Estádio do Morumbi

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Key facts

Club: São Paulo FC | Opening: 1960 | Capacity: 72,809

History and description

In the early 1950s São Paulo started a search for a site to build a new stadium. They finally managed to buy a plot of land in the Morumbi area, at that time an inhabited area of forests and swamplands still outside the city.

In 1953 the club presented its plans for the construction of a massive concrete stadium that could hold 120,000 fans. Due to its location these were initially received with skepticism, and obtaining funding turned out to be troublesome.

After several years of preparation and ground works construction of the stadium finally started in 1956. Works had progressed significantly by the middle of 1960, though were still nowhere near being finished yet. Still, the club decided to move in for the benefit of increased revenues, and on the 2^nd of October 1960 the stadium officially opened with a match between São Paulo and Sporting Clube do Portugal (1-0). The first match was attended by a total of 64,748 fans.

The stadium was officially named Estádio Cícero Pompeu de Toledo, but got soon referred to as Morumbi.

While the club had the intention to continue with the works, these stalled due to insufficient funding. It took until 1969 for construction to resume and one more year for the stadium to be completed. Morumbi was once more inaugurated on the 25^th of January 1970 with a friendly against FC Porto. It could hold a total of 140,000 spectators at that time.

Few changes were made to the stadium in the next decades until it underwent an upgrade in the late 1990s. This also reduced the capacity of the stadium to its current total. While the official capacity of Morumbi is 72,809, often not more than 62,000 tickets are available for sale.

São Paulo recently announced plans for a major redevelopment of Morumbi, which include the construction of a roof that will cover all seats.

(photos of the present Morumbi below)

Getting there

Estádio do Morumbi is located in the south-west of the city of São Paulo, about 11 kilometres from the city’s downtown and about 8 kilometres from the Avenida Paulista – Jardim Paulista area.

There is no metro station close to the stadium, but it can be reached with several buses.

Bus 5118 (direction Term. João Dias) and 5119 (to Term. Capelinha) can be taken from Avenida Brig. Luis Antonio in downtown.

Line 647A, 647P, and 775F all leave from the Av Brig. Faria Lima in the Pinheiros area.

Address: Praça Roberto Gomes Pedroza 1, Morumbi, São Paulo

Tickets

Tickets for São Paulo matches can be bought online via Zetks, at the ticket office at Morumbi, or at one of the pre-sale points. Of these pre-sale points the Reebok São Paulo store at Shopping Center Paulista at the Rua 13 de Maio 947 is the most centrally located (near the Avenida Paulista).

An ID is always required to buy tickets. At times it will also be possible to buy tickets at the gates of the stadium on the day of the match, but this is not always the case.

Ticket prices typically range from R$40.00 to R$80.00.

Stadium tours

São Paulo offers guided stadiums tours that include the dressing rooms, press areas, control room, players tunnel and dugouts. The tours are organised by travel agency Passaporte FC and last about 90 minutes.

Tours run from Tuesday to Saturday at 10:00 am, 12:00 noon, 2:00 pm and 3:30 pm, and on Sundays at 11:30 am and 1:30 pm. There are no tours on matchdays.

The tour costs R$30.00. For more information call +55 (11) 3739 5222 or email atendimento@passaportefc.com.

Relevant Internet links

Saopaulofc.net – Official website of São Paulo FC.
Cidadedesaopaulo.com.br – Official tourism site of the city of São Paulo.
Sptrans.com.br – São Paulo public transport information.