Johan Cruyff Arena

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox venue Template:Johan Cruyff series The Johan Cruyff Arena (Template:Langx Template:IPA; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the home stadium of football club Ajax since its opening and the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam. Built from 1993 to 1996 at a cost equivalent to €140 million,<ref name="factsfigures" /> it is the largest stadium in the country. The stadium opened as the Amsterdam Arena (stylised as Amsterdam ArenA) and it was officially renamed for the 2018–19 football season, in honour of Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff who died in 2016.<ref name="johan-cruijff-arena-1" /><ref name="johan-cruijff-arena-2" /><ref name="johan-cruijff-arena-3" />

It hosted the 1998 UEFA Champions League final and was one of the stadiums used during UEFA Euro 2000, including the semi-final. The stadium also hosted three group stage matches and one match in the round of 16 of the UEFA Euro 2020. Furthermore the 2013 UEFA Europa League final was staged in the stadium as well.

Both international and Dutch artists have given concerts in the stadium, including Tina Turner, Coldplay, U2, Take That, Celine Dion, Madonna, Michael Jackson, André Hazes, David Bowie, AC/DC, Justin Timberlake, One Direction, the Rolling Stones, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Armin van Buuren. The dance event Sensation was held in the stadium every year, up until the final edition in 2017.

The stadium has a retractable roof and a grass surface. Since 2022, the stadium has a capacity of 55,865<ref name="new_capacity" /> during football matches, increased from 54,990.<ref name="spreekbeurt">Template:Cite web</ref> The stadium has a capacity of 68,000 during music concerts if a center-stage setup is used (the stage in the middle of the pitch); for end-stage music concerts, the capacity is 50,000; and for music concerts for which the stage is located in the east side of the stadium, the capacity is 35,000. It held UEFA five-star stadium status, which was superseded by a new system of classification.

History

Amsterdam was one of six cities that bid to host the 1992 Summer Olympics. In 1986, a new Olympic stadium was designed, with a football field and an athletics track. It was to be built in the area of Strandvliet in Amsterdam Zuidoost. After Amsterdam lost the bid to Barcelona in October 1986, the plans for the new stadium were abandoned. In 1987, the Stichting Amsterdam Sportstad (English: "Amsterdam Sports City Foundation") was established, which made new plans for a sports stadium with an all-seated capacity of 55,000. In 1990, a new design was made based on both previous designs, with a football field, an athletics track, and completely covered by a roof. By this time, Ajax needed a new stadium, as their previous home ground, De Meer, was far too small for most of Ajax's games. Since the late 1960s, Ajax had moved its most important games to Olympisch Stadion.<ref name="themakingof">Template:In lang The making of Amsterdam ArenA Template:Webarchive Amsterdam ArenA. Retrieved 8 June 2008</ref> Indeed, from the 1930s onward, Ajax had played most of their European fixtures and midweek night games at Olympisch Stadion.

Once more, the design was altered – the athletics track was removed, the capacity was reduced to 50,000 seats, and the fixed roof was replaced by a retractable roof. In 1992, the Government of Amsterdam authorised the plans for the stadium with a Transferium where people could transfer from their car to various forms of public transportation. In 1993, the Government of Amsterdam changed the development plan of the location and gave a permit to build the stadium.<ref name="themakingof"/>

The first pile of the deep foundation of the stadium was placed on 26 November 1993. The construction work, undertaken by Ballast Nedam and Royal BAM Group,<ref name="themakingof"/> took almost three years. The highest point of the building was reached on 24 February 1995, after the roof construction was raised. The fly-over from the public road to the parking facilities was opened on 13 March 1996. The stadium received 180,000 visitors during the construction work, until the stadium was closed from 1 July 1996 until the opening ceremony.<ref name="themakingof"/> The stadium was officially opened on 14 August 1996 by Queen Beatrix.<ref name=Wist>Template:In lang Wist je dat.... Amsterdam ArenA. Retrieved 8 June 2008</ref>

