Estadio Romano · Profile

Completely rebuilt in 1995 to host top-flight football, the Estadio Romano José Fouto in Mérida (Badajoz, Spain) holds 14,537 spectators, all seated: 4,335 in the north stand, 4,164 in the south stand, 3,074 in the preferential section and 2,890 in the main stand, plus boxes and an official area. Owned by Mérida City Council, it has a natural grass pitch measuring 106 by 70 metres. It has been the home of Mérida AD since the club was founded in 2013. Before that it hosted Club Polideportivo Mérida, from 1953 to 2000, and Mérida UD, from 2000 to 2013.

The 1953 municipal stadium

The ground opened in May 1953 as the Estadio Municipal de Mérida. It held 8,000 spectators and had an athletics track around the pitch. For four decades it was home to CP Mérida, a club that dated its origins to 28 December 1912, in the Spanish fourth and third tiers. In the 1990-91 season the team won the club’s first promotion to the Spanish second division, and the stadium began to stage professional football. Spain’s under-21 side also played there in that period: on 31 May 1989 they beat Cyprus 1-0, and on 12 November 1991 they drew 1-1 with Czechoslovakia, both in qualifiers for the European Under-21 Championship and in front of around 8,000 fans.

The 1995 rebuild

CP Mérida won the Spanish second division in 1994-95 and went up to the top flight. The old ground did not meet the requirements of the first division, so the regional government of Extremadura led a full reconstruction: new stands were built, the athletics track was removed, and roofs, floodlights, a sound system and natural grass were installed. The plan provided for 14,710 seats. The stadium was officially reopened with CP Mérida’s match against Real Betis on the opening day of the 1995-96 league season.

That same season, Real Madrid’s visit on matchday 20 drew around 18,000 spectators, many of them standing because not all the seats had yet been fitted. Mérida were relegated at the end of the campaign, won promotion again as second-division leaders in 1996-97 and played their second top-flight season at the Romano in 1997-98, which also ended in relegation.

The José Fouto name

During the club’s spell in the top flight the ground was renamed Estadio Romano José Fouto, in honour of José Fouto Carvajal, a coffee distributor who became CP Mérida president in the late 1970s and took the team from the fourth tier to the first division. Fouto resigned on 30 July 2000. In September of that year CP Mérida folded because of its debts and the stadium dropped the former president’s name. It was restored in 2020.

The Spain national team in Mérida

Spain’s senior side played at the Romano on 9 September 2009, in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. Spain beat Estonia 3-0 with goals from Cesc Fàbregas in the 32nd minute, Santi Cazorla in the 82nd and Juan Mata in the 90th, in front of 14,362 spectators. The referee was Oleg Orekhov of Ukraine. The same year, the dignitaries’ box was refurbished to increase its capacity.

