Stage Front Stadium: Espanyol
From Espanyol
Real Club Deportivo Español, or Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona in Catalan, is a football club based in the Spanish city of Barcelona. The club spent the majority of its existence playing its games at the Estadi de Sarrià, moving briefly to the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys before making the RCDE Stadium its home. Sometimes called the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat owing to its location in the Barcelona suburb of Cornellà de Llobregat and El Prat de Llobregat, it is currently known as the Stage Front Stadium due to sponsorship.
Building work began in 2003 and it opened six years later.
As a football club, Espanyol have always suffered in the shadow of their more famous neighbour. The Periquitos haven’t had even an inkling of the success of Barcelona, yet they’ve achieved enough over the years to maintain the interest of their fervent support base. Something else of note when it comes to the Catalan club is that they have numerous associate sports clubs that take their name. As well as the men’s football team there is also a basketball team and women’s equivalent of both. On top of that the men also play hockey and baseball, whilst the women have a volleyball team.
Stats
| Stage Front Stadium Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Opened | 2009 |
| Capacity | 40000 |
| Average Attendance | 19147 |
| Record Attendance | 40240 (Espanyol v Real Madrid (2011)) |
| Pitch Size | 105 x 68 (7140) |
| Nickname | Corneprat |
| Former Name | RCDE Stadium, Estadi Cornellà-El Prat, Power8 Stadium |
| Owner | Espanyol |
| Sponsor | Stage Front |
| Clubs Hosted | Espanyol |
| First Fixture | Espanyol v Liverpool (02/08/2009) |
| Espanyol Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1900 |
| Nickname | Periquitos (Budgerigars) Blanquiazules (White and Blue) Mágico (Magical) |
| Club Mascot | Perico (a parakeet) |
| Rivals | FC Barcelona |
| Previous Stadiums | Estadi de Sarrià, Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys |
| Kit | Blue & White Stripes (Home) / Purple (Away) / Black (Third) |
| Training Ground | Ciutat Esportiva Dani Jarque |
| Shirt Sponsor | DANI |
| Team Owner | Rastar Managerial Group |
| Record Goalscorer | Raúl Tamudo (140) |
| Record Appearances | Raúl Tamudo (380) |
Stage Front Stadium Photos
By Panotxa (Own work) [Public domain]
By Jordiferrer (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0]
Almusaiti / Flickr.com
Xavier Rondón Medina / Flickr.com
Stage Front Stadium Seating Plan and Where to Sit
From the outside Stage Front Stadium looks very English in its set-up. Once you get inside, however, it’s far more European in its layout, with a bowl of continuous seating that stretches right the way around the venue. The Gol Prat Stand is behind the Northern goal and is opposite the Gol Cornella Stand. As with the rest of the stadium, both stands have to tiers. Along the two sides of the pitch are the Tribuna and the Tribuna Presidencial, the latter of which is the ‘main’ stand in the stadium. There are roofs over every stand that have solar panels on them.
Espanyol Ticket Prices
As with plenty of other big teams across Europe, Espanyol tier their tickets according to the opposition. You’ll pay top whack for matches against Real Madrid and Barcelona, slightly less for games against the likes of Malaga, Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid and the cheapest tickets tend to be reserved for when teams such as Alaves, Granada and Las Palmas come to town.
You’ll also pay different prices depending on where in the ground you want to sit, so corner tickets will range from €30 for tier three games to €90 for tier one. €30 is the lowest you’ll pay for any match, but there are prices that will suit pretty much any budget as long as you’re not too fussy where you sit and which team you watch Espanyol go up against.
How To Get Espanyol Tickets
The club’s official website is a good place to start, as is their telephone booking line. They have numerous partners you can buy tickets through, though, such as ticketmaster, the Ticket Bureau, Turismo de Barcelona and more.
Where to Buy
Getting To Stage Front Stadium
Train – Getting to Barcelona from London by train will take about ten hours. You’ll head firstly to Paris, arriving into Gare de Nord before switching to Gare de Lyon to complete your journey. Once in the city of Barcelona you’ll be able to use the excellent public transport there to get to Cornellà-Riera Train Station, which is about ten minutes walk from the ground.
Bus – Train is your best bet for getting to the stadium if you’re heading there from central Barcelona, but there are bus options too. The 94 bus stops outside the stadium, for example.
