Vicente del Bosque officially opens the North Stand of the Ipurua Stadium
The manager of the Spanish national team, as guest of honour, presided over the official inauguration of the first phase of the Ipurua Tallarra project
Saturday 28 November saw the official opening of the new North Stand of Ipurua, already in use by spectators since the start of the 2015-2016 Liga BBVA season.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Vicente del Bosque, Spanish team manager; Miguel de los Toyos, mayor of Eibar; Luis Mari Elustondo, president of the Basque Football Federation, and Juan Luis Larrea, president of the Gipuzkoa Football Federation, who along with the club president, Alex Aranzábal, and the Board of Directors, performed the ribbon cutting and unveiled a commemorative plaque in the central entrance to the new stand.
Vicente del Bosque had previously attended the morning training session, held behind closed doors at the Atxabalpe training ground, where he had the opportunity to greet the sports director, Fran Garagarza, along with manager José Luis Mendilibar, and to address a few words of encouragement to the first team before the league clash with Real Madrid.
After the opening ceremony, the entourage moved to the classrooms located at street level in the new North Stand, where Del Bosque gave a talk on “The human aspect in the changing room” before an audience of around 90 people, consisting of students of the UEFA B coaching course and the Expert Course in the Technical Management of Football Clubs, which are being run by the SD Eibar Fundazioa in collaboration with the Gipuzkoa Football Federation and the University of the Basque Country, respectively, and also a large group of representatives from Basque first division clubs, public institutions and political parties.
The North Stand, with final cost of €2,229,415.75 (VAT not included), and which has been financed exclusively by the club, represents an increase in capacity of 1,230 – surpassing the requirement of 6,000 seats for second division clubs – and includes new facilities which also have a social use, such as the classrooms and area for businesses.