This photo of Zentralstadion (Central Stadium) in Leipzig, Germany, was taken in December 2005, a little over a year following the opening of the stadium. It was built within the site of the huge original Zentralstadion, built in the 1950s, one of Europe’s largest venues holding over 100,000 spectators.

The bridge pictured shows how the site fits within the old confines of Zentralstadion; you can see the old wooden bleachers there on the right. The stadium was a venue for the 2006 World Cup.

Technically, this stadium is now known as Red Bull Arena, Red Bull having purchased the naming rights in 2010, along with one of the stadium’s tenants, Vfb Leipzig, now known as RB Leipzig (“Red Bull” cannot be in the name, so again…technically…the club’s name is RasenBall Leipzig).

Photo credit: Tony Quin // blightylad1 on Flickr

To describe Grant Wahl’s review of his tour at Red Bull Arena, the new home of Red Bull New York, as gushing would be something of an understatement. Indeed, he even describes himself as “breathless” over it.

Wahl emphasises that Red Bull Arena is a “soccer stadium”, not a multi-purpose venue like so many other MLS stadiums:

Unlike so many other MLS buildings, which have a stage at one end and double as concert venues, Red Bull Arena is built for fútbol. Not one of the 25,000 seats — and they’re all seats; no benches here — has a bad view. The front row is a mere 21 feet from the sidelines and 27 feet from the endlines, the better for Juan Pablo Ángel to make a quick run and Lambeau Leap over the short retaining wall after scoring a goal.

This emphasis on the soccer won’t stop rugby tearing up the turf this summer, but Wahl’s point is well-made. The stadium is an exact copy of a Euro 2008 venue from Austria, and it shows.

Wahl waxes about the location (an improvement on the team’s former home in the Meadowlands, New Jersey); the “hip surroundings” (umm, “restaurants, retail stores and condominiums”?) and the “little things” (not so little “giant HD video boards”).

I’m trying hard, and perhaps failing, not to mock Wahl’s enthusiasm for the stadium. It’s a big moment in American soccer in some ways, and Wahl is right to emphasise the quality of the arena. It does look like it will surpass anything in MLS quite comfortably as a facility. Am I jealous of it as a Fire fan?  Well, yes…aside from those giant Red Bull logos, of course.

And that’s the catch: it’s surprising that Wahl doesn’t delve into some of the deeper issues the Red Bulls still need to prove they have overcome. He mentions the problem of the quality of the team briefly at the end of his pieces, but refuses to open the can of worms surrounding the many years of Metro and Red Bull failure on and off the field.

But we will say it: this is, after all, Red Bull Arena.

Maybe our old friend the Metrologist will pop-up to remind Grant of that, if he still frequents these parts. A week tomorrow will mark the fourth anniversary of the rebranding (renaming doesn’t do it justice) of the MetroStars as Red Bull.

Three years ago, on a blog I miss, the Metrologist wrote the following:

Who can scream out Red Bull songs with a straight face? Unintentional self-parody at its worst.

Today, March 9 2007, marks the one year anniversary of the conversion of Metro into the Red Bulls, and this string of discussions is its legacy – the magic candles flickering on the taurine-soaked birthday cake. They always re-ignite. They still vastly overshadow the actual job of supporting this team. They always will, until the last of the dyed-in-the-wool Metro traditionalists give up and find something else to do. Make a wish!

Red Bull, the corporation and its fans who have embraced the new branding (it’s not an identity, folks), will say those dyed-in-the-wool folks are past worrying about at this point, and they’ll criticise this blog for even bringing up that ghost. They like to laugh at the Metrologist, now. They wish his kind gone and maybe they are, maybe the opening of the new arena does draw a line under that era. Maybe even the Metrologist doesn’t care anymore that Red Bull took his team’s identity away from him. Maybe this doesn’t matter anymore two years further on:

What today also marks is the the ticking-over of the worst year of being a Metro fan ever. While the organization itself has been jarred, and I don’t think anyone can say for the better overall (more on that in a coming post), I think what remains of the already-tortured diehard Metro crowd has only been further alienated, divided, and turned against one another. I’ve been a part of that, on a personal level, more than I’d like to admit. What used to be a pretty cooperative community, especially online at least on the surface, now has serious lines drawn through it.

