Spodek (saucer in Polish) is a multipurpose arena complex in Katowice, Poland, opened in 1971 at 35 Korfanty Street under the name Wojewódzka Hala Widowiskowo-Sportowa w Katowicach (Voivodeship Sport and Show Arena in Katowice), under which it is known in the Polish technical/architectural literature, and under which it formally functioned until 1997.

Aside from the main dome, the complex includes a gym, an ice rink, a hotel and three large car parks. It is the largest indoor venue of its kind in Poland. It hosts many important cultural and business events. Music concerts are especially common non-sport events. Spodek can hold 11,500 people, although this number is in practice limited to 10,000 or even 8,000 due to stage set-ups obscuring the view. Its name is “saucer” in Polish as it resembles a tilted flying saucer. Spodek is a major contribution to the cultural significance of Katowice in Poland, especially for the younger generations.

It has played host to many up-and-coming bands, such as Chumbawumba in 1997, as well as dozens of world-famous bands including Boney M., The Cure, Delirious?, Deep Purple, Depeche Mode, Dream Theater, Elton John, Genesis, Eric Clapton, Gary Moore, Green Day, Iron Maiden, Jean-Michel Jarre, Mike Oldfield, Megadeth, Napalm Death, Jethro Tull, Black Sabbath, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Rammstein, Robbie Williams, Slipknot, Sting, The Prodigy, Overkill, Tina Turner, Avril Lavigne.

The idea of building a large venue originated in 1955, while Katowice was temporarily renamed Stalinogród. A contest was held to select the best design. Initially, it was to be constructed on the outskirts of town, but the Voivodeship National Council decided it should be built near the city center. A mining waste dump site classified “2A” was chosen for construction.

The classification “2A” indicated medium mining damage with a possibility of local cave-ins. While excavating the foundations, the workers dug through coal instead of soil. Soon after construction began, rumors of design flaws in the new building spread, including the rumour that the dome would collapse when the scaffolding was removed. Because of this, in 1964, construction was halted for 18 months. Spodek’s architects and chief engineers entered the dome when the supports were dismantled as a response to those rumors; clearly they survived. Before opening the building to the public, endurance tests were conducted - 3,500 soldiers marched into the hall and vibration of the building was measured. The outcome was positive.

Throughout Spodek’s history, rumors have circulated concerning the extent of disrepair at the structure, concealed cracks or even its “falling apart”. However, these rumours are unsupported by any evidence.

The City of Manchester Stadium, also known as COMS or Eastlands,  is a stadium in Manchester, England. Originally designed as part of Manchester’s failed bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics, the stadium was built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games at a cost of ?110 million. After the Games, it was converted for use as a football ground and became the home of Manchester City F.C., which moved there from Maine Road in 2003 after signing a 250-year lease.

The stadium is bowl-shaped, with two tiers all the way around the ground and a third tier along the two side stands. As of 1 July 2009, it is the fourth-largest stadium in the FA Premier League and the 12th-largest in the United Kingdom, with a seating capacity of 47,726. On 14 May 2008, it hosted the UEFA Cup Final.

Plans to build a stadium in east Manchester were formulated around 1990 as part of the city’s bid to host the 2000 Summer Olympics; Manchester City Council commissioned a design for an 80,000 capacity stadium on a brownfield site known colloquially as Eastlands. However, in October 1993 the games were awarded to Sydney, Australia. Manchester subsequently made a successful bid to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games, using the stadium plans from the Olympic bid. In 1996, the planned stadium competed with Wembley Stadium to gain funding to become the national stadium, but the money was used to redevelop Wembley. The stadium’s foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister, Tony Blair, in December 1999, and construction began in January 2000. The stadium was designed by Arup and constructed by John Laing at a cost of approximately ?110 million, ?77 million of which was provided by Sport England, with the remainder funded by Manchester City Council. For the Commonwealth Games, the stadium featured a single lower tier running around three sides of the athletics track, and second tiers to the two sides, with an open-air temporary stand at one end. The first public event at the stadium was the opening ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games on 25 July 2002. Among the dignitaries present at the ceremony was Queen Elizabeth II. During the ten days of competition, the stadium hosted all athletics events and the rugby sevens. Four Commonwealth records were set at the stadium, including the women’s triple jump and the women’s 5000 m.

