move to their half-built new ground across the city no nearer to completion. It was supposed to be ready in 2009.
While the Nou Mestalla remains a shell which continues to gather dust, the original ground has lived an extended life. Mestalla is a special stadium. Located in the city centre, it is at the heart of a buzzing neighbourhood. And architecturally, it is unique, with its steep stands built in three different eras.
Arsène Wenger had wanted Arsenal to incorporate a similar design as the Gunners built the Emirates Stadium, but was told it would be impossible. “This is a proper stadium,” former Bournemouth striker Joshua King was overheard saying ahead of Norway’s EURO 2020 qualifier against Spain in 2019. And in 2016, the Telegraph placed Mestalla second on their list of the top European club football grounds. Only Borussia Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park was higher.
Mestalla is steeped in history. Inaugurated on May 20, 1923 with a derby match between Valencia and Levante, the stadium has undergone a number of renovations over the last century. In 1982, it was one of the venues for the World Cup in Spain. A decade later, it was used for football at the Olympic Games. It has also hosted 10 cup finals and during the Spanish Civil War, it was a concentration camp.
In 2013, the inside of Mestalla was updated with orange, black and white seats to give the ground a fresh new look. But the bright club colours and the steep stands hide a multitude of sins: the stadium is full of rust, leaks, holes and cracks. After 100 years of life, it is in desperate need of attention pretty much wherever you look.
Owner Peter Lim and his Meriton Holdings company have invested minimally in improvements to Mestalla and not even the club crest which sits on top of the stadium has been repaired in time for its 100th birthday. A temporary one has been installed instead in time for Sunday’s LaLiga game against Real Madrid.
Valencia organised a special match against Nottingham Forest in order to celebrate Mestalla’s centenary in December, but it was attended by only around 15,000 fans and many of those had travelled from England. On Sunday, the stadium will be closer to its current capacity of 48,600 for the visit of Madrid.
There will be video highlights of memorable Mestalla moments ahead of the game, plus a special tribute to those who have passed away and cannot be there for the centenary celebrations. A choir rendition of Valencia’s first anthem from 1924 will follow, with a version of the region’s hymn to be sung as the players come out on to the pitch.
In the stands and ahead of the game, protests are also expected against Lim and Meriton. Valencia have fallen into a dramatic decline following a series of catastrophic decisions over the past four years and the supporters have turned out in great numbers to show their dissatisfaction. To their credit, they have also got behind the team in its hour of need as it fights to conserve its LaLiga status. With 37 points on the board and four games left, survival is close but still no guarantee.
Read: Valencia a club in crisis amid huge fan protests at Mestalla
Just over four kilometres across town, the Nou Mestalla lays empty. Valencia announced their bold plans for the new 80,000-seater stadium in 2006 and construction work began the following year, only to be halted in 2009 amid the financial crisis as the club were unable to sell the ground on which the original Mestalla stands. In 2011, an agreement with Bankia to restart the project collapsed and ever since, a series of proposals have been put forward and then subsequently scrapped.
Following their takeover in 2014, Meriton did not commit to finishing the stadium and may be long gone by the time the Nou Mestalla is finished. Fans will certainly hope they will leave soon. Former president Anil Murthy told me in 2019 that the club were working on the project but gave no indication of when it would be finished.
New plans were launched last year to tone down the development and remove the running track, which had featured in the original proposals. Works were due to start in October, but still have not commenced.
Finishing off the Nou Mestalla will require around €200 million, with in excess of €150m already spent on the project, and the club will need to work closely with local government to complete the stadium.
With a €100m boost from the recent LaLiga deal with private equity firm CVC, of whch 85% must be destined to the improvement of infrastructure, Valencia now have part of the funds needed. The rest would have to come from selling the plots where the old Mestalla sits to property developers and given its privileged location in the heart of the city, it is valuable land.
Spain’s intention to host the 2030 World Cup in an Iberian bid alongside Portugal, Morocco and Ukraine could have an impact. If Valencia is chosen as a host city, that would speed up work on a stadium which has stood empty and unfinished for 14 years.
But that is still some way off. In the meantime, elections will take place in Valencia at the end of May and the difficult relationship between the local government and the current club owners, with agreements regularly broken and deadlines missed, means the project is at a standstill for now.
So as Mestalla celebrates its 100th birthday, Valencia’s grand old stadium may be needed for a few more years yet.