Municipal Stadium of A Malata

About

El Estadio Municipal de A Malata (officially in Galician Estadio Municipal da Malata) is a Spanish football stadium located in the Galician city of Ferrol, in the province of La Coruña. It is located in the sports city of A Malata, next to the promenade in the A Malata cove and the Punta Arnela fairgrounds. Its owner is the Ferrol City Council and the Racing Club of Ferrol serves as the venue for the football matches that are played there. In addition to being the home of the Racing Club de Ferrol, the stadium is used by other entities:

Ferrol Mountaineering Club (climbing wall) Kayak Polo Copacabana (Artificial Lake) During the 2030 World Cup, it will be one of the World Cup sub-venues, and will host 2 teams that will have Malata as their base training center for the world championship.

It was built to replace the old Manuel Rivera Stadium, located in the O Inferniño neighborhood, which gave way to a large public square and a shopping center. It was built by the company Agromán and financed with 1,700 million pesetas (just over 10 200 000 € ) by the Galician government.

It was designed by a team of five architects: Juan Pérez López de Gamarra, Francisco Iglesias Miño, Juan Rey-Cabarcos, Vicente Fernández-Couto and Alfredo Alcalá Navarro.

The first match was played on April 18, 1993 in a league match between Racing and Atlético de Madrid B (3-2). However, it was officially inaugurated on August 29, 1993 with a match between Celta de Vigo and Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña.

Since the premiere of A Malata, Racing de Ferrol has played in the Second Division in the following campaigns:

The Ferrol stadium is also the scene of the Concepción Arenal trophy matches (born in 1953), highlighting the 1994 editions (with Aston Villa and Atlético de Madrid as contenders, with a British victory ) and 1995 (with Zaragoza and Ajax, with the Dutch team's final victory). In that year, a friendly match was also played between Racing de Ferrol and Borussia Dortmund.

In the 2023-24 season, Racing Club de Ferrol has made A Malata the only undefeated stadium in the First and Second division, accumulating one calendar year, from December 17, 2022 to December 17, 2023, in which It has been called "The A Malata effect". In the major European leagues, only Liverpool can equal Racing's record without losing at home in all of 2023.

The A Malata Stadium is located on a municipal area of 144,806 square meters next to the Punta Arnela fairgrounds and the A Malata cove.

The stadium is equipped with a pop-up sprinkler irrigation system, two video scoreboards (August 2025), changing rooms, cafeteria, offices, an area for radio, press, and TV, VAR technology, CCTV system, LED lighting, anti-doping room, fire protection system, emergency lighting and PA system, access turnstiles, UCO (Organizational Control Unit)...

It also has a heated indoor pool and other sports facilities ( gym, climbing wall, spa, kayak polo, skate park ). It also has an attached 93 x 58.5 m natural grass field and, since 2004, two artificial turf 7-a-side football pitches.

The playing field measures 105 x 68 meters and is made of natural grass, the English Ray Grass type, installed in July 2023. The stadium's original capacity was 12,043 spectators, all of whom were covered.

The stadium's total capacity has been reduced due to various facility upgrades ( VAR technology, new benches, new press and TV area, etc.), bringing it down to less than 12,000 seats. Specifically, according to the latest data provided by the sports management (July 2024) it is 11 669 spectators.

The legal figure that will govern the use of the facilities of the Municipal Stadium of A Malata by Racing will be the demanial concession, and it will be free of charge. Among the administrative clauses contemplated in the document, it is stated that the club will be able to use the central playing field, the seats, the ticket offices, the annex field and other facilities for holding matches and training sessions. The duration of the new agreement is 3 years, extendable to a maximum of 15 years.

The rest of the facilities of the complex are excluded, such as the climbing wall, the municipal swimming pool and the ground floor next to the kayak lagoon. Meanwhile, the City Council will be able to organize sporting and cultural events in the stadium as long as they do not interfere with the official competition or activities programmed by the club. The City Council will organise the Concepción Arenal trophy with the collaboration and organisational support of racing.

As regards maintenance and works, the club will be responsible for all costs of conservation, repair, improvements, reforms, cleaning and security necessary for the proper use of the facilities. The larger works, such as those affecting the structure of the stadium, its stability or the roofs, will be the responsibility of the City Council.

The necessary technical adjustments required by the regulatory bodies of the official competitions for the participation of the team will be carried out by Racing, as well as the adoption of security and emergency measures.

The A Malata Stadium lighting system, installed in 1993 and based on metal halide lamp technology, was showing clear signs of obsolescence and deterioration after 32 years of service. With a total of 202 floodlights distributed between the towers and the eaves of the stands, the system not only failed to meet the lighting standards required for LaLiga television broadcasts, but also presented critical safety issues due to corrosion and lack of proper maintenance.

During an inspection conducted in November 2023, serious deficiencies were revealed, such as exposed wiring and water-filled spotlights, compromising the integrity of the system. Furthermore, the difficulty in finding spare parts for this type of obsolete technology portended a problematic future, highlighting the urgent need for an upgrade to the most modern and efficient LED technology. The lighting renovation project includes the implementation of LED technology for the pitch lighting system, ensuring it meets the lighting levels required by LALIGA EA SPORTS in HD, according to the standards of the Television Broadcasting Regulations.

The total cost of the installation is €18,000,000, with €750,000 covered by the Ferrol City Council, €750,000 by the A Coruña Provincial Council, and €300,000 by Racing Club Ferrol.