Name: Amsterdam ArenA
Inauguration: 14 April 1996
Building costs: 202 mln Dutch Guilders
First match: Ajax-AC Milan
Capacity: 51,600 seats
Press seats: 216
Bussines seats: 1,564
Roof closing time: 20 minutes
Floodlights: 2,000 lux
Address: Arena Boulevard 29, 1100 AM AmsterdamThe Amsterdam ArenA is a stadium in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Initially, it was planned as the centrepiece of Amsterdam’s bid for the 1992 Olympic Games. Amsterdam lost the bid to Barcelona and the plans for the stadium were altered to build a general sports and events arena instead. Today, the stadium is home to football club AFC Ajax. The nearest train station is Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA.

The stadium, which opened in 1996, is one of the first in the world to combine a retractable roof with a grass surface. This caused some problems in the beginning: the grass rolls would not grow in the shade of the open roof and had to be replaced up to four times a year. Its all-seated capacity is 51,628. The estimated cost of the stadium is around ? 96 million. The inaugural match was between the home team Ajax and AC Milan which ended in a 0-3 win by Milan. The first goal was scored by Dejan Savićević. Tina Turner was the first singer who gave a concert in the ArenA during her Wildest Dreams World Tour, with more than 150,000 people attending the three sold-out concerts in September 1996.

After the death of Rinus Michels in 2005, Ajax fans tried to convince the stadium’s board to rebrand the stadium as the Rinus Michels Stadium. The board refused, however at every Ajax home game Ajax fans bring a large banner displaying the words ‘Rinus Michels Stadion’.