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"De Arena" (The Arena) | |
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| Full name | Johan Cruijff ArenA |
|---|---|
| Former names | Amsterdam ArenA (1996–2018) Stadion Amsterdam (project name, 1993–1995) |
| Location | ArenA Boulevard 1, 1101 AXAmsterdam, Netherlands |
| Coordinates | 52°18′51″N4°56′31″E / 52.31417°N 4.94194°E /52.31417; 4.94194 |
| Public transit | Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA station,Strandvliet metro station |
| Owner | Gemeente Amsterdam Stadion Amsterdam N.V. |
| Executive suites | 76[2] |
| Capacity | 55,865 (2024)[1] 51,200 (Original)[2] 71,000 (Music concerts) |
| Record attendance | 55,076Ajax -Excelsior Rotterdam 24 April 2024 |
| Field size | 105 x 68 m |
| Surface | PlayMaster Hybrid Grass by Tarkett Sports |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1993–1996 |
| Opened | 14 August 1996; 28 years ago (1996-08-14) |
| Renovated | 2015-2020 |
| Construction cost | €140 million |
| Tenants | |
| Football AFC Ajax (1996–present) Netherlands national football team selected matches (1996-present) AFC Ajax Women selected matches (2015-present) American Football Amsterdam Admirals (1997–2007) | |
| Website | |
| johancruijffarena.nl/en | |
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Netherlandsprofessional footballer Eponyms and public art
Family Related | ||
TheJohan Cruyff Arena (Dutch:Johan Cruijff Arena[ˈjoːɦɑŋˈkrœyfaːˌreːnaː]; officially stylised asJohan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city ofAmsterdam and the home stadium offootball clubAFC Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to 1996 at a cost equivalent to €140 million,[3] it is the largest stadium in the country. The stadium was previously known as theAmsterdam Arena (stylised asAmsterdam ArenA) until the 2018–19 football season, when it was officially renamed in honour of Dutch footballerJohan Cruyff who died in 2016.[4][5][6]
It was one of the stadiums used duringUEFA Euro 2000, and also held the1998 UEFA Champions League Final and2013 UEFA Europa League Final. The stadium also hosted three group stage matches and one match in the round of 16 of theUEFA Euro 2020.
Both international and Dutch artists have given concerts in the stadium, includingTina Turner,Coldplay,U2,Take That,Celine Dion,Madonna,Michael Jackson,André Hazes,David Bowie,AC/DC,Justin Timberlake,One Direction,the Rolling Stones,Beyoncé,Rihanna,Taylor Swift andArmin van Buuren. The dance eventSensation was held in the stadium every year, up until the final edition in 2017.
The stadium has aretractable roof and a grass surface. Since 2022, the stadium has acapacity of 55,865[1] during football matches, increased from 54,990.[2] The stadium has a capacity of 68,000 during music concerts if a center-stage setup is used (the stage in the middle of the pitch); for end-stage music concerts, the capacity is 50,000; and for music concerts for which the stage is located in the east side of the stadium, the capacity is 35,000. It held UEFA five-star stadium status, which was superseded by a new system of classification.
Amsterdam was one of six cities that bid to host the1992 Summer Olympics. In 1986, a new Olympic stadium was designed, with a football field and an athletics track. It was to be built in the area of Strandvliet inAmsterdam Zuidoost. After Amsterdam lost the bid toBarcelona in October 1986, the plans for the new stadium were abandoned. In 1987, the Stichting Amsterdam Sportstad (English: "Amsterdam Sports City Foundation") was established, which made new plans for a sports stadium with an all-seated capacity of 55,000. In 1990, a new design was made based on both previous designs, with a football field, an athletics track, and completely covered by a roof. By this time,AFC Ajax needed a new stadium, as their previous home ground,De Meer, was far too small for most of Ajax's games. Since the late 1960s, Ajax had moved its most important games toOlympisch Stadion.[7] Indeed, from the 1930s onward, Ajax had played most of their European fixtures and midweek night games at Olympisch Stadion.
