Marbella FC venue to tower above all

Image: Marbella FC

Spanish football club Marbella FC has revealed plans for a new stadium the luxury and features of which are expected to dwarf not just Spanish rivals but all of European medium-scale stadia. The new proposal for Marbella has been inspired by a multideck yacht.

Marbella FC, which plays in the Segunda División B, the third tier of Spanish football, is teaming up with the City Council on the project.

The 18,000-seat facility will come up on the site of Marbella’s present home ground – the 7,300-capacity Estadio de Marbella located in Marbella, Spain. The new project would lead to the removal of the athletics track from the present site.

Apart from staunch fans of Spanish football, nobody knows much about Marbella FC and the club has never gone beyond Segunda B (third tier). Marbella FC missed out on promotion to the second-tier Segunda División after a play-off loss to Spanish football team Peña Deportiva earlier this month.

In 2018, the reins of the club’s management was taken over by players’ agency ‘Best of You’, on behalf of a Chinese investor wanting to truly put Marbella on the map of Spanish football as well as on the top of the heap. So far, though the results are not great but it is a long-term plan.

Óscar Ribot, Chief Executive of ‘Best of You’, observed that the stadium would be an “urban jewel” and would serve as a “symbol of the City”.

A futuristic and football-specific stadium lies at the heart of the strategy. Financed privately, it’s expected to eclipse domestic and international competition when it comes to the luxury quotient, despite the compact size. Even though the development will be privately funded, the project requires the City to transfer land.

Though Marbella’s new facility would sit near its old home ground, it would be moved over 50 meters east, partly taking its current location and partly the nearby training ground and connecting street. The move would free up precious space along the representative Travesía Huerta los Cristales, leading to nearby beaches.

The now-available space would be taken up by a pavilion with hotel and commercial spaces, and as the whole concept has been inspired by a yacht, it will also go on to define the maritime theme of the entire stadium. While allowing for a modern and elegant design, this theme is deeply embedded in Marbella’s (and Costa del Sol overall) traditions.

Relocation of the stadium would require the demolition of one street, which would then be replaced by a new connector, directly beside the new stadium’s West stand. It would offer comfortable access to players, VIPs and people who would avail of the arena’s underground parking facility, which would lodge as many as 2,000 cars (due to spatial constraints at the heart of Marbella, ground-level parking isn’t an option).

The stadium will come up as a fashionable and sophisticated facility. It would offer extensive VIP and corporate hospitality facilities, spread across 4,600 m2 (of which the presidential suite alone would take 1,000 m2!). While the presidential suite would be lodged in the West, private boxes would create a continuous ring around the stadium, the facility will also flaunt a retractable roof, something not seen for an arena of such small scale. It will also boast a swimming pool for guests.

The venue can play host to concerts the year round, keeping in mind to lessen noise and light pollution for the community which sits in and around the venue.

The project will require nod from the City Council and the powers that be before it can move forward. The cost and timeline of the project have not been revealed.

Media reports stated that the stadium would also be used for international meetings and other leisure and cultural events.

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