Córdoba is undergoing a complete transformation this season. Promotion to the Second Division five years later forced the club to carry out several renovations to the El Arcángel stadium, already equipped 30 years. Today, the visit of the Spanish football team, on October 15, accelerates the reforms that the green and white entity must undertake so that the stadium appears as a first-rate stadium. The most important reform will be that of lighting, although there will be other changes to accommodate the European champions.
As indicated by the president of the Andalusian Football Federation, Pablo Lozano, “UEFA and the events organization department are reviewing the improvement works and correction of some spaces. The most important thing will be lighting. Córdoba is working hard to have better lighting for the match, so that “our stadium is at the level of a high-level match, because this is the characteristic of the Spain-Serbia match.”
The Archangel requires a complete renovation in terms of lighting. La Liga requires it in the Second Division, but the club is in a waiting period which will allow it to undertake said reform at the end of this season. However, there has already been some lighting improvements which were seen during the duel against Racing de Ferrol. The stadium’s lighting capacity was increased a little more, by around 20 percent, but nowhere near what is needed for the competition.
For his part, the club’s CEO, Antonio Fernández Monterrubio, said that “it is not easy, we have to thank the workers for the blows they are suffering to adapt the stadium in such a short time to both the La Liga and UEFA regulations. In some cases it coincides, in others not and we make a fairly significant effort. We hope to arrive and I am convinced that it will be so, on October 15 we will have everything ready.
Monterrubio assured that “there were actions in practically all areas: the lighting, the grass, the bench, the location of the cameras (so some seats were lost), the VIP area, the press area “. “It’s practically a comprehensive reform.” Lozano stressed, during the presentation of the national team match, that it is important to improve the lighting, not only for those who attend the match but also for those who see it. on television.
Not quantified
The Cordoba coach also clarified that “we do not yet have any quantification at the moment. There are things that we had pending, notably electrical problems that La Liga asked of us and that was the most complicated and the most expensive. This is a step towards the goal that we must achieve next year, because next season we will have to change entirely LED stadium lightingas well as the irrigation system grass. La Liga forces us to do so, but this year, with the dates we had, it was impossible.
In short, it is a medium-term investment since Córdoba had to undertake all these reforms, but the meeting of the Spanish team in El Arcángel accelerates the work even more. “It sped up a process that needed to be done. He accelerated very quickly if you allow me the expression. “A process that needed to be done.”
Since its promotion to the Second Division at the end of June, Córdoba has embarked on a race against time to undertake the reforms demanded by La Liga, some of which coincide with those of UEFA. However, if the team had not been promoted to silver category and professional footballthe visit of the national team would seem complicated because Córdoba would not have ready-made reforms like LED advertising panels or VAR (video refereeing) itself.
Last week, Córdoba already made various improvements which will also be visible during Spain’s match against Serbia. The video scoreboard was the big news as fans were able to see the live broadcast of the match, with repeated plays of the goals of Iván Ania’s team. So the new grass was released with the reseeding for the winter. Also at the stadium entrances, El Arcángel now has an exclusive gate for visiting fans, next to the Fondo Norte.
