Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverry

Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverri, formerly known as Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, is a stadium located in the Caballito district of Buenos Aires. It is the home venue of Club Ferro Carril Oeste. The stadium, opened in 1905 and located close to Caballito station of Sarmiento Line,[1] has a current capacity of 24,442.[2]

Estadio Arq. Ricardo Etcheverri

The stadium pictured in 2010
Full name	Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverri
Former names	Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste
Address	Avellaneda 1240
Location	Caballito, Buenos Aires Argentina
Public transit	Sarmiento Line at Caballito railway station at Puan (0.9 km away)
Genre(s)	Sporting events Concerts
Capacity	24,442
Surface	Grass
Opened	2 January 1905 (1905-01-02)
Tenants
Ferro Carril Oeste

Inaugurated on 2 January 1905,[3] Ferro Carril Oeste is the oldest football stadium of Argentina (referring to clubs affiliated to AFA)[4][5] and the second in South America after Estadio Gran Parque Central (home venue of Uruguayan Club Nacional de Football, built in 1900).

Because of being located near the geographic centre of Buenos Aires, several former clubs used it as their home venues. Some of them were Alumni, Barracas AC, San Lorenzo, Argentinos Juniors, among others.

The stadium also hosted test matches played by the Argentina national rugby union team (Los Pumas) during the 1970s and 1980s, where Argentina played Ireland, New Zealand, France and Australia among others. In Ferro Carril Oeste, Argentina achieved notable wins over Australia (1979) and France (1985), and a celebrated 21–21 tie vs the All Blacks in 1985.[6][7]

History

The stadium was built on a land granted by the manager of Buenos Aires Western Railway in 1905. That same year the first wooden grandstand was built. The first official match was played here on 21 April 1907, when Ferro C. Oeste and Plate tied 2–2. In 1906, the first official grandstand (with roof) was built. Due to being linked with the Western Railway company, the club hosted several sports activities in 1907 to celebrate the 50th. anniversary of first railway line in Argentina.[8]

The stadium during a football match, c. 1940. The grandstand at background had been acquired to Club Boca Juniors some years earlier

The first notable event hosted by the stadium was the 1907 Tie Cup final where Alumni defeated Uruguayan side CURCC 3–1. As Alumni did not have own venue, the team played its home matches at Ferro C. Oeste between 1907 and 1909. Although Ferro C. Oeste played in the Second Division, its stadium was a frecquent venue for several Primera División matches by other teams.

When the Flores Athletic Club disbanded in 1907, Ferro Carril Oeste acquired some of its facilities such as tennis and paleta courts. In September 1931, the official grandstand was completely destroyed by fire, but was rebuilt. During the 1930s, the club got materials in change for football players. Some transfers made that way were Federici to Huracán and Arcadio López to Boca Juniors. In this case, the club received a whole wooden grandstand that had been part of the old Boca Juniors stadium. Two years later, Boca Juniors opened La Bombonera, made of concrete. The wooden grandstand was located on Martín de Gainza street.[8]

Apart from football, the stadium was used for midget car racings from the 1940s to the 1960s. In 1970, the club built a gymnasium under the official grandstand, which was inaugurated in 1972.[8]

Concerts

The stadium in 1980

Since the 1980s the Ferro Carril Oeste stadium has hosted a large amount of artists performing there, mostly rock bands.

Local rockstar Charly García gave his first concert as soloist there in 1982, with an attendance of 25,000 people.[9][10]

The first international artist to have performed at Ferro was British band The Cure in 1987, in a caotic concert that finished in a riot where hooligans and policemen fight inside and outside the stadium.[11] During the following years, several artists performed in the stadium, having hosted three editions of the Monsters of Rock metal festival, in 1995, 1997 and 2005.

Some of the most notable local bands performing at Ferro were Riff, Rata Blanca, Soda Stereo and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs.