I’m not qualified to offer an opinion one way or the other on the state of New York’s culture of fan support as we approach the opening of Red Bull Arena, though I’m hoping to be there at the inaugural MLS game against the Fire on March 27th. Perhaps it is all rosy and 25,000 rabid Red Bulls fans will arise from the nation’s largest metropolis to support the team they’ve had such a problem with since 1996. That capacity is over double the Red Bulls average attendance at Giants Stadium last year, 12,491. There’s absolutely no doubt that will be improved upon at the new stadium.

But I do think there’s a little more to be said about it all than Wahl’s breathless review of the arena covers; it’s still Red Bull, as the stadium itself can’t stop reminding us, and there will still be some who will question how attached a community can become to such a recently re-branded team. It’s a discussion Red Bulls fans don’t want to have, I’m sure; the proof will be in the pudding over the next decade one way or another as we’ll find out if supporters do come out to consistently fill what Wahl calls “a truly edifying edifice” once the shine has worn off.

Quick Hits

• The “Red Knights” making their moves towards a takeover of Manchester United are calling on fans to boycott season ticket purchases to pressure the Glazers to sell.
• The spotlight has been off Newcastle United in recent times; in The Times, George Caulkin says the pressure is still on Mike Ashley to put back together the club he broke.  “Football, like heat, can generate mirages. How else, with March upon us, can we contextualise a club which, until Portsmouth nabbed their title, was widely recognised as the most gloriously demented in England, but which now resembles the very model of stability? How else to explain the otherwise inexplicable – that Mike Ashley no longer appears the battiest of owners.”
• Ridge Mahoney looks at the latest in the MLS labour dispute, edging towards the position of the players as he wonders if MLS couldn’t work out a model of free agency: “Other leagues have formulated tiers of free agency; while MLS is different in that it is a single-entity enterprise, one can’t blame the players for fighting to get at least some independence beyond the very narrow boundaries of MLS. While it follows complex formulas to calculate and stay within its salary budget, MLS can suppress salaries since there’s no real competition. It can’t match the salaries even Scandinavian teams give to young players, so it just ignores any aspect of the market except itself.”

The Sweeper appears daily. For more rambling and links throughout the day every day, follow your editor Tom Dunmore @pitchinvasion on Twitter.

10. RFK Stadium, DC United: This multi-purpose stadia has survived the Washington Senators, Redskins and Nationals and has been converted into a pretty nice soccer stadium.  The old movable left field baseball grandstand was relocated to the touchline to create very good sightlines for sideline ticket holders.  The metal treads and risers also provide plenty of bounce for the Screaming Eagles and Barra Brava that give it a unique and sometimes frightening experience for first time fans.

While the stadium has too many seats for most DC United matches and lacks many modern amenities, it possesses more history and tradition than most MLS stadia and the field is usually in very good shape for soccer.  The ring of honor of famous Washington athletes that surrounds RFK’s upper deck facade provided me with the inspiration to create Chicago’s Ring of Fire.

RFK Stadium

9. Columbus Crew Stadium:  CCS is the grand daddy of soccercentric stadia.  Built privately by Hunt Sports Group on the cheap for less than $27 million in 1999, its bells and whistles pale in comparison to the newer stadia.  In fact, I recall being in the visitor’s locker room prior to a game at CCS when Toyota Park was in its design phase and Fire players were pleading with me to make sure we would have bigger locker rooms with more shower heads and toilets than CCS’ meager locker rooms offered.

But CCS is more than simply “The First” of a generation of soccer stadia.  Renovated suites, a retrofitted stage and hospitality area, a newly energized supporters’ section and very good sightlines all are important reasons CCS is still among MLS’ best.

Crew Stadium

8. Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Colorado Rapids: This ranking is based on second hand information as I’ve never been to Dick’s.  Most people I speak to about Dick’s and televised and photographic views indicate a stadium similar to BMO Field with a nice roof, grass field and poor location.  I believe the unique roof line is supposed to evoke images of the nearby Rocky Mountains.  Instead it reminds me of the canopy roof of the nearby Denver International Airport.

