# Stadionul Steaua (1974)

44°24′46.10″N 26°2′25.60″E﻿ / ﻿44.4128056°N 26.0404444°E﻿ / 44.4128056; 26.0404444
Steaua Stadium (Romanian: Stadionul Steaua), informally also known as Ghencea Stadium, was a football stadium in Bucharest, Romania, which served as the home of Steaua București. It was inaugurated on 9 April 1974 when Steaua played a friendly game against OFK Belgrade, 2–2. Gheorghe Tătaru was the first player to score in the stadium.
The stadium was entirely demolished in 2018, and was replaced with a new all-seater stadium opened in 2021.

## History

At the time it was one of the first football-only stadiums ever built in Romania, as there are no athletic (track and field) facilities, and the stands are very close to the pitch.
The original capacity was 30,000 on benches, but in 1991 when the plastic seats were installed, the capacity dropped to 28,365, along with 126 press seats, 440 seats in VIP boxes and 733 armchairs. The floodlighting system with a density of 1400 lux was inaugurated in 1991.
The stadium was renovated in 1996 and 2006 in order to host UEFA Champions League. It was renovated again in 2020 for €94.7 million in a project that brought its seating capacity to 31.254.

## Romanian national football team

The following national team matches were held in the stadium:
| # | Date | Score | Opponent | Competition |
| 1. | 23 March 1977 | 4–0 | Turkey | Balkan Cup |
| 2. | 16 April 1977 | 1–0 | Spain | Qualification for World Cup 1978 |
| 3. | 27 April 1977 | 1–1 | East Germany | Friendly match |
| 4. | 21 September 1977 | 6–1 | Greece | Friendly match |
| 5. | 13 November 1977 | 4–6 | Yugoslavia | Qualification for World Cup 1978 |
| 6. | 11 October 1978 | 1–0 | Poland | Friendly match |
| 7. | 25 October 1978 | 3–2 | Yugoslavia | Qualification for European Championship 1980 |
| 8. | 21 March 1979 | 3–0 | Greece | Friendly match |
| 9. | 24 August 1983 | 1–0 | East Germany | Friendly match |
| 10. | 10 September 1986 | 4–0 | Austria | Qualification for European Championship 1988 |
| 11. | 25 March 1987 | 5–1 | Albania | Qualification for European Championship 1988 |
| 12. | 29 April 1987 | 3–1 | Spain | Qualification for European Championship 1988 |
| 13. | 7 October 1987 | 2–2 | Greece | Friendly match |
| 14. | 2 November 1988 | 3–0 | Greece | 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 15. | 17 May 1989 | 1–0 | Bulgaria | 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 16. | 15 November 1989 | 3–1 | Denmark | 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 17. | 26 September 1990 | 2–1 | Poland | Friendly match |
| 18. | 17 October 1990 | 0–3 | Bulgaria | UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying |
| 19. | 5 December 1990 | 6–0 | San Marino | UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying |
| 20. | 16 October 1991 | 1–0 | Scotland | UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying |
| 21. | 13 November 1991 | 1–0 | Switzerland | UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying |
| 22. | 8 April 1992 | 2–0 | Latvia | Friendly match |
| 23. | 6 May 1992 | 7–0 | Faroe Islands | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 24. | 20 May 1992 | 5–1 | Wales | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 25. | 14 November 1992 | 1–1 | Czechoslovakia | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 26. | 14 April 1993 | 2–1 | Cyprus | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 27. | 22 September 1993 | 1–0 | Israel | Friendly match |
| 28. | 13 October 1993 | 2–1 | Belgium | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 29. | 20 April 1994 | 2–0 | Bolivia | Friendly match |
| 30. | 25 May 1994 | 2–0 | Nigeria | Friendly match |
| 31. | 1 June 1994 | 0–0 | Slovenia | Friendly match |
| 32. | 7 September 1994 | 3–0 | Azerbaijan | UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying |
| 33. | 12 November 1994 | 3–2 | Slovakia | UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying |
| 34. | 29 March 1995 | 2–1 | Poland | UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying |
| 35. | 7 June 1995 | 2–1 | Israel | UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying |
| 36. | 11 October 1995 | 1–3 | France | UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying |
| 37. | 24 April 1996 | 5–0 | Georgia | Friendly match |
| 38. | 1 June 1996 | 3–1 | Moldova | Friendly match |
| 39. | 14 August 1996 | 2–0 | Israel | Friendly match |
| 40. | 31 August 1996 | 3–0 | Lithuania | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 41. | 29 March 1997 | 8–0 | Liechtenstein | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 42. | 30 April 1997 | 1–0 | Republic of Ireland | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 43. | 20 August 1997 | 4–2 | Macedonia | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 44. | 10 September 1997 | 4–0 | Iceland | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 45. | 18 March 1998 | 0–1 | Israel | Friendly match |
| 46. | 3 June 1998 | 3–2 | Paraguay | Friendly match |
| 47. | 2 September 1998 | 7–0 | Liechtenstein | UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying |
| 48. | 28 April 1999 | 1–0 | Belgium | Friendly match |
| 49. | 5 June 1999 | 2–0 | Hungary | UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying |
| 50. | 9 June 1999 | 4–0 | Azerbaijan | UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying |
| 51. | 8 September 1999 | 1–1 | Portugal | UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying |
| 52. | 31 May 2000 | 2–1 | Greece | Friendly match |
| 53. | 3 September 2000 | 1–0 | Lithuania | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 54. | 15 November 2000 | 2–1 | FR Yugoslavia | Friendly match |
| 55. | 24 March 2001 | 0–2 | Italy | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 56. | 5 September 2001 | 2–0 | Hungary | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 57. | 6 October 2001 | 1–1 | Georgia | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 58. | 14 November 2001 | 1–1 | Slovenia | 2002 FIFA World Cup Play-off, 2nd Leg |
| 59. | 12 October 2002 | 0–1 | Norway | UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying |
| 60. | 16 November 2005 | 3–0 | Nigeria | Friendly match |
| 61. | 7 October 2006 | 3–1 | Belarus | UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying |
| 62. | 26 March 2008 | 3–0 | Russia | Friendly match |
| 63. | 31 May 2008 | 4–0 | Montenegro | Friendly match |
| 64. | 11 February 2009 | 1–2 | Croatia | Friendly match |
| 65. | 9 September 2009 | 1–1 | Austria | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification |

## Important matches

| Date | Match | Result | Notes |
| 09-04-1974 | Steaua–Belgrade | 2–2 | A friendly game, the first ever played on Ghencea Stadium. |
| 28-04-1974 | Steaua–Brașov | 2–2 | First official match played on Ghencea Stadium. |
| 23-03-1977 | Romania–Turkey | 4–0 | A Balcanic Cup game. The first game played by Romania on Ghencea Stadium. |
| 03-10-1979 | Steaua–Young Boys | 6–0 | Steaua's largest win in European Cups. |
| 16-04-1986 | Steaua–Anderlecht | 3–0 | European Cup semifinal. Following this win, Steaua qualified for the European Cup final. |
| 06-04-1988 | Steaua–Benfica | 0–0 | European Cup semifinal. |
| 07-12-1988 | Steaua–Corvinul | 11–0 | Steaua's largest win in Liga I. |
| 15-03-1989 | Steaua–Göteborg | 5–1 | European Cup quarter-finals. |
| 05-04-1989 | Steaua–Galatasaray | 4–0 | European Cup semifinal. An important win for Steaua which virtually opened the door to the European Cup final. |
| 15-11-1989 | Romania–Denmark | 3–1 | Following this win, Romania qualified to 1990 FIFA World Cup, the first World Cup Romania attended in twenty years. |
| 01-09-1991 | Steaua–Brăila | 2–0 | A Divizia A game, in which occasion the floodlight installation was inaugurated. |
| 13-09-1995 | Steaua–Rangers | 1–0 | First match won in UEFA Champions League new format. |
| 04-04-1998 | Steaua–Dinamo | 5–0 | A Divizia A game, Steaua's largest win against Dinamo. |
| 31-05-1998 | Greece U21–Spain U21 | 0–1 | A 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Final. |
| 25-02-2005 | FCSB–Valencia | 2–0 | Steaua won 4–3 on penalty shootout, and thus Steaua qualified for the Round of 16 of the UEFA Cup. Many consider this game, the most important win of the past 15 years, marking the beginning of "a new era" for the Romanian side. |
| 07-04-2007 | FCSB–Dinamo | 2–4 | A Divizia A game, in which occasion the new scoreboard was inaugurated. |
| 24-11-2009 | Urziceni–Sevilla | 1–0 | A UEFA Champions League game. First home victory for a Romanian team in the Champions League after 13 years. |

## Photo gallery

* Official Stand in 2010
* Half-time at Ghencea
* Steaua vs. U Craiova
* Unirea Urziceni in Champions League
* Unirea Urziceni vs. Zenit Sankt Petersburg
* Steaua vs. Dinamo
* Steaua fans at Ghencea
* Stadium main entrance
* Stadionul Ghencea in 2007