At the grand opening, the queen made a curtain fall inside the stadium. This revealed the world's largest painting De Zee (English: The Sea) of Template:Convert. Two-dimensional ships were placed on the sea representing the clubs in the Eredivisie. Trijntje Oosterhuis sang the hymn "De Zee", composed for the opening ceremony by John Ewbank. An eight-day torch relay with 375 runners over 1400 km through the Netherlands reached the stadium. The first runner was Johan Cruyff starting in the old stadium De Meer, and the last runner was Frank Rijkaard arriving in the new stadium. After the grass was revealed and the roof opened, an inaugural football friendly was played between Ajax and Milan, which Ajax lost 0–3.<ref name = "game500">Template:Cite web</ref> Tina Turner opened the stadium with three concerts with 160,000 people, from her world breaking Wildest Dreams Tour.

The construction of the stadium cost an equivalent of €140 million<ref name="factsfigures">Template:Cite web</ref> (at the time, the currency of the Netherlands was the Dutch guilder).

The stadium combines a retractable roof with a grass surface. This caused some problems in the beginning: the turf's grass would not grow in the shade of the open roof and was replaced 45 times in the first ten years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Exterior renovation

The Arena from outside (1996).

In September 2015, plans were presented to renovate the stadium's facade.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The renovation should provide better quality and service to visitors by widening the walkway rings around the stadium, creating more room for the visitors and for new facilities (the number of seats remains the same). As a result, the outside of the stadium transforms from a concave shape to a convex shape, drastically altering its appearance. The renovation has only been completed on the east side in 2020, when four matches of the UEFA Euro 2020 championship were played in the Arena.

Construction works started in June 2017.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The first phase is to renovate the east side of the stadium, where construction of the new facade was completed in April 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Name change

Former stadium logo until 2018

On 25 April 2017, it was announced that the Amsterdam Arena would be renamed to "Johan Cruijff Arena" in memory of Ajax legend Johan Cruyff.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Later that year, on 9 August, it was stated that the name change would take place on 25 October 2017.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, this was postponed as that date proved to be infeasible due to the many matters that needed to be settled, such as arranging compensation for possible loss of income, transferring part of the shares from the municipality of Amsterdam to Ajax and having a discussion with the Cruyff family.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 5 April 2018, it was announced that the stadium would officially change name at the start of the 2018–19 football season.<ref name="johan-cruijff-arena-1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="johan-cruijff-arena-2">Template:Cite web</ref> The stadium's new logo was revealed on 25 April 2018, the birthday of Johan Cruyff.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to the spokeswoman of Cruyff's family, the original Dutch spelling of his name (Cruijff) was chosen for the stadium's official name "to stay close to the Dutch Johan".<ref name="johan-cruijff-arena-3">Template:Cite web</ref>

Building and facilities

The stadium's original architect is the Dutchman Rob Schuurman. The original all-seated capacity was 54,990.<ref name="spreekbeurt" /> After the 2019–20 season, but before Euro 2020, capacity was expanded by 660.<ref name="new_capacity" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The final increased capacity after the 2017-2021 renovation project is 56,120,<ref name="new_capacity">Template:In langTemplate:Cite web</ref> an increase of 1,130. The original capacity during music concerts – the stadium's maximum capacity – is 68,000 visitors.<ref name="factsfigures"/> The parking capacity of the Transferium is 500 cars (inside); there are an additional 12,000 parking spots outside.<ref name="factsfigures"/>

The Johan Cruyff Arena is one of two stadiums in the Netherlands that is rated as Category 4 by UEFA, the other being the Feijenoord Stadion in Rotterdam.<ref>List of UEFA Category 4 Stadiums World Stadium Database. Retrieved 4 August 2018</ref>

The Ajax Museum is located in the stadium, which shows Ajax's more than 120 years of history.<ref>The Museum Template:Webarchive AFC Ajax. Retrieved 9 June 2008</ref>

The nearest train and subway (metro) station is Amsterdam Bijlmer Arena. The metro lines 50 and 54 (Amsterdam Central Station and city center) stop here.

