Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto
La Catedral del Fútbol
"The Cathedral of Football"
The stadium, seen from the west stand
Full nameAlejandro Morera Soto
Former namesEstadio Municipal de Alajuela (1942–1966)
LocationAlajuela, Costa Rica
Coordinates10°1′18″N 84°12′32″W / 10.02167°N 84.20889°W / 10.02167; -84.20889 (Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto)
OwnerLD Alajuelense
OperatorLD Alajuelense
Capacity18,895[1]
Field size105 m × 74 m (115 yd × 81 yd)
SurfaceHybrid Grass
ScoreboardYes
Construction
Broke ground1940
OpenedJanuary 18, 1942
Tenants
Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (1938–present)

The Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto is a football stadium in El Llano neighborhood of Alajuela, Costa Rica, which is the home of Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, one of the most successful football clubs from Costa Rica. It also serves as the home ground of Carmelita, who rent the stadium from Alajuelense.[2]

The stadium, which holds a capacity of 18,895 people, is named after Alejandro Morera Soto, a notable former player of LD Alajuelense, FC Barcelona, and Hércules CF.

History

Construction

The project to find a proper site for a permanent home started in 1938 when the director of the club, Carlos Bolaños, proposed that the club should purchase its own land. The land was purchased in 1940, but the site would not be soccer-ready until 1942, when Alajuelense played its first match at the site. The first game was played on January 18, 1942, when Liga Deportiva Alajuelense played Club Sport Cartagines. The Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto is known as the Cathedral of Costa Rican Soccer.

On September 27, 1949, a professor from a local high school named Armando Morux Sancho started what was called "La marcha del ladrillo" (The Brick's March) in which every student would donate a brick to help building the concrete walls of the stadium and start building the concrete stands. The first stands that were built were the ones located in north, west an east around the pitch.

On July 20, 1966, due to a motion by the Municipality of Alajuela, the stadium was renamed to honor the great Alajuelense and Barcelona player Alejandro Morera Soto. On March 19, 1970, the stadium saw its first night game when Alajuelense faced Honduran club team Motagua, beating them 4–1.

In 1979, the enlargement of the stadium was initiated with the project of building a second stand on top of the first already built and add an additional stand over the dressing and conference room (south) and also, add roof to the stand located on east and the one located on south after was finished. The project was fully completed in 1984. The stadium was re-inaugurated that year along with the new illumination, which was at the moment, in the top illuminations systems.

Development

Costa Rican football started getting more attention by the international press after the national team participated to the World Cup in 1990 and with footballers playing abroad. The club decided to build a royal box in the top of the west stand, which would have a two-floor royal box with TVs, carpet, bathrooms, elevator, and air conditioner. The royal box was finished in 1999 and is the only team in Costa Rica with such an amenity.

In 1997, the Municipality of Alajuela agreed to change the name from Estadio Municipal de Alajuela to Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto.

In 2002, the illumination system was upgraded, being the stadium with the best illumination in the country.

Until 2005, the Morera Soto's grass was known as the best natural one in Central America, but a combination of fungus and hurricanes affected the grass and it never fully recovered. By the end of 2008, the management of the team decided to install a fifth-generation synthetic grass, in order to have the field always ready for games no matter the weather, also have the availability to rent the venue for music concerts and/or special events and have the possibility for the younger divisions to train in the same field. The last game the team played on the natural turf was the first game of the 2008 winter's final, beating their archrival Deportivo Saprissa 2–0 on December 17, 2008.

In 2009, the club installed a synthetic turf called Xtreme Turf from ACT Global Sports.[3] This football turf has achieved FIFA two-star certification for approval for top international matches. This is the only FIFA two-star installation currently in Central America. After a long delay, the field was ready to be used by July 18, 2009. The field's re-opening game was held against Caracas FC from Venezuela; the game ended up with a tie 1–1.

