Re: Should the Azores and Madeira have been part of the hosting stadiums for Eu04 and No, would of been too much travel for some teams to only play 1-2 games (Braga hosted 3 games with only 1 repeat team) + they would of had to make a large stadium that would of ended up with a worse league attendence then what Leiria gets.
there are many reasons why it couldn't work. travel, stadium, accomodation for the thousands of extra tourists etc.. but i do think the national team should play friendlies in the acores and madeira more often. i was lucky to see to see the national team play mocambique in sao miguel in 1998 but the national team didn't return to the acores for another 7 years until a friendly against egypt.
What would really be a good argument would be if we should have constructed a new national stadium as opposed to building the one in Leiria, which doesn't even fill against the big three...
I say Yes, the Azores is bangin!!! Yeah the stadiums arent as big, but its part of Portugal and shouldnt be ignored.
It would be a wonderful move. A giant beautiful stadium somewhere on the moutain top overlooking the city and the ocean. But realistically, financially it couldn't support it. People are really dying to live on the Islands either, and unless people start to procreate at an unusualy larger amount, they wouldn't and should have a large, new stadium. Yes it is part of Portugal, and I hope it stays that way forever, but realistically...until it becomes more populus, I don't believe they should have been, or should be in the futur part of any large touraments.
Re: Should the Azores and Madeira have been part of the hosting stadiums for Eu04 and Actually it is more populated now then ever before. I read it has the highest population per capita in the EU.
Re: Should the Azores and Madeira have been part of the hosting stadiums for Eu04 and Don't you mean per sqKm ?
I also would be more supportive of a new National Stadium, though I don't think it would have been fair for Lisbon to get yet another new stadium, nor would it be fair for Belenenses' and Setúbal not to either get government assistance for renovations on their stadiums or new stadiums altogether. Also, there desperately needs to be a competitive team in Algarve to ensure that the white elephant there gets some usage. It was a horrible idea to build a stadium there that isn't home to a top tier club...
Re: Should the Azores and Madeira have been part of the hosting stadiums for Eu04 and Estadio do Algarve could easily be renamed Estadio Nacional.
Re: Should the Azores and Madeira have been part of the hosting stadiums for Eu04 and The Estadio Nacional would have to be bigger though. 30,000 simply isn't enough.
Re: Should the Azores and Madeira have been part of the hosting stadiums for Eu04 and Do you really think 30k isn't enough on most Taca de Portugal finals ? I don't know about that; short of a match between the 3 grandes, not too many finals, I believe, surpass the 30 K mark.
"Top tier" clubs in Portugal are only 3. As published in Portuguese media, only 4 clubs in 2005-06 drew an average of over 10,000 fans per game : Média de assistências aos jogos 2005/06 FC Porto __________44,000 Bnfica ____________37,890 Sporting __________35,781 ................................... .... Guimarães_________15,974 Académica _________9,272 Braga _____________8,374 Boavista ___________6,050 Marítimo ___________5,197 Belenenses ________3,982 U. Leiria ___________3,230 Rio Ave ____________2,912 Setubal ____________2,227 Gil Vicente _________2,127
Re: Should the Azores and Madeira have been part of the hosting stadiums for Eu04 and You also want the Azores to have more population. You wouldn't last long in China.
Re: Should the Azores and Madeira have been part of the hosting stadiums for Eu04 and Anything Portugal I want to have a higher population. More people = more everything, more women, more futebol, more money, more respect...etc..etc..etc.
Re: Should the Azores and Madeira have been part of the hosting stadiums for Eu04 and Remember what Confuscius said : More hair more work. Bigger hill bigger (longer) hike. p.s. I think he also was the first to quote : Size don't matter, it's how you use it.
More people on the Azores wouldn't be such a great thing, unless some volcanoes can create some more land. (they've done so in the past, kind of a scary thought) I would've liked for Euro 2004 to have been truly present in all regions but for all the reasons already stated it just wasn't feasible. Just out of curiousity are there any games scheduled for the Azores in the coming months (u21 included) or will they have to wait a little longer to enjoy a national game again.
Surprised Braga didn't get over 10 000. They have a beautiful stadium, they had a good team, and they have a relatively large population...with regards to Portugal.
We shouldn´t have built 10 stadiums, 6 would be enough, Porto, Benfica, Sporting, Braga, Vit. Guimaraes and Boavista the top 6 clubs in Portugal. The pressure from the other cities led to the current situation an Algarve stadium without use, Leiria always empty, Beira Mar a little better than Leiria but still a waste of money, only Coimbra atracted good crowds, even 30 000 for Boavista is to much. So no need for new stadiums in Azores or Madeira, one could make the case for a new Madeira stadium, because of Maritimo and Nacional at least they would get better crowds than Leiria. Anyway apart from Benfica, Porto, and Sporting no team in Portugal will ever draw more than 20 000 a game, so the Euro 2004 stadiums should had removable stands, 30 000 for the tournament and 20 000 for the league or something like that. The atmosphere created by 16 000 Vitória fans in a 20 000 stadium would be great instead of a 30 000, the same goes for 10 000 Braga Boavista and Academica fans in a 20 000 stadium. Teams like Beira Mar, Leiria and other medium/lower teams should had followed the example of Gil Vicente a 12 000 stadium, good looking stadium, pretty functional and adequate to their needs. Apart from the ocasional 20 000 against one of the big 3 the best they can get and can aspire is 5000/6000, max 8000 a game... considering the dimension of the cities, history and future.