Once more, the design was altered – the athletics track was removed, the capacity was reduced to 50,000 seats, and the fixed roof was replaced by aretractable roof. In 1992, theGovernment of Amsterdam authorised the plans for the stadium with aTransferium where people could transfer from their car to various forms of public transportation. In 1993, the Government of Amsterdam changed the development plan of the location and gave a permit to build the stadium.[7]
The first pile of thedeep foundation of the stadium was placed on 26 November 1993. The construction work, undertaken byBallast Nedam andRoyal BAM Group,[7] took almost three years. The highest point of the building was reached on 24 February 1995, after the roof construction was raised. The fly-over from the public road to the parking facilities was opened on 13 March 1996. The stadium received 180,000 visitors during the construction work, until the stadium was closed from 1 July 1996 until the opening ceremony.[7] The stadium was officially opened on 14 August 1996 byQueen Beatrix.[8]
At the grand opening, the queen made a curtain fall inside the stadium. This revealed the world's largest paintingDe Zee (English:The Sea) of 80 by 126 meters (262 ft × 413 ft). Two-dimensional ships were placed on the sea representing the clubs in theEredivisie.Trijntje Oosterhuis sang thehymn "De Zee", composed for the opening ceremony byJohn Ewbank. An eight-daytorch relay with 375 runners over 1400 km through the Netherlands reached the stadium. The first runner wasJohan Cruyff starting in the old stadium De Meer, and the last runner wasFrank Rijkaard arriving in the new stadium. After the grass was revealed and the roof opened, an inaugural football friendly was played between AFC Ajax andMilan, which Ajax lost 0–3.[citation needed]Tina Turner opened the stadium with three concerts with 160,000 people, from her world breakingWildest Dreams Tour.
The construction of the stadium cost an equivalent of €140 million[3] (at the time, the currency of the Netherlands was theDutch guilder).
The stadium combines a retractable roof with a grass surface. This caused some problems in the beginning: the turf's grass would not grow in the shade of the open roof and had to be replaced up to four times a year.[citation needed]
In September 2015, plans were presented to renovate the stadium's facade.[9] The renovation should provide better quality and service to visitors by widening the walkway rings around the stadium, creating more room for the visitors and for new facilities (the number of seats remains the same). As a result, the outside of the stadium transforms from a concave shape to a convex shape, drastically altering its appearance. The renovation has only been completed on the east side in 2020, when four matches of theUEFA Euro 2020 championship were played in the Arena.
Construction works started in June 2017.[10] The first phase is to renovate the east side of the stadium, where construction of the new facade was completed in April 2018.[11]
On 25 April 2017, it was announced that the Amsterdam Arena would be renamed to "Johan Cruijff Arena" in memory of Ajax legendJohan Cruyff.[12][13] Later that year, on 9 August, it was stated that the name change would take place on 25 October 2017.[14][15] However, this was postponed as that date proved to be infeasible due to the many matters that needed to be settled, such as arranging compensation for possible loss of income, transferring part of the shares from the municipality of Amsterdam to Ajax and having a discussion with the Cruyff family.[16][17]
On 5 April 2018, it was announced that the stadium would officially change name at the start of the 2018–19 football season.[4][5] The stadium's new logo was revealed on 25 April 2018, the birthday of Johan Cruyff.[18] According to the spokeswoman of Cruyff's family, the original Dutch spelling of his name (Cruijff) was chosen for the stadium's official name "to stay close to the Dutch Johan".[6] The 2018–19 football season started in August 2018.[19]
The stadium's original architect is the Dutchman Rob Schuurman. The original all-seated capacity was 54,990.[2] After the 2019–20 season, but before Euro 2020, capacity was expanded by 660.[1][20] The final increased capacity after the 2017-2021 renovation project is 56,120,[1] an increase of 1,130. The original capacity during music concerts – the stadium's maximum capacity – is 68,000 visitors.[3] The parking capacity of theTransferium is 500 cars (inside); there are an additional 12,000 parking spots outside.[3]
The Johan Cruyff Arena is one of two stadiums in the Netherlands that is rated asCategory 4 byUEFA, the other being theFeijenoord Stadion inRotterdam.[21]
The Ajax Museum is located in the stadium, which shows Ajax's more than 120 years of history.[22]
The nearest train and subway (metro) station isAmsterdam Bijlmer Arena. The metro lines 50 and 54 (Amsterdam Central Station and city center) stop here.
