History
The first football and athletics stadium in Cluj-Napoca was built between 1908 and 1911. It had one wooden stand and a capacity of 1,500 people. The official inauguration in 1911 was done by organizing a game between a selection of Cluj and Galatasaray Istanbul. It was the first game in Europe for Galatasaray, and the selection of Cluj won 8-1.
In 1961 new stands were built and the capacity of the stadium became 28,000 on wooden benches, while the old stands were moved to Câmpia Turzii. The 1961 stands have a U-shaped appearance, as the name of the team that uses it. The stadium is named after Ion Moina, the fastest sprinter in Europe in 1948.
The demolition process of the old stadium began on November 20, 2008, so that it could free the space for the new one.
On 16 July 2009 the construction of the stadium began. The stadium was due to be finished by July 2011. By July 2011, about 90% of the new stadium was completed. The stadium officially opened for public in the first day of October. Eight days later the Scorpions held a concert 45.000 sold out the arena held a concert and the next day Smokie played at Cluj Arena. The inaugural match was held on October 11, with a friendly between Universitatea Cluj and Kuban Krasnodar. The first official match was a Liga I encounter of Universitatea Cluj and FC Braşov, played on October 17.
Read more about this topic: Cluj Arena
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