That does remind me, though, that I heard stories Major League Baseball prevented Coors Field from having one of the coolest stadium design elements ever.  As I understand, the Colorado Rockies wanted their outfield fenceline to mirror the peaks and valleys of the Colorado Rocky Mountains only to have MLB insist on a straight line wall.  And I thought the NFL was the No Fun League.

Dick's Sporting Goods Park

7. BMO Field, Toronto FC: I attended BMO’s Official Grand Opening Game (though there was a previous game) when Toronto FC hosted the Chicago Fire on seat cushion giveaway (and apparently throw on the field) day.  I bought a Montreal Canadiens jersey for the game, because I figured it would upset a few Toronto fans….it did.  BMO’s lakefront location on the former site of the Hockey Hall of Fame is closer to an urban center than any of MLS’ other soccercentric stadia, which, along with its switch to natural grass, is a tremendous advantage and bumps it just ahead of Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

BMO Field, Grand Opening Day

6. Pizza Hut Park, FC Dallas: After they heard about Toyota Park’s inclusion of a permanent stage, the Hunt Sports Group redesigned PHP.  Their stage, however, has no seats in front of it nor suites alongside it, leaving the look of a giant, vacant concrete block on one end.  The ex-urban location is a deterrent to the MetroPlex’s many Hispanic fans, the lack of a roof makes for some very warm days and the distance of the locker rooms from the field is a bit of an irritant to the players, but the field view stadium club, the quality playing surface, the stadium merchandise shop and the surrounding soccer complex are all important pluses.

Pizza Hut Park

5. Qwest Field, Seattle Sounders FC: If they averaged 15,000 fans a game, I suppose I wouldn’t be ranking Qwest this high, but the fact is Sounders FC has made an NFL stadium intimate by virtue of the size of its crowds and the design of the stadium.  Like new Soldier Field, Qwest Field feels vertical.  The roof, steep grading of seats, first class amenities and 30,000 fans, many of whom are passionate, work well together to create the best big stadium feel MLS has ever had on a consistent basis.  Opening up the Hawks Nest next season will only add to the vertical and intimate feel of Qwest for Sounders FC matches.

Qwest Field. Photo: The West End on Flickr

4.  Home Depot Center, Los Angeles Galaxy: Rossetti Architects have had the most influence in soccer stadium design in the United States.  Their creations include each of the top five MLS Stadia in my list including their first venture, the self-proclaimed Cathedral of Soccer in the Americas, the HDC.  I have been there for many great soccer games including the Fire’s frustrating 2003 MLS Cup loss and the inaugural WPS Championship Game, but the most memorable event I ever attended at the HDC was the funeral of Los Angeles Galaxy President and General Manager Doug Hamilton.  I served as a pall bearer carrying Doug’s casket on and off the field through the player tunnel while a bagpiper played Danny Boy and Amazing Grace.  It was the most moving experience I’ve ever had in a soccer stadium.

For many, the HDC is the best MLS stadium and legitimate arguments can be made for that – until next April.  Its stadium club, suites and other hospitality areas are extremely nice.  It’s office space, beautiful landscape and connected facilities (indoor velodrome, tennis stadium, track and field stadium and a dozen soccer fields) are all very nice, but the stadium itself falls short of the top three IMH(and biased)O.  My two biggest complaints about the HDC are the poor quality of the playing surface due to over usage and the distance from the seating bowl to the touchline.

Home Depot Center. Photo: Wha'ppen on Flickr.

3. Toyota Park, Chicago Fire: When designing Toyota Park, we worked with Rossetti Architects using the HDC as a baseline.  After we selected Bridgeview as the winning community of our stadium bidding process, Phil Anschutz almost apologetically confided to me, “You know Peter, we’re not going to be able to build you as nice a stadium as we did in Los Angeles.”  The budget restrictions Mr. Anschutz was referring to created limitations that resulted in only one training field, less storage and office space than at the HDC and a stadium club that doesn’t overlook the field.  But using hindsight from HDC, we added several improvements including a center entrance player tunnel, ground level front row, seating much closer to the touchline, steeper rake of seats and a permanent stage that protects the field and provides a nice field view hospitality area.

And perhaps the most important feature is one that is underground: a $1.7 million dollar soccer field with a year round field heating system that keeps the playing surface among the League’s best in spite of the challenging Chicago climate.  At the groundbreaking, when the stadium design was completed, AEG President Tim Leiweke confided to me, “I don’t know how you did it, but this is going to be nicer than Home Depot.”