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The stadium is the home ofAFC Ajax in theEredivisie and European matches.
The inaugural match on 14 August 1996 was a friendly between the home teamAjax andAC Milan, which ended with a 3–0 win for Milan. The first goal was scored byDejan Savićević. The first Ajax goal was scored in the first competition match againstNAC Breda byKiki Musampa.
The1998 UEFA Champions League Final whenReal Madrid defeatedJuventus by 1–0 due to a goal byPredrag Mijatović, was played in the stadium. It was also one of the venues inUEFA Euro 2000.
And the stadium was the host of the2013 UEFA Europa League Final, whenChelsea defeatedBenfica by 2–1.
It hosts oftenDutch national team's international matches, though the Netherlands does not have one dedicatednational stadium for football.
Since a friendly game in 2015, the stadium hosts regularly matches since 2023 of theAFC Ajax Women. TheKlassieker home game againstFeyenoord of that year was the first, with an attendance of 33,742 visitors. A year later the same game was played in the stadium aswel. And also the home games of the group stage of the2023–24 UEFA Women's Champions League and theQuarter-final home game againstChelsea Women were venued at the stadium. The game against Chelsea saw a record attendance of 35,991 spectators for a women's football game in the Netherlands.
In addition, the stadium hosted pre-season friendlies of Ajax 1 (men) or in the past aswel tournaments, like theAmsterdam Tournament or games ofAjax's reserve team.
| Date | Team 1 | Result | Team 2 | Round |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 June 2000 |  Netherlands | 1–0 |  Czech Republic | Group D |
| 18 June 2000 |  Slovenia | 1–2 |  Spain | Group C |
| 21 June 2000 |  France | 2–3 | Netherlands | Group D |
| 24 June 2000 |  Turkey | 0–2 |  Portugal | Quarter-finals |
| 29 June 2000 | Netherlands | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (1–3p) |  Italy | Semi-finals |
The stadium hosted three group stage matches and one round of 16 match at theUEFA Euro 2020, which was postponed to 2021 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Europe. Also there was a smaller attendance because of this.
| Date | Team 1 | Result | Team 2 | Round | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 June 2021 | Netherlands | 3–2 |  Ukraine | Group C | 15,837[23] |
| 17 June 2021 | 2–0 |  Austria | 15,243[24] | ||
| 21 June 2021 |  North Macedonia | 0–3 | Netherlands | 15,227[25] | |
| 26 June 2021 |  Wales | 0–4 |  Denmark | Round of 16 | 14,645[26] |
The stadium was home of theAmerican football teamAmsterdam Admirals of theNFL Europe, until theNational Football League (NFL) ended its European competition in June 2007.[27] The team played over 50 matches in the stadium from 1997 to 2007.[8]World Bowl IX was played at the Arena in 2001, when theBerlin Thunder defeated theBarcelona Dragons.