Car – The A-2 / E-90 passes right by the stadium, so that’s the main road you’ll be looking for if you’re planning on driving to the ground.
By Air – Aeroport de Barcelona-El Prat is the closest airpots to the stadium, almost within walking distance. It is Spain’s second-largest airport, so that is where you’ll be flying to if you end up heading to Barcelona by air.
Taxi – A taxi from central Barcelona out to the stadium will set you back around €20, though that will be more if there’s bad traffic. The journey will take around 25 minutes to complete its journey.
Parking Near Stage Front Stadium
The stadium boasts just under 3,300 car parking spaces, which won’t be enough for everyone who turns up to watch Espanyol games every week but they are only a few Euro each. You might well be restricted to on-street parking, then, so do keep your eye our for any local restrictions.
Useful Resources
Stage Front Stadium Hotels
Hotels in Barcelona? There are one or two…
Hotel Campanile BARCELONA SUD - £60+
Hotel El Castell - £70+
Hesperia Tower Hotel - £90+
Pubs and Bars Near Stage Front Stadium
Bars in Barcelona? There are three or four…
Bar Cervecería Luna
Bar Bodega Gol
The George Payne Irish Bar
Facilities
Being a relatively new stadium, the RCDE is an excellent place to visit, with all the mod cons you would expect from a stadium in the modern age.
Hospitality
There are three main hospitality sections within the stadium starting with the 271 seats located in the President Club. There are 36 Executive Club boxes, as well as 1200 Corporate Club seats spread throughout boxes and seating areas. The hospitality suites run around the middle of the ground, between the two tiers.
Private Hire
The facilities at the RCDE Stadium are world-class, so if you’re looking for somewhere to host a conference, business meeting or other event then you’ll want to get in touch with the club directly and see what they can do for you.
Stadium Tours & Museum
The tour of RCDE Stadium takes in numerous locations that will interest you, including where the press conferences are held, the dugouts and the changing rooms. As well as having a look around the ground you’ll also be able to take in the museum, filled with club memorabilia and information from the club’s sometimes illustrious past. It costs €15 for adults and €5 for children, although adults with memberships can get in for €10, with tours running from 12.30pm to 4.30pm Monday to Friday and 11am to 12.30pm on Saturdays. There are no tours on match days.
About Espanyol
Espanyol was formed as a football club in 1900. To suggest that they have existed in the shadow of Barcelona is something of an understatement, with the origins of the club coming from an entirely Spanish background; that’s in direct opposition to the multi-cultural nature of Barcelona. Even so, the success has long favoured Barca, as Espanyol have finished above them in La Liga just three times in around seventy years. The two sides appeared together in a Copa del Rey final in 1957, which Barcelona won. It came just six years after Espanyol’s biggest ever victory against their rivals – a 6-0 win in 1951.
Back to the club’s origins, they were formed as Sociedad Española de Football, later becoming Club Español de Fútbol. Another change of name came about in 1910 when they became Club Deportivo Español. They were granted royal status in 1912, becoming Real Club Deportivo Español. When King Alfonso XIII abdicated in 1931 they switched to Club Esportiu Espanyol, remaining that way until 1995 when they chose to use the Catalanised version of the name, Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona. Though they have never won La Liga, they have won the Copa del Rey four times and have twice appeared in the UEFA Cup final; once in 1988 and then again in 2007.
Stage Front Stadium History
For the first 23 years of the club’s existence they played their games at various locations around Barcelona, not narrowing down their home until 1923 when they moved to Estadi de Sarrià in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi. They spent twelve years at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, arriving in 1997 and leaving in 2009. That was the point at which they moved to what is now known as RCDE Stadium. When it opened it was called Estadi Cornellà-El Prat, named after the two different areas of the city that it was built between. In July 2014 it took on the name of the Power8 Stadium due to sponsorship, but that was ended in January of 2016.
It is very much a state-of-the-art stadium, winning a Stadium Business Award in 2010. It took six years to build and cost €65 million to complete, with an opening match taking place between Espanyol and Liverpool on the second of August, 2009. The scorer of the first ever goal in the ground was Luis Garcia, helping the home side to a 3-0 win against a team he has previously won the Champions League with. It is a 4-Star stadium according to UEFA’s categorisation system and has a shopping mall attached to it.
Future Developments
Having only opened in recent years and being considered as one of the most up-to-date stadiums in Spain, it’s unlikely that any future developments will happen any time soon.