Sporting events

Association football

The Arena in Ajax's Champions League game in 2019 against Chelsea

The stadium is the home of Ajax for both Eredivisie and European matches. The inaugural match on 14 August 1996 was a friendly between the home team Ajax and AC Milan, which ended with a 3–0 win for Milan. The first goal was scored by Dejan Savićević. The first Ajax goal was scored by Kiki Musampa in the first competition match against NAC Breda in 21 August 1996.<ref name = "game500" />

The stadium hosted the 1998 UEFA Champions League final, where Real Madrid defeated Juventus due to an only goal by Predrag Mijatović. It was one of the venues of UEFA Euro 2000, including 3 group games, a quarter final and a semi-final. Also it hosted three group stage matches and one match in the round of 16 of the UEFA Euro 2020 held in 2021. Furthermore the stadium hosted the 2013 UEFA Europa League final, when Chelsea defeated Benfica by 2–1.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

It hosts regularly Dutch national team (men) international matches, though the Netherlands does not have one dedicated national stadium for football.Template:Fact

After one friendly game in 2015, since 2023, the Arena regularly hosts matches of the Ajax Women team. The Klassieker home game against Feyenoord of that year was the first, with an attendance of 33,742 visitors. Every season since, the game is played in the stadium and since 2024 the Topper game against PSV Eindhoven is also played here. The home matches of the group stage of the 2023–24 UEFA Women's Champions League and the Quarter-final home game against Chelsea Women were all played at the stadium. The game against Chelsea recorded an attendance of 35,991 spectators, a record for a women's football game in the Netherlands.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Netherlands Women’s national football team has to play a first game in the football stadium as of 2025. The team never played any football game in the stadium in the nations capital city so far.Template:Fact

The stadium regularly hosts pre-season friendlies of Ajax 1 (men) team. As well as in the past pre-season tournaments, such as the Amsterdam Tournament. Also in the past the stadium hosted different games of Ajax's reserve team (men).Template:Fact

Euro 2000

Date	Team 1	Result	Team 2	Round
11 June 2000	Template:Fb	1–0	Template:Fb	Group D
18 June 2000	Template:Fb	1–2	Template:Fb	Group C
21 June 2000	Template:Fb	2–3	Template:Fb	Group D
24 June 2000	Template:Fb	0–2	Template:Fb	Quarter-finals
29 June 2000	Template:Fb	0–0 Template:Aet Template:Pso	Template:Fb	Semi-finals

Euro 2020

The stadium hosted three group stage matches and one round of 16 match at the UEFA Euro 2020, which was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. Also there was a smaller attendance because of this.

Date	Team 1	Result	Team 2	Round	Attendance
13 June 2021	Template:Fb	3–2	Template:Fb	Group C	15,837<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
17 June 2021		2–0	Template:Fb		15,243<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
21 June 2021	Template:Fb	0–3	Template:Fb		15,227<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
26 June 2021	Template:Fb	0–4	Template:Fb	Round of 16	14,645<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

American football

The stadium was home of the American football team Amsterdam Admirals of the NFL Europe, until the National Football League (NFL) ended its European competition in June 2007.<ref>Template:In lang Admirals houdt op te bestaan NRC Handelsblad, 29 June 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2008</ref> The team played over 50 matches in the stadium from 1997 to 2007.<ref name=Wist/> World Bowl IX was played at the Arena in 2001, when the Berlin Thunder defeated the Barcelona Dragons.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Kickboxing

As kickboxing is a popular combat sport in the Netherlands, the It's Showtime and K-1 promotions have held a number of fight cards at the arena. Many of the sport's biggest stars such as Peter Aerts, Semmy Schilt, Badr Hari and Ernesto Hoost have fought there.<ref>"Fear and Loathing in Amsterdam" by Michael Schiavello Template:Webarchive. Hd.net.</ref>

Music events

British rock band Coldplay performing at the stadium, as part of their A Head Full of Dreams Tour, in June 2016.