The Feijenoord Stadion, better known by its nickname de Kuip (the Tub), is a stadium in Rotterdam, completed in 1937. Today it’s called “Stadion Feyenoord”. The name is derived from the area “Feijenoord” in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same name.

Capacity at completion: 64,000. Maximum capacity: 69,000 (1949). Present day capacity: 51,177.

It is the home stadium of football club Feyenoord, one of the traditional top teams in the Netherlands. It has also long been one of the home grounds of the Dutch national team, having hosted over 150 international matches, with the first one being a match against Belgium on May 2, 1937. Also, a record number of ten European finals has taken place in the Feijenoord stadium. The last one was the 2002 UEFA Cup final in which Feyenoord defeated Borussia Dortmund 3-2.

In 2000, the Feyenoord stadium hosted the final of Euro 2000, played in the Netherlands and Belgium, with France beating Italy in extra time.

Leen van Zandvliet, Feyenoord’s president in the 1930s came up with the idea of building an entirely new stadium, unlike any other on the continent, with two free hanging tiers and no obstacles blocking the view. The great examples at that time were Highbury, where the West and East stands had been recently built as a double deck, and Yankee Stadium in New York City. Johannes Brinkman and Leendert van der Vlugt, the famous designers of the van Nelle factories in Rotterdam were asked to design a stadium out of glass, concrete and steel, cheap materials at that time. They came up with a design that is modern even in this era. In fact, “de Kuip” acted as an example for many of the greatest stadia we know today, eg Nou Camp. The stadium was co-financed by the billionaire Daniël George van Beuningen, who made his fortune in World War I, exporting coal from Germany to England through neutral Netherlands.

In World War II, the stadium nearly got torn down, because the German occupiers needed the materials. Fortunately it didn’t come to that. After the war the stadium got extra seats (1949) and stadium lights (1958).

On 29 October 1991 De Kuip was named as being one of Rotterdam’s monuments. In 1994 the stadium was extensively renovated to its present form. It became an all seater and the roof was extended to cover all the seats. An extra building was constructed for commercial use by Feyenoord, it also houses a restaurant and a museum, The Home of History. The stadium has hosted concerts since 1978. The first ones were Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton. Others who have played there include Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, U2, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Dido, Guns N’ Roses, Genesis and Dire Straits. Since 1996 the stadium didn’t host many concerts anymore, because of the competition of the Amsterdam ArenA. As of January 2007 the stadium can be found in 3D format on Google Earth.

Ernst Happel Stadium (Ernst-Happel-Stadion) in Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district of Austria’s capital Vienna, was known as the Prater Stadium (Praterstadion) prior to 1992. It was built between 1929 and 1931 for the second Workers’ Olympiad to the design of German architect Otto Ernst Schweizer. The stadium was renamed in honour of Ernst Happel following his death in 1992. It will host the Euro 2008 final on 29 June.

The Ernst Happel Stadium is the largest football stadium in Austria. It is the home of the Austrian national football team. Club football matches are generally limited to the domestic cup and international competitions featuring one of Vienna’s top clubs, FK Austria Wien and SK Rapid Wien, as their regular stadiums are too small to host UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup matches. Local derbies between FK Austria and SK Rapid have also been played in the stadium.

Although its current capacity is only 49,825, the stadium is rated one of UEFA’s Five Star Stadiums (normally 50,000+ capacity), permitting it to host the UEFA Champions League final. The seating capacity is being expanded to 53,008 for the 2008 European Football Championship, with the final to be held in the stadium. The stadium will also host 3 group games, 2 quarter final matches and a semifinal. The attendance record of 92,706 for a match against the USSR was in 1960. The capacity has since been reduced.