Johan Cruijff ArenA
The Johan Cruijff ArenA is the stadium of the most successful club of the Netherlands, Ajax. It’s Ajax’s stadium since 1996. The locals refer to the stadium as The Arena, and it’s the biggest stadium of the Netherlands with a capacity of 55,865. Not only football matches take place at the Arena; it also hosts concerts.
The Arena; let yourself be impressed
Ajax first played at ‘De Meer’, but they decided it was time for a change in 1989. The final decision was made in 1993 and they started building the Arena. The most successful club of Holland should have a large stadium and that they have now. This is not only the biggest stadium of Holland, but also one of the two stadiums in the Netherlands of which the rooftop can be closed in case the weather is bad, for example. The stadium was first called the Amsterdam ArenA and it changed to Johan Cruijff ArenA in 2018 to honour the club’s hero.
Renovations and future plans
The first renovations at the Johan Cruijff Arena took place before the stadium would host the Euro 2000. The capacity of the stadium increased with 1240 for the tournament. They built two temporary stands which were broken off after the tournament but despite of that, the stadium broke The Kuip’s record of being the biggest stadium in the Netherlands; this title now belongs to the Johan Cruijff Arena. The stadium was renovated and expanded constantly since then. They increased the capacity again before the 2020 European Championships took place and the Arena transferred to renewable energy. Solar panels were installed on the roof, and they built more toilets, cafeterias, and escalators.
Visit the Arena?
Would you like to visit this hypermodern stadium in the beautiful city of Amsterdam? There are two ways to travel from Amsterdam’s Central Station to the Johan Cruijff Arena. Metro 54 towards Gein will bring you to station Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA within 20 minutes. From this station, you only need to walk a couple of minutes to the stadium. You could also travel through train towards the stadium. Board Sprinter 4051 towards Rotterdam Central and disembark at Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA. This takes 20 minutes from Amsterdam’s Central Station, as well. Would you like to visit the fantastic Johan Cruijff Arena and to cheer on top club Ajax? Then you should book your football trip to Ajax quickly!