Concerts hosted at Ferro C. Oeste Stadium
Artist	Date	Tour/Concert	Ref.
Charly García	Dec 1982	Yendo de la Cama al Living	[9][10]
Riff	Dec 1983, Dec 1997	Sin Cadenas, Monsters of Rock	[12][13]
Los Violadores	Dec 1983	Sin Cadenas	[12]
The Cure	Mar 1987	Kissing tour	[11]
Iron Maiden	July 1992, 2008	Fear of the Dark Tour and Somewhere Back in Time World Tour	[14]
Pantera	Abr 1995		[15]
Roxette	Abr 1995	Crash! Boom! Bang! Tour	[16]
Faith No More	Sep 1995	Monsters of Rock	[17]
Ozzy Osbourne	Sep 1995	Monsters of Rock	[17]
Alice Cooper	Sep 1995	Monsters of Rock	[17]
Paradise Lost	Sep 1995	Monsters of Rock	[17]
Therapy?	Sep 1995	Monsters of Rock	[17]
Clawfinger	Sep 1995	Monsters of Rock	[17]
Rata Blanca	Sep 1995, Oct 2004, Sep 2005	Monsters of Rock	[17][18]
Jimmy Page & Robert Plant	Jan 1996	No Quarter	[19]
The Black Crowes	Jan 1996	No Quarter	[19]
Soda Stereo	Nov 1996	Alternative Festival	[20][21]
Marilyn Manson	Nov 1996	Alternative Festival	[20]
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds	Nov 1996	Alternative Festival	[20]
Porno for Pyros	Nov 1996	Alternative Festival	[20]
Cypress Hill	Nov 1996	Alternative Festival	[20]
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs	Nov 1996	Alternative Festival	[20]
Spacehog	Nov 1996	Alternative Festival	[20]
Silverchair	Nov 1996	Alternative Festival	[20]
Tracy Bonham	Nov 1996	Alternative Festival	[20]
David Bowie	Nov 1997	Earthling Tour	[22]
Bush	Nov 1997		[22]
No Doubt	Nov 1997	Tragic Kingdom World Tour	[22]
Molotov	Nov 1997	Despedazado Tour	[22]
Café Tacuba	Nov 1997		[22]
Whitesnake	Dec 1997, Sep 2005	Monsters of Rock	[13]
Megadeth	Dec 1997	Monsters of Rock	[13]
Queensrÿche	Dec 1997	Monsters of Rock	[13]
The Offspring	Oct 2004	Quilmes Rock	[18]
Judas Priest	Sep 2005	Monsters of Rock	[23]
Lorihen	Sep 2005	Monsters of Rock	[23]
Pearl Jam	Nov 2005		[24]
Mudhoney	Nov 2005		[24]
My Chemical Romance	Feb 2008	The Black Parade	[25]
Maroon 5	Jul 2012		[26]
Jamiroquai	Feb 2013		[27]
Jonas Brothers	Mar 2013	World Tour 2012–13	[28]
Guns N' Roses	Abr 2014	Appetite for Democracy	[29]

References

1. "El Estadio". Infraestructura (in Spanish). Club Ferro Carril Oeste. Archived from the original on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
2. "ESTADIO ARQUITECTO RICARDO ETCHEVERRI". Soccerway: Club Ferro Carril Oeste. Perform. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
3. Estadio on Ferro C. Oeste website
4. Chau tablón, Clarín, 23 July 2005
5. Estadios argentinos by Carlos Aira on Xenen, 19 June 2016
6. "El historial de los Pumas contra los grandes: los All Blacks, el único al que no le pudieron ganar", Cancha Llena, 8 August 2015
7. "El historial de Los Pumas ante Australia, la tercera potencia", Infobae, 18 October 2015
8. Viejos estadios: Ferro Carril Oeste
9. "No bombardeen Buenos Aires": el recuerdo del histórico recital de Charly García en el estadio de Ferro en 1982
10. El día que García bombardeó Buenos Aires, Clarín
11. Por qué The Cure rompió su promesa y vuelve después de 26 años, La Nación/Rolling Stone
12. Biografía de Riff, Rock.com.ar
13. Los monstruos invadieron Buenos Aires, Clarín
14. Iron Maiden deleitó a 25 mil personas
15. Tour history on Pantera website
16. LLega Roxette a la Argentina
17. Monstruos en cuero, La Nación, 1995
18. El día que Ferro fue hogar de todas las tribus heavies, Pagina/12, Oct 2004
19. Elogio de la tercera edad, Página/12, 12 Jan 2014
20. Rock & Pop alternativo en dos días, La Nación
21. Cómo fueron los últimos años de Soda Stereo antes de la separación, Rolling Stone, 1 May 2017
22. Viene David Bowie, Clarín, 27 Sep 1997
23. Y desbordó Ferro, Clarín, Sep 2005
24. Un buen primer paso de Pearl Jam, La Nueva, 28 November 2005
25. My Chemical Romance en Argentina, Perfil, 2008
26. Maroon 5 viene a Ferro, TN, 2012
27. Jamiroquai hizo vibrar Ferro, Infobae
28. Jonas Brothers en Ferro, Ciudad.com
29. Guns N Roses tocó en Ferro con un Axl Rose irreconocible, Ciudad.com

External links

• Photos at worldstadiums.com
• Aerial photo at Google Earth