Askickboxing is a popular combat sport in the Netherlands, theIt's Showtime andK-1 promotions have held a number of fight cards at the arena. Many of the sport's biggest stars such asPeter Aerts,Semmy Schilt,Badr Hari andErnesto Hoost have fought there.[28]
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Dutch music groupDe Toppers have played annually at the venue since 2005. In total, they have sold out more than 50 concerts; no other act has performed at the stadium that many times. The arena was listed as a potential venue in Amsterdam's bid to host the65th Eurovision Song Contest. However, the city later withdrew its bid due to venues, including the Johan Cruyff Arena, being fully booked.[29][30]
| Entertainment events held at the Johan Cruyff Arena | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Date | Artists | Tour | Supporting Acts | Attendance | Box Office | Ref. |
| 1996 | |||||||
| 6 September | Tina Turner | Wildest Dreams Tour | — | — | |||
| 7 September | |||||||
| 8 September | |||||||
| 28 September | Michael Jackson | HIStory World Tour | — | 250,000 / 250,000 | — | [31] | |
| 30 September | |||||||
| 2 October | |||||||
| 1997 | |||||||
| 8 June | |||||||
| 10 June | |||||||
| 18 June | Celine Dion | Falling into You: Around the World | — | — | |||
| 1998 | |||||||
| 29 June | The Rolling Stones | Bridges to Babylon Tour | Dave Matthews Band | 261,277 / 261,277 | $11,094,308 | ||
| 1 July | |||||||
| 2 July | |||||||
| 5 July | |||||||
| 6 July | |||||||
| 1999 | |||||||
| 5 June | Backstreet Boys | Into the Millennium Tour | — | — | |||
| 14 June | Celine Dion | Let's Talk About Love World Tour | — | 64,652 / 64,652 | $3,048,136 | ||
| 2001 | |||||||
| 5 June | Bon Jovi | One Wild Night Tour | — | — | |||
| 6 June | |||||||
| 2003 | |||||||
| 3 June | Bon Jovi | Bounce Tour | — | — | |||
| 17 July | Robbie Williams | Weekends of Mass Distraction | — | — | |||
| 18 July | |||||||
| 19 August | The Rolling Stones | Licks Tour | — | — | |||
| 22 September | |||||||
| 2004 | |||||||
| 11 June | David Bowie | A Reality Tour | — | — | |||
| 2005 | |||||||
| 13 July | U2 | Vertigo Tour | The Killers Snow Patrol Kaiser Chiefs The Music Athlete | 165,516 / 165,516 | $13,022,200 | ||
| 15 July | |||||||
| 16 July | |||||||
| 2006 | |||||||
| 21 June | Robbie Williams | Close Encounters Tour | — | — | |||
| 22 June | |||||||
| 24 June | |||||||
| 25 June | |||||||
| 31 July | The Rolling Stones | A Bigger Bang Tour | Toots and the Maytals | — | |||
| 3 September | Madonna | Confessions Tour | Paul Oakenfold | 102,330 / 102,330 | $11,783,254 | ||
| 4 September | |||||||
| 2007 | |||||||
| 16 June | Justin Timberlake | FutureSex/LoveShow | — | — | |||
| 1 July | Genesis | Turn It On Again: The Tour | — | 52,622 / 52,622 | $3,819,127 | ||
| 2008 | |||||||
| 2 June | Celine Dion | Taking Chances World Tour | The Storys | 46,969 / 52,772 | $4,565,126 | ||
| 13 June | Bon Jovi | Lost Highway Tour | — | 34,512 / 34,512 | $2,817,625 | ||
| 18 June | Bruce Springsteen | Magic Tour | — | 36,257 / 36,529 | $4,370,497 | ||
| 2 September | Madonna | Sticky & Sweet Tour | Robyn | 50,588 / 50,588 | $6,717,734 | ||
| 11 October | Kinderen voor Kinderen | Kinderen voor Kinderen Mega Spektakel | — | — | |||
| 2009 | |||||||
