September 24, 1957: Futbol Club Barcelona open a new stadium, the Camp Nou. The opening event is a Catholic Mass, attended by 90,000 people, not a soccer game (football match).
From 1926 to 1957, FC Barcelona had played at Camp de Les Corts, having expanded it to 60,000 seats. But their post-World War II success meant that they needed more seats, and it was impossible to expand the stadium any further. Camp Nou would eventually hold over 120,000 fans, before its conversion to all-seater brought capacity down to 98,000, meaning it was still the biggest club soccer stadium in Europe.
Barcelona became identified with the resistance of the people of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, which opposed Francisco Franco and the Fascists, and were seriously oppressed. They are so deeply engrained in Catalan culture that they have adopted the slogan "Mes Que Un Club" (More Than a Club). It's even "written" into the seats at their stadium, the 98,000-seat Camp Nou.
As a result, Real Madrid have been seen as a "cheating" club, somehow turning draws into wins and losses into draws, with dives for penalties and "horror tackles" overlooked by the referees. Eventually, Barcelona learned how to do that, too, especially in European tournaments like the UEFA Champions League, to the point where they became known as "UEFAlona."
Since moving into the Camp Nou, Barça have won Spain's La Liga 20 times, for a total of 26 (UPDATE: They won a 21st in 2023, making 27); the Copa del Rey, the King's Cup, Spain's version of the FA Cup, 19 times, for a total of 31; and won the European Cup/UEFA Champions League 5 times: In 1992, 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015. (They've also lost the Final in 1961, 1986 and 1994.)
In addition, the Camp Nou has hosted 2 Champions League Finals: 1989, with A.C. Milan beating Steaua București; and 1999, with Manchester United coming from behind in stoppage time to beat Bayern Munich. It also hosted 5 games in the 1982 World Cup, and the soccer games for the 1992 Olympics.
A renovation plan was approved in 2022. Barça will play the 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, the main stadium for the 1992 Olympics.
*
September 24, 1957 was a Tuesday. It was the day that President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce the law desegregating Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. I have a separate entry for that.
American football was in midweek. And the starts of the NBA and NHL seasons were a month away. But a full slate of Major League Baseball games was played:
* The most significant was, as already widely believed but not yet officially confirmed, the last game at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. I also have a separate entry for that.
The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0 on a 5-hit shutout by rookie lefthander Danny McDevitt. The Dodgers would have the next 2 days off, and close their history as a Brooklyn-based team away to the Philadelphia Phillies, losing the finale.
Two nights earlier, Duke Snider had hit the last 2 home runs at the ballpark. The last play was Dee Fondy grounding to short, where, appropriately, Pee Wee Reese, a Dodger since 1940, threw to Gil Hodges for the last out.
* The New York Giants, who had already announced their move to San Francisco for the 1958 season, lost to the Phillies, 5-0 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Curt Simmons pitched a 4-hit shutout. Willie Mays went 0-for-3. Five days later, on Sunday, September 29, the Giants would play their last game at the Polo Grounds, and lost to the Pirates, 9-1.
For the next 4 seasons, New York's National League baseball fans, unwilling to give up baseball, but unwilling to switch to the American League's New York Yankees, took the Pennsylvania Railroad from Penn Station in New York to the North Philadelphia station, and walked the 7 blocks from Broad Street down Lehigh Avenue to 21st Street, and walked into Connie Mack Stadium to watch the Phillies play the Los Angeles Dodgers or the San Francisco Giants.
If they were feeling particularly adventurous, they would drive down, and risk their cars, parking in the North Philly ghetto. Some would cheer their old heroes. Some would boo them.
In 1962, the New York Mets arrived, and the former fans of the Dodgers and the Giants would join in a "marriage of convenience" -- one which produced "The New Breed," the Met fans too young to really remember the former teams.
* The Yankees? They didn't play that night. Nor did the Baltimore Orioles, the Cleveland Indians, or the Detroit Tigers.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Senators, 2-1 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Ted Williams hit a home run.
* The Cincinnati Redlegs -- from 1954 to 1958, the Reds used that name due to the stupidity of the Red Scare -- swept a doubleheader from the Chicago Cubs, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The Reds won the opener 4-3, and the nightcap 11-9. Over the 2 games, Ernie Banks went 2-for-9 with a home run and 2 RBIs for the Cubs; while, for the Reds, Frank Robinson went 1-for-6 with an RBI, and Wally Post homered in both games.
* The Milwaukee Braves, having clinched their 1st NL Pennant the night before on an 11th-inning home run by Hank Aaron, beat the St. Louis Cardinals at Milwaukee County Stadium again, this time 6-1 in the regulation 9 innings. In this game, Aaron went 1-for-5, but the hit was a grand slam. Stan Musial went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.
* And the Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Athletics, 7-6 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.
No comments:
Post a Comment