Toyota Park. Photo: section8chicago on Flickr

2. Rio Tinto Stadium, Real Salt Lake: Rio Tinto is a nicer version of Toyota Park.  Just as the Chicago Fire took learnings from HDC, Real Salt Lake, working again with Rossetti, used the Toyota Park blue print and evolved it using lessons from the Fire’s home.  The stadium club overlooks the field, the general and premium seat amenities are all a bit nicer than Toyota Park and the view of the Wasatch Mountains is gorgeous.  The south end stands are portable allowing for seats for sporting events and a permanent stage for concerts. And I love their use of text messaging for in seat food service, which is available for all fans.

Rio Tinto Stadium

1B. Union Field at Chester, Philadelphia Union: The two new MLS stadia for 2010 will in all likelihood be improvements on anything we’ve seen to date in MLS.  Based on descriptions, artists renderings, photos and costs, I’m giving a strong edge to Red Bull Arena for the new best soccer stadium in the history of MLS.  Like its 2010 stadium twin Red Bull Arena, Union Field is being built on a cleaned up brown field near a river in an industrial suburb near a major urban area.  Union Field’s design has morphed since it was first announced in order to become more budget friendly as the economic collapse changed the business paradigm that it was based upon, but it will likely be nicer than anything built previously in MLS.

Union Field rendering

Red Bull Arena rendering

1A. Red Bull Arena, New York Red Bulls: They’ve been talking about a new stadium for New York’s MLS team since Charlie Stillitano was there.  Several chief executives later, the dream and the “60-90 day” promises are finally coming to reality next spring.  Despite all the criticism Nick Sakiewicz has received from fans over the years, he will be able to rightfully take great pride in his role in developing the two best stadia in MLS history, both opening next spring – that is quite remarkable.  And Red Bull Arena is going to be a thing of beauty.  With its state of the art features and dedication to be a soccercentric stadium it may be a long time before anyone bumps RB Arena off my top spot.

So there you go, my top 10 (or 11 really).

Let me know how you rank your Top 10 (or 11) and why you chose yours differently than mine.  Have a great week.  Go Fire…er…uh….never mind.

Then the New York MetroStars, later rebranded to Red Bull New York, started playing there almost two decades later in Major League Soccer.

As the Red Bulls laid the final piece of sod today at their new, impressive Red Bull Arena in New Jersey, some current players took the chance to express their feelings about Giants Stadium and the support they (did not) receive there. The massive stadium seemed to serve mainly as a mausoleum for a team that could never win over the soccer fans (or perhaps their children) in the region who once packed out the place for the Cosmos.

And it certainly never won over the home team’s players who consistently struggled on turf in front of pitiful crowds.

Giants Stadium

I’ll present the comments from the players on Giants Stadium without commentary, but I do wonder if a new stadium is really the magical solution they all seem to think it is — even if it will certainly be a significant step-up, deeper issues to do with winning on the pitch and attracting soccer fans to a soft drink branded team still exist.

From the MLS site at today’s ceremony at Red Bull Arena:

Mike Petke, New York Red Bulls veteran defender:

I’m brainwashed, I’m still seeing turf right now. Until I actually go down there and feel it, I’m not going to believe it. While Giants Stadium was good to us and was our home for so long, just to have not only the stadium and the grass, knowing that we won’t be running on rock-hard concrete anymore in front of sparse crowds, is just an overwhelmingly great feeling.

Juan Pablo Angel, New York Red Bulls captain:

I was probably the biggest critic of Giants Stadium since my first day here. I never liked it, I never liked the surface, I never liked the atmosphere, apart from the L.A. game in 2007. That was the only decent atmosphere we ever had at Giants Stadium. Apart from that it was a stadium that looked empty. For me personally, I never felt at home. That’s why I’m so excited about this. This is home, it’s like you’re walking into your second house.

I plan to be in New Jersey next spring for the Red Bulls inaugural game at Red Bull Arena, and a few Fire fans should be with me to make things a little less like home for Juan and his friends. Hopefully it will be the start of something more like soccer for the area’s MLS outpost, but we’ll have to wait and see how that stadium’s atmosphere pans out in reality.