Estadio de la Ceramica/ El Madrigal Villarreal (Villarreal)

Estadio de la Cerámica, formerly and informally called El Madrigal, is a football stadium in Villarreal, Spain, used since 1923. It is the home venue of Villarreal CF of La Liga, the highest football league in Spain.

General information

Arena capacity: 23,500 spectators

Address: Carrer Blasco Ibáñez, 2, 12540 Vila-real, Castelló, Spain

GPS coordinates for the navigator: 39.9439° N, 0.1031° W

Year of construction: 1923

Construction cost: €35 million

Field: hybrid grass lawn with dimensions of 105 x 68 m

Seating plan of Estadio de la Ceramica

Unlike the majority of European stadiums, perhaps because of its age, Estadio El Madrigal isn’t built in the ‘Bowl Style’ that is becoming more and more common. Instead, it has more of an ‘English Style’, whereby each section of the ground is a standalone section that runs along the edge of the pitch. Here’s a bit of information about each stand:

• Fondo Norte– Located, as the name suggests, at the North end of the stadium and behind one of the goals is this tall stand that runs over two tiers. This is the stand that tends to house the away supporters.
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• Preferncia– Found to the East of the ground, this stand is technically two-tiered owing to the small paddock like section at the bottom. The majority of it is heavily steeped in one section, however.
• Fondo Sur Cubierto– Directly opposite The North Stand and behind the other goal is this single-tiered stand that is split into two different sections. This is where the club’s most vocal fans tend to congregate.
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• Tribuna– The West Stand, as it would be known in the UK, is the main stand in the ground. It houses the players’ tunnel, the dugouts and the club’s air-conditioned executive boxes.

Where to buy tickets?

As is often the case with matches in foreign countries (or Wigan), it isn’t easy to understand how ticketing works for Villarreal games. Unlike in England, where prices tend to be rigidly set-out before the season begins, ticket prices for games in Spain tend to be announced about four weeks prior to the match, meaning prices can fluctuate. There’s also no specific information about whether they charge different prices for children or concessions, either.

What we do know is that the club charge different amounts of money depending on where in the ground you want to sit.

The club’s website is one of the first places to look if you want tickets, with an excellent interactive seating plan that lets you pick out the seats that you want. You can also email the club’s ticket office, call them directly or purchase tickets from the ground or the club shop. Plenty of Spanish clubs, Villarreal included, have a fun system whereby you can buy tickets from cash machines throughout the city. In this case you’ll want to keep your eye out for Bankia ATM machines if you want to buy your tickets this way.

How to get there?

Vila-real is right on the East coast of Spain, promising a short trip to the beach or even to nearby Valencia. Getting there from the UK is easy enough, with both Ibiza and Palma a short distance away by boat. Here are some of the more typical options you might want to consider, however.

Train

Getting a train from London to Vila-real will take about 22 hours, so you might want to consider a more conventional method of travel if you don’t want to have muscle wastage by the time you’ve arrived. If you’re in Valencia, however, a train to the city will take about an hour, though they don’t run all that frequently. Once you’ve arrived at Vila-real Railway Station you’re little more than a ten minute walk from the ground.

Bus

There isn’t a huge amount of information available about the buses in Vila-real, to be honest, though it’s such a small town it won’t be your first thought anyway. There are buses run by numerous companies, such as Grupo HIFE, from Valencia to the city so you might want to consider those if you’ve flown into Valencia’s airport.

Car

The explosion of sat-nav devices nowadays mean that you’ll get better instructions from them than we could ever offer. Your best bet, then, is to put in the address (Calle Blasco Ibáñez 2, 12540 Vila-real) and let the device do the work for you.

Taxi

A taxi from Valencia’s airport to the stadium will cost you somewhere in the region of €80 and take about an hour to complete its journey.

Parking

There isn’t much parking at the ground itself, but as the ground is located in a residential area you’ll find plenty of on-street parking available. Just make sure you keep your eye out for any parking restrictions that might be in place or you could be in for a nasty surprise when you get back to your car.

Where to eat and sleep?