Dutch music group De Toppers have played annually at the venue since 2005. In total, they have sold out more than 50 concerts; no other act has performed at the stadium that many times. The arena was listed as a potential venue in Amsterdam's bid to host the 65th Eurovision Song Contest. However, the city later withdrew its bid due to venues, including the Johan Cruyff Arena, being fully booked.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Entertainment events held at the Johan Cruyff Arena
Year	Date	Artists	Tour	Supporting Acts	Attendance	Box office	Template:Abbr
1996
	6 September	Tina Turner	Wildest Dreams Tour	rowspan="3" Template:N/a	colspan="2" rowspan="3" Template:N/a
	7 September
	8 September
	28 September	Michael Jackson	HIStory World Tour	rowspan="6" Template:N/a	250,000 / 250,000	rowspan="6" Template:N/a	<ref name="mjbaltic1">HIStory World Tour – Tour Dates Template:Webarchive. Mjbaltic.com.</ref>
	30 September
	2 October
1997
	8 June
	10 June
	18 June	Celine Dion	Falling into You: Around the World	Template:N/a	colspan="2" Template:N/a
1998
	29 June	The Rolling Stones	Bridges to Babylon Tour	Dave Matthews Band	261,277 / 261,277	$11,094,308
	1 July
	2 July
	5 July
	6 July
1999
	5 June	Backstreet Boys	Into the Millennium Tour	Template:N/a	colspan="2" Template:N/a
	14 June	Celine Dion	Let's Talk About Love World Tour	Template:N/a	64,652 / 64,652	$3,048,136
2001
	5 June	Bon Jovi	One Wild Night Tour	rowspan="2" Template:N/a	rowspan="2" colspan="2" Template:N/a
	6 June
2003
	3 June	Bon Jovi	Bounce Tour	Template:N/a	colspan="2" Template:N/a
	17 July	Robbie Williams	Weekends of Mass Distraction	rowspan="2" Template:N/a	rowspan="2" colspan="2" Template:N/a
	18 July
	19 August	The Rolling Stones	Licks Tour	rowspan="2" Template:N/a	rowspan="2" colspan="2" Template:N/a
	22 September
2004
	11 June	David Bowie	A Reality Tour	Template:N/a	colspan="2" Template:N/a
2005
	13 July	U2	Vertigo Tour	The Killers Snow Patrol Kaiser Chiefs The Music Athlete	165,516 / 165,516	$13,022,200
	15 July
	16 July
2006
21 June	Robbie Williams	Close Encounters Tour	rowspan="4" Template:N/a	rowspan="4" colspan="2" Template:N/a
22 June
24 June
25 June
31 July	The Rolling Stones	A Bigger Bang Tour	Toots and the Maytals	colspan="2" Template:N/a
3 September	Madonna	Confessions Tour	Paul Oakenfold	102,330 / 102,330	$11,783,254
4 September
2007
	16 June	Justin Timberlake	FutureSex/LoveShow	Template:N/a	colspan="2" Template:N/a
	1 July	Genesis	Turn It On Again: The Tour	Template:N/a	52,622 / 52,622	$3,819,127
2008
	2 June	Celine Dion	Taking Chances World Tour	The Storys	46,969 / 52,772	$4,565,126
	13 June	Bon Jovi	Lost Highway Tour	Template:N/a	34,512 / 34,512	$2,817,625
	18 June	Bruce Springsteen	Magic Tour	Template:N/a	36,257 / 36,529	$4,370,497
	2 September	Madonna	Sticky & Sweet Tour	Robyn	50,588 / 50,588	$6,717,734
	11 October	Kinderen voor Kinderen	Kinderen voor Kinderen Mega Spektakel	Template:N/a	colspan="2" Template:N/a
2009
	23 June	AC/DC	Black Ice World Tour	The Answer Drive Like Maria	50,541 / 50,541	$4,361,233
