“Why can’t the ‘U’ have a similar stadium?”: The story of how the plans to build the Monumental arrived in Lima | League 1 Betsson

As Monumental as cream greatness. The Universitario de Deportes campus was inaugurated 23 years ago, a stadium with the capacity to receive more than 80,000 attendees in the Betsson 1 League, one of the largest in South America. It was on July 2, 2000 when it opened its doors for the first time and the 2-0 defeat of Sporting Cristal was only the beginning of an idyll that continues to this day in the Betsson 1 League.

Dr. Jorge Alva Flores, a living myth in the history of the ‘U’, was the key man in concretizing the idea of ​​having a stadium of similar majesty to that of Barcelona in Guayaquil, which is why El Comercio contacted him to reveal to us how the idea of ​​the U having its own stadium was born.

Jorge Alva is an honorary member of the ‘U’ and has experienced much of the cream history. More than 50 years linked to the sport have allowed him to earn a place both in the cream box and in the Peruvian team. He won 14 titles while being part of the Ate institution.

The doctor shared his work between the club and the Bicolor and it was on one of those trips that he came up with the idea of ​​Universitario having a stadium up to the current world football scene, since Lolo Fernández was too small. every weekend for cream passion.

The motivation

“On a trip that the Peruvian team had as a preparation, we went to the United States. The plane made a stopover in Guayaquil and the next day we continued the trip. That night we trained at the Monumental Stadium in Barcelona, ​​I stood in the center of the field and asked myself: Why can’t the ‘U’ have a similar stadium?”, the doctor tells us.

The Monumental Stadium of Barcelona was inaugurated in 1987 and expanded in 1993 to hold more than 50,000 spectators. In the 1990s, it witnessed the Copa Libertadores and Copa América finals and alternated the location of the Ecuadorian team in the Qualifiers with the Quito venues.

Alva Flores was amazed by its infrastructure and did not hesitate to ask questions about it. “I found out who the promoter of the work was and they told me it was the engineer Walter Lavalleja. They gave me the address of his hotel, I went looking for him and couldn’t find him, but I left him a note of interest in talking with him. My intention was to take the plans of the work and that he was in charge of the execution. I took those plans to Mr. Jorge Nicolini, president of the ‘U’ at that time and with those plans the deal with the construction company GREMCO began, it seems to me in the year 1991”, he stated.

“Construction began in 1996 and it was inaugurated on July 2, 23 years ago, with the match against Sporting Cristal and which was won. I feel proud to have had the initiative so that the U has one of the best stadiums in South America and perhaps one with the greatest capacity and even Conmebol used it to play a final of the Copa Libertadores”, recalls the doctor proudly. He has been a fan of the club since he was a child and worked at the institution as a doctor for most of his life. “I feel proud to contribute to the club of my love having a first-class stadium in South America and it is one of the best in the world”, he adds.

Curiously, the stadium he dreamed of was almost not allowed to enter a game in 2013. The doctor recalls the funny anecdote. “It was in a match where they changed the gate staff. He did not recognize me and prevented me from entering. A group of fans held a rally and forced me to enter. They changed the staff, but I managed to get them to go back to work, ”he tells us.

The ubication

The Monumental U is located in the Ate district, at the end of Av. Javier Prado. Its location has been a handicap that it has had to deal with since it opened its doors. However, the cream fans arrive en masse at the venue to encourage their colors. The doctor explains why it couldn’t be built elsewhere. “The ideal would have been to build the stadium in the neighborhood where the Lolo Fernández is, but there was no longer room for a large project,” he tells us. It is that the project included areas for fans, museums and other locations for the enjoyment of attendees.

Thus, Lolo was left to become a local at the Monumental Stadium. The old stadium in Breña is now presenting a new face, thinking about the training of players. “The current administration is improving the Lolo Fernández Stadium with the purpose of serving it for training minors, as well as activities for members. I think they are going to make a closed coliseum for basketball, soccer 7 and volleyball. The Monumental stadium is for the first team and all the activities that require it,” Dr. Jorge Alva explained to El Comercio.

the present

The creams have a good time. They have managed to advance to the playoffs of the Copa Sudamericana and have generated profits that allow them some stability. The sporting challenge continues for Universitario and Dr. Jorge Alva trusts the boys.

“The victory against Gimnasia y Esgrima was well fought and gave us the opportunity to see a future star of our football such as Piero Quispe and he has even been nominated for the Conmebol ranking. The unfortunate thing was the row that broke out after the game, which was incited by the Argentines, since those who don’t know how to lose act that way. This fact can cause us problems in the future ”, he concludes.

Universitario will face Corinthians in the South American playoffs, which will be played on July 11 in Brazil and close on the 18th of the same month at the Monumental. In addition, the creams must recover their pace in the Closing Tournament to fight for the local title at the end of the year.

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