The 5 most incredible stadiums from the Conference League

When I heard the announcement of a third UEFA club competition, I wrinkled my nose. What's the use of a Europa League reboot with teams that didn't make it to qualify? So I think about the stadiums. They have always been one of the great charms of football (as of any sport), and the possibility of discovering new ones in cities that we didn't know existed is genuinely stimulating. It's useless to make fun of: the quality of football played, at least in the group stage of the tournament, will not be very high. But think of the boring winter Thursdays: if the Europa League is obvious, the Conference League is the novelty that could change a night that you would otherwise have spent playing FIFA or watching a series on Netflix. It will be funny? Maybe not, but at least you will be able to admire one of the following stadiums as a stage of a game.

Maccabi Tel Aviv - Bloomfield Stadium

Let's start with one of the longest-running stadiums in the tournament, Tel Aviv's Bloomfield Stadium. One of the most elegant of the competition, the stadium was inaugurated on October 13th, 1962. It was born on the ashes of the old "Basa Stadium", built thanks to funding from the Canadian Association of Labor Israel, an organization founded by the Bloomfield brothers, to whom the plant is named the same. Today it hosts the home games of Hapoel Tel Aviv and Bnei Yehuda, as well as Maccabi, who will compete for access to the second round of the Conference League in Group A with LASK, HJK, and Alashkert. What makes me appreciate it is its shape, so "open", which certainly favors the view from any point in the stadium, and of course the two bridges that connect the four opposite corners of the stadium.

Randers - Cepheus Park Randers

Despite its limited capacity (10,300 seats, 9,000 of which are seated), the Cepheus Park Randers is one of the most pleasant stadiums to look at, at least from the outside. The octagonal shape is the detail that makes this stadium rare and interesting, already visited by AZ Alkmaar in the first match of Group D. The other teams that will come to play at Randers' home are Jablonec and Cluj.

Feyenoord - Stadion Feijenoord

Feyenoord are undoubtedly among the few teams to be out of place in the Conference League, for their blazon and their past, like Roma and Tottenham, to name the two biggest players in the newborn UEFA competition. As proof of this, the Stadion Feijenoord, also known as "de Kuip" (the tub), is one of the most beautiful and avant-garde stadiums that will host the matches of the group stage of the tournament. Despite being built in 1937 and having undergone several renovation processes, the Stadion Feijenoord is still today one of the most brilliant jewels of Dutch architecture, with its typical concave shape. The proximity to the Maas River only adds to its charm. 

Maccabi Haifa - Haifa International Stadium

Also known as the Sammy Ofer Stadium, the tycoon who donated $ 20,000,000 to build the stadium and have it named after him, the Haifa International Stadium has a special feature that makes it unique: the golden stadium roof. This isn't an irrelevant detail, considering that it's located in Israel, 155 km from the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, one of the most important monuments for Islam. The Maccabi's group, with Feyenoord, Union Berlin, and Slavia Prague is among the most compact in the Conference League: surely, conquering the home of the Greens (this is the nickname of the Haifa club) will not be easy, and the internal draw with Feyenoord on the first turn proves it.

Lincoln Red Imps - Victoria Stadium

The last stadium on this list, actually has everything to envy to all the others that we will see in the competition from a structural point of view. With a capacity of 5,000 seats, the Victoria Stadium is the only stadium in Gibraltar, hosting all the matches of the local league and, as of this year, at least three games of the group stage of the Conference League. In fact, the Lincoln Red Imps managed to qualify, becoming the first team from Gibraltar to reach the final stage of a UEFA tournament. However, there's something that all the other stadiums don't have and that the Victoria Stadium can boast: the view of the Rock of Gibraltar right behind one of the two goals of the stadium, a gem that only the Conference League could give us.

In addition to a visual identity that continues along the lines of the Europa League - replacing orange with green - the Conference League is ready to give surprises even with the stadiums. From Holland to Israel, going through Gibraltar, and ending our trip to Denmark.