Real Sociedad - Malaga

Estadio Anoeta replaced Real Sociedad’s old Estadio de Atotxa, which had become too small and lacked the possibilities for expansion. In sharp contrast, the new stadium was bowl-shaped, spacious, and had an athletics track circling the pitch.

Estadio Anoeta officially opened on the 29th of July 1993 with the European Youth Athletics Championships. The first match at the stadium was played a few weeks later when Sociedad received Real Madrid for a friendly.

Real Sociedad has never been really happy in Estadio Anoeta due to the distance between the spectators and the pitch and the resulting cold atmosphere. In the mid-2000s, the club therefore presented plans to remove the athletic tracks and redevelop the stadium, a project dubbed Gipuzkoarena, however this never came off the ground.

In early 2014, Real Sociedad once again presented plans for a redevelopment of Anoeta, which includes the extension of the lower tier closer to the pitch, increased hospitality areas and an enlarged roof, and furthermore will increase capacity to 42,000 seats.

These plans were confirmed to go ahead in 2016 with works scheduled to start in March 2017 and finish before the start of the 2019-20 season.

How to get to Anoeta

Estadio Anoeta is located toward the south of the city of San Sebastián at about 2 kilometres from the city’s bay, La Concha beach, and the old town. The distance from the city’s main railway station is about the same.

From all these places the walk to the stadium can be made in about  half an hour. The walk from the train station where most local trains arrive (Euskotren) will be even shorter.

The stadium can furthermore be reached with several buses. From the old town (stop Boulevard 9) one can take bus 21 to Anoeta. Buses run about every 15 minutes and also pass the Euskotren station (Easo Plaza). Bus 26 (to Martutene) and 28 (to Miramón) follow almost the same route. Get off at stop Anoeta. Bus 31 also connects the stadium with the city centre as well as other places in the east and west of the city.

Capacity: 32,000 seats