| 23 June | AC/DC | Black Ice World Tour | The Answer Drive Like Maria | 50,541 / 50,541 | $4,361,233 | ||
| 20 July | U2 | U2 360° Tour | Snow Patrol | 125,866 / 125,866 | $12,583,998 | ||
| 21 July | |||||||
| 2011 | |||||||
| 18 July | Take That | Progress Live | Pet Shop Boys | — | |||
| 2013 | |||||||
| 4 June | Muse | The 2nd Law World Tour | Biffy Clyro Bastille | — | |||
| 13 July | Robbie Williams | Take the Crown Stadium Tour | Olly Murs | — | |||
| 8 September | Roger Waters | The Wall Live | — | 47,414 / 47,500 | $4,257,133 | ||
| 2014 | |||||||
| 24 June | One Direction | Where We Are | 5 Seconds of Summer | 103,551 / 103,551 | $7,859,850 | ||
| 25 June | |||||||
| 2016 | |||||||
| 17 June | Rihanna | Anti World Tour | Big Sean DJ Mustard | 50,513 / 50,932 | $3,525,469 | ||
| 23 June | Coldplay | A Head Full of Dreams Tour | Lianne La Havas Alessia Cara | 104,511 / 104,511 | $8,759,000 | ||
| 24 June | |||||||
| 16 July | Beyoncé | The Formation World Tour | Chloe x Halle Ingrid | 49,436 / 49,436 | $4,712,051 | [32] | |
| 2017 | |||||||
| 13 May | Armin van Buuren | — | Eller van Buuren Gavin DeGraw Kensington Mr. Probz Trevor Guthrie | — | |||
| 29 July | U2 | The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 | Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds | 104,708 / 104,708 | $11,544,870 | ||
| 30 July | |||||||
| 30 September | The Rolling Stones | No Filter Tour | De Staat | 54,791 / 54,791 | $8,762,079 | ||
| 2018 | |||||||
| 19 June | Beyoncé Jay-Z | On the Run II Tour | DeeJay Abstract | 97,869 / 97,869 | $9,755,499 | [33] | |
| 20 June | DJ Flava | ||||||
| 2019 | |||||||
| 11 June | Metallica | WorldWired Tour | Ghost Bokassa | 50,576 / 50,576 | $5,151,429 | ||
| 2022 | |||||||
| 7 July | The Rolling Stones | Sixty | Ghost Hounds | 51,592 / 51,592 | $9,241,437 | ||
| 14 July | Ed Sheeran | +–=÷× Tour | Maisie Peters Cat Burns | 134,119 / 134,119 | $8,611,476 | ||
| 15 July | |||||||
| 2023 | |||||||
| 27 April | Metallica | M72 World Tour | Architects Mammoth WVH | 117,671 / 129,451 | $10,691,363 | ||
| 29 April | Ice Nine Kills Floor Jansen | ||||||
| 25 May | Bruce Springsteen E Street Band | 2023 Tour | — | ||||
| 27 May | |||||||
| 4 June | Harry Styles | Love On Tour | Wet Leg | 154,903 / 154,903 | $16,498,991 | ||
| 5 June | |||||||
| 6 June | |||||||
| 17 June | Beyoncé | Renaissance World Tour | — | 97,657 / 97,657 | $12,817,577 | [34][35] | |
| 18 June | |||||||
| 23 June | The Weeknd | After Hours til Dawn Tour | Kaytranada Mike Dean | 103,181 / 103,181 | $10,066,993 | ||
| 24 June | |||||||
| 15 July | Coldplay | Music of the Spheres World Tour | Griff Zoë Tauran | 217,609 / 217,609 | $30,322,573 | ||
| 16 July | |||||||
| 18 July | |||||||
| 19 July | |||||||
| 2024 | 9 June | Burna Boy | I Told Them Tour | ||||
| 4 July | Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour | Paramore | ||||
| 5 July | |||||||
| 6 July | |||||||
| 10 July | Pink | Pink Summer Carnival | Gayle KidCutUp The Script | ||||
| 11 July | |||||||
| 2025 | |||||||
| 22 June | Robbie Williams | Robbie Williams Live 2025 | The Lottery Winners | ||||
| 23 June | |||||||
| 11 July | Stray Kids | Dominate World Tour | |||||
| 13 July | Kendrick Lamar SZA | Grand National Tour | |||||
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