The five smallest stadiums in Europe

The current trend in European football is to build ever larger stadiums. More seats mean more tickets to sell, and more tickets to sell mean increased revenue for the club. However, not all clubs can afford stadiums with over 80,000 seats like Real Madrid and Barcelona. Some have to manage with a limited fanbase, a location that doesn’t allow for large structures, or simply prefer not to incur high maintenance costs. Here are the smallest stadiums among the top 5 European leagues for the 2024/25 season.

Serie A - Giuseppe Sinigaglia, Como

According to official data provided by Serie A, the Sinigaglia Stadium in Como can host 13,000 spectators. However, this count refers to the stadium’s original structure and doesn’t include recent adjustments which, according to Como’s mayor Alessandro Rapinese, have resulted in an official capacity of 10,854. This makes Sinigaglia the smallest stadium in Serie A for the 2024/25 season, with a capacity even lower than Venice's Penzo, despite the adjustments to the previously unusable seating section, which were made for Como's return to Serie A.

Like the Penzo, Sinigaglia features a waterside view. In this case, it’s Lake Como, visible between the stands and the curved seating area. The stadium’s architecture was adjusted over the years due to the lake's proximity. The lighting towers were lowered, in agreement with ENAC (the Italian Civil Aviation Authority), to reduce light pollution that interfered with flights to and from the nearby Como International Seaplane Base. Additionally, two of the four towers were painted white and red, and in 2023, LED lights were installed on two towers to update the lighting system.

Bundesliga - Voith Arena, Heidenheim

Even with Holstein Kiel’s historic promotion to the Bundesliga, the Voith Arena—Heidenheim's home stadium—remains the smallest in the Bundesliga. The difference came down to 34 seats: Holstein Kiel’s website lists Holstein-Stadion's maximum capacity at 15,034, while Heidenheim’s official site lists 15,000 seats for Voith Arena. This stadium is not only the smallest in the Bundesliga but also one of the smallest professional football stadiums in Germany.

For context, among the teams in the 2. Bundesliga and 3. Liga for the 2024/25 season, only one stadium in the second division has a smaller capacity than Voith Arena, while five third-division teams have smaller stadiums. One of these is Borussia Dortmund II, whose home, Stadion Rote Erde, is essentially a training ground and can officially hold 10,000 people. Despite its limited capacity, Heidenheim managed to secure a UEFA license to host Conference League games at Voith Arena.

Ligue 1 - Stade Francis-Le Blé, Brest

Brest was unable to secure a UEFA license to host home games in the Champions League at its Stade Francis-Le Blé. After qualifying for the Champions League for the first time, Éric Roy’s team is forced to play home games at Stade de Roudourou in Guingamp, a 19,000-seat stadium located over 100 kilometers from Brest. Stade Francis-Le Blé, a century-old stadium that opened in 1922 and was last renovated in 2010, seats just over 15,000 and features a classic rectangular design with three covered stands and one uncovered stand, formerly called the Tribune Plein Ciel (Open Sky Stand).

It would have been interesting to see Real Madrid fans packed into the steel cage that Brest uses for visiting supporters, but according to the Associated Press, at least 5,000 of Stade Francis-Le Blé's 15,000 seats didn’t meet UEFA standards, resulting in the denial of a license. Unfortunately, this may be Brest’s only chance to bring Champions League games to this stadium, as the club plans to complete a new stadium by 2027.

La Liga - Estadio Municipal de Butarque, Leganés

With an official capacity of 11,454, the Estadio Municipal de Butarque in Leganés is the smallest stadium in La Liga for the 2024/25 season. Unlike the other stadiums mentioned, Butarque is relatively new, having opened on February 14, 1998, during a period when the team alternated between the second and third divisions. This explains its relatively limited capacity, which is even smaller than Estadio de Vallecas, the home of Rayo Vallecano, which lacks one stand.

In contrast, Butarque has four stands, featuring a central covered stand and an uncovered circular structure that surrounds the other three sections. Following last season’s promotion to La Liga, the club decided to make upgrades, including new seats in the central stand, completing the blue wave pattern that characterizes the seating.

Premier League - Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth

It may seem surprising, but the Premier League has a stadium with a very limited capacity. The Vitality Stadium, home to Bournemouth, has only 11,307 seats. Officially opened in 1910, the current stadium site isn’t the original, as the field was moved thanks to a donation from the Cooper-Dean family.

In 2011, renovations included rotating the field 90 degrees to increase distance from nearby residential areas. Three new stands were also built, which remain separated from one another as the club suspended expansion plans. The goal was to fill the corners, increasing the stadium’s capacity from the smallest in Premier League history (until Luton Town’s promotion in 2023) to over 14,000 seats.