	20 July	U2	U2 360° Tour	Snow Patrol	125,866 / 125,866	$12,583,998
	21 July
2011
	18 July	Take That	Progress Live	Pet Shop Boys	colspan="2" Template:N/a
2013
	4 June	Muse	The 2nd Law World Tour	Biffy Clyro Bastille	colspan="2" Template:N/a
	13 July	Robbie Williams	Take the Crown Stadium Tour	Olly Murs	colspan="2" Template:N/a
	8 September	Roger Waters	The Wall Live	Template:N/a	47,414 / 47,500	$4,257,133
2014
	24 June	One Direction	Where We Are	5 Seconds of Summer	103,551 / 103,551	$7,859,850
	25 June
2016
	17 June	Rihanna	Anti World Tour	Big Sean DJ Mustard	50,513 / 50,932	$3,525,469
	23 June	Coldplay	A Head Full of Dreams Tour	Lianne La Havas Alessia Cara	104,511 / 104,511	$8,759,000
	24 June
	16 July	Beyoncé	The Formation World Tour	Chloe x Halle Ingrid	49,436 / 49,436	$4,712,051	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
2017
	13 May	Armin van Buuren	Template:N/a	Eller van Buuren Gavin DeGraw Kensington Mr. Probz Trevor Guthrie	colspan="2" Template:N/a
	29 July	U2	The Joshua Tree Tour 2017	Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds	104,708 / 104,708	$11,544,870
	30 July
	30 September	The Rolling Stones	No Filter Tour	De Staat	54,791 / 54,791	$8,762,079
2018
	19 June	Beyoncé Jay-Z	On the Run II Tour	DeeJay Abstract	97,869 / 97,869	$9,755,499	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
	20 June			DJ Flava
2019
	11 June	Metallica	WorldWired Tour	Ghost Bokassa	50,576 / 50,576	$5,151,429
2022
	7 July	The Rolling Stones	Sixty	Ghost Hounds	51,592 / 51,592	$9,241,437
	14 July	Ed Sheeran	+–=÷× Tour	Maisie Peters Cat Burns	134,119 / 134,119	$8,611,476
	15 July
2023
	27 April	Metallica	M72 World Tour	Architects Mammoth WVH	117,671 / 129,451	$10,691,363
	29 April			Ice Nine Kills Floor Jansen
	25 May	Bruce Springsteen E Street Band	2023 Tour	rowspan="2" Template:N/a
	27 May
	4 June	Harry Styles	Love On Tour	Wet Leg	154,903 / 154,903	$16,498,991
	5 June
	6 June
	17 June	Beyoncé	Renaissance World Tour	rowspan="2" Template:N/a	97,657 / 97,657	$12,817,577	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	18 June
	23 June	The Weeknd	After Hours til Dawn Tour	Kaytranada Mike Dean	103,181 / 103,181	$10,066,993
	24 June
	15 July	Coldplay	Music of the Spheres World Tour	Griff Zoë Tauran	217,609 / 217,609	$30,322,573
	16 July
	18 July
	19 July
2024	9 June	Burna Boy	I Told Them Tour
	4 July	Taylor Swift	The Eras Tour	Paramore
	5 July
	6 July
	10 July	Pink	Pink Summer Carnival	Gayle KidCutUp The Script	105,432 / 105,432	$13,558,468
	11 July
2025
	8 June	Chris Brown	Breezy Bowl XX	Bryson Tiller	49,735 / 49,735	$5,355,379
	22 June	Robbie Williams	Robbie Williams Live 2025	Davina Michelle
	23 June
	11 July	Stray Kids	Dominate World Tour
	13 July	Kendrick Lamar SZA	Grand National Tour	Mustard
2026
	16 July	The Weeknd	After Hours til Dawn Tour	Playboi Carti
	17 July

See also

• Halte Amsterdam ArenA
• Football in the Netherlands
• Lists of stadiums

External links

• Template:Official website
• Ajax Museum