The East coast of Spain is full of beautiful villages and wonderful places to spend a few days, with Vila-real being no exception to this. Obviously nearby Valencia offers the better-known location for your stay, but we’d recommend you look closer to the ground, too. Here are our favourite hotels for your consideration.

1. Hotel Sercotel Plana Parc. Around four and a half miles from the stadium is this modern hotel with a terrace, a library, three meeting rooms and a health club. It also has an outdoor pool as well as free Wi-Fi and free parking.
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2. Vila-real Palace Hotel. Just a mile and a half from the ground is this hotel with a fitness centre, a full-service spa and an indoor pool. It also has four meeting rooms, free Wi-Fi and self-parking facilities as well as a restaurant.
3. Tryp Castellón Center. About four miles from Estadio El Madrigal is this upscale hotel that offers a restaurant, a fitness centre, a conference space and six meeting rooms. There’s also free Wi-Fi, of course, so you can do some business on the go.
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Pretty much anywhere in Spain is great for bars and nice little eateries that you weren’t expecting. There are a number of wonderful locations in Vila-real for a pre-match pint or spot of tapas, with these being some of our favourites.

1. Bocateria Els Lluïsos. Downstairs in Els Lluïsos you’ll find the Casal Del Futbol, or Villarreal’s supporters club. The Yellow Submarine fans are known as some of the friendliest in Spain, so as long as you don’t turn up looking for a fight you’ll doubtless be welcomed with open arms.
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2. Bar Bocateria El Estadi. It’s small and pretty bland inside, so it’s the kind of place you would want to spill outside and sit in the sun, but with beer on tap and spirits on the shelf plus quick tasty bites to eat available to boot, it’s ideal for football fans.
3. La Tribuna. La Tribuna really is a must visit, if for no other reason than it’s right next door to the ground. The two-room pub is adorned with numerous pieces of memorabilia from the club’s past, including scarves from English teams like Middlesbrough who have visited in the past.
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Facilities

From the horchata tent outside the front of the stadium selling ‘typically Valencian’ food through to the stalls on the concourses inside the ground, you won’t be disappointed by your visit to Estadio El Madrigal. It has all of the facilities you’d expect for a stadium in one of Europe’s top-flight leagues and promises an excellent experience from start to finish.

Much like with the ticketing procedures, it isn’t always easy to understand the hospitality options in foreign stadiums. Estadio El Madrigal has 30 air-conditioned boxes with stunning views of the pitch, though, so it’s safe to say they have a number of excellent hospitality packages available for people hoping to watch Villarreal play in style. There are also a number of lounges and even a restaurant in the ground, so if for some reason a box doesn’t tickle your fancy there will still be a package that suites what you’re after.

Entrelíneas restaurant is located in the corner of the ground and is tastefully decorated with old photos of the club and a classic vibe. It’s one of the most beautiful parts of the ground and is available for private hire for any number of purposes. Business dinners and presentations have all been held there in the past, as have communions, Christenings and even tasting sessions for new product launches! Sufficed to say if you’re looking for somewhere to host an event in the Vila-real region then the home of the city’s football team has got you covered.

History

Built in 1923, Estadio El Madrigal remained virtually unchanged for nearly fifty years until remodelling of the ground took place before the start of the 1952-1953 season. They changed the size of the pitch from 95m x 65m to 105m x 65m, matching the pitch size at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium, as was the style of the time. Some small alterations were made again in the 1960s when a small covered stand was built, with The South Stand finished at the start of there 1970s. That was then demolished and rebuilt at the end of the 1980s.

The biggest changes to the ground took place in the 1990s, however, when numerous works were done to it in order to make it in to modern stadium we know today. The South Stand was demolished and rebuilt once more, with a roof added as well as VIP section and an amphitheatre. The VIP section is one of the jewels of the stadium, with thirty boxes that offer air-conditioning, TVs to show the game and catering services. The stadium’s renovations came about in 2005 when a number of small changes had to be made in order for the ground to be a suitable venue to host Champions League football, according to UEFA’s stringent rules.