On July 3, 2011, the stadium name was changed from "Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto" to "Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto Scotiabank", due to sponsorship from Scotiabank.[4]

International events

2010 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship

The Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto hosted the 2010 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship. It hosted six Group A matches, including the opener; six Group B games; two semifinal matches; the third-place play-off; and the final. The games were:

Date Team #1 Result Team #2 Round Attendance
10 March 2010 Panama0–6 MexicoGroup A (opening match)251
 Jamaica1–4 CanadaGroup A
11 March 2010 Haiti0–9 United StatesGroup B751
 Costa Rica7–0 Cayman Islands
12 March 2010 Mexico3–0 JamaicaGroup A381
 Panama1–2 Canada
13 March 2010 United States13–0 Cayman IslandsGroup B800
 Costa Rica2–0 Haiti
14 March 2010 Jamaica2–0 PanamaGroup A381
 Canada0–1 Mexico
15 March 2010 Cayman Islands1–0 HaitiGroup B1,700
 Costa Rica0–10 United States
18 March 2010 Mexico3–1 (a.e.t.) Costa RicaSemi-finals750
 United States0–0 (3–5 p) Canada
20 March 2010 Costa Rica0–6 United StatesThird place match259
 Mexico0–1 CanadaFinal

2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

La Catedral del Fútbol hosted six games of the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. It hosted four Group D matches; a Group A and Group B game. The games were:

Date Team #1 Result Team #2 Round Attendance
16 March 2014 Mexico4–0 ColombiaGroup D4,300
 China1–2 Nigeria
19 March 2014 Mexico4–0 ChinaGroup D4,629
 Colombia1–2 Nigeria
22 March 2014 North Korea4–3 GermanyGroup B5,863
 Venezuela1–0 ItalyGroup A

2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup

Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto hosted 14 games of the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. It hosted two Group A matches; four Group B games, including the opener; two Group C games, four Group D games; and two quarterfinal matches. The games were:

Date Team #1 Result Team #2 Round Attendance
10 August 2022 Germany0–1 ColombiaGroup B (opening match)1,158
 New Zealand1–1 MexicoGroup B1,007
11 August 2022 Ghana0–3 United StatesGroup D987
 Japan1–0 Netherlands877
13 August 2022 Germany3–0 New ZealandGroup B1,391
 Brazil2–0 AustraliaGroup A1,759
14 August 2022 Japan2–0 GhanaGroup D765
 South Korea0–1 NigeriaGroup C482
16 August 2022 Mexico1–0 GermanyGroup B1,218
 Australia0–3 SpainGroup A939
17 August 2022 United States1–3 JapanGroup D1,392
 Nigeria3–1 CanadaGroup C973
21 August 2022 Nigeria0–2 NetherlandsQuarter-finals3,005
 Japan3–3 (5–3 p) France2,979

Other events

One of the main concerts the stadium held was Elton John during his tour "Made in England" in November 1995. The British heavy metal band Iron Maiden played in this stadium in 2009. Korn and P.O.D. offered a joint concert at the stadium in 2010.[5]

The stadium hosted two WWE house shows: the first was SmackDown on February 13, 2010,[6] and the second was RAW on February 25, 2011.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Liga Deportiva Alajuelense – Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto". www.myfootygrounds.co.uk.
  2. ↑ Arias Sánchez, Eliécer; Jiménez Rojas, Leonel. "Carmelita tendrá su nuevo estadio". Sensación Deportiva. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  3. ↑ "synthetic turf".
  4. ↑ Goldberg, David (2011). "Estadio manudo ahora se llama Alejandro Morera Soto Scotiabank". La Nación. Archived from the original on 2012-09-27. Retrieved 2011-08-03.
  5. ↑ "Korn y P. O. D. descargaron su rock en Alajuela". La Nación. 2010. Retrieved 2011-08-03.
  6. ↑ Molina, Melvin (2010). "Locura por la WWE se desató en el Alejandro Morera Soto". La Nación. Retrieved 2011-08-03.
  7. ↑ Flores, Gabriela (2011). "La WWE derrochó adrenalina en la Liga". La Nación. Retrieved 2011-08-03.
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