Reale Arena

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The stadium is the third home of Real Sociedad, preceded by Ondarreta (1909–1913) and Atocha (1913–1993). The bust of the late Alberto Ormaetxea, the club's manager during their successful early 1980s period, is located at the Zubieta training complex, not at the stadium. Real Sociedad's Basque rivals, Athletic Bilbao, were permitted to use Anoeta for their first home game of the 2013–14 La Liga season, as their own new ground (San Mamés) was not yet fully completed. Four of the unofficial Basque Country team's friendly fixtures have been held at the stadium (1993, 1998, 2004, 2012). In recent years, it has also been used for concerts, and for occasional Heineken Cup rugby union fixtures by nearby club Biarritz Olympique. Biarritz first played Heineken Cup matches at Anoeta in the 2009–10 season, but only a few sporadic fixtures followed, not a consistent practice; fellow Pays Basque club Aviron Bayonnais has also played only occasional matches there. When the 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League later stages were held in the Basque Country, the semifinals took place at San Mamés and the final at Anoeta.

In Their Own Story

The stadium was officially opened on 13 August 1993 with a friendly between Real Sociedad and Real Madrid. The first goal was scored by Txuriurdin forward Loren, and the match finished 2–2. In 2015 the club announced reforms beginning in 2016, enlarging the stadium and removing the track around the field. Construction began in May 2017. When completed in October 2019, the remodelled arena would hold around 42,300 spectators. The €47 million cost was borne between Real Sociedad (€33m), the Basque Government (€10m) and the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council (€4m). The architect is Izaskun Larzabal. The first phase concluded just after the start of the 2018–19 La Liga season, requiring the club to play their first three fixtures away from home, before hosting FC Barcelona on the fourth matchday (15 September 2018). Over 3,000 additional members were admitted due to the increase in capacity. The first match with all seats in place, a capacity quoted as 40,000, was between the home side and Atlético Madrid on Saturday 14 September 2019. Real won 2–0, with the official attendance given as 33,374, a club record. Five months later, a Basque derby against Athletic Bilbao, a 2–1 win for the home side, set a new record of 36,730. Following the reconstruction, the stadium was awarded the 2020 World Prix Versailles award in the Sports category.

Reader's Guide

Attending a match at Reale Arena is an immersion into Basque culture as much as football. The reforms have transformed the atmosphere inside the stadium, with the Aitor Zabaleta singing section acting as the main focal point. Over the years, fans were never happy with the stadium in its original configuration due to the athletics track causing a distance between the stands and the field itself, resulting in a 'cold' atmosphere during matches. The removal of the track and insertion of lower rows of seats on the side stands, and a completely new south end stand, have brought fans closer to the pitch. For transport, visitors can take the train to Anoeta station on line E2 of Euskotren Trena (San Sebastián Metro), or buses: Line 17, Line 24, Line 28, Line 26, Line 37, and night line B4.

Did You Know?

• The stadium's initial construction costs were said to be 3 billion pesetas (equivalent to around €21 million at the time).
• Real Sociedad played away from home for each of the first three rounds of the 2019–20 La Liga campaign to allow the stadium rebuild to move to completion.
• The architect of the 2017-2019 remodelling is Izaskun Larzabal, who also designed many of the facilities at the club's Zubieta training complex.
• The stadium was not officially listed among the proposed Spanish host cities for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
• The total cost announced including some new improvements that would take place until 2020 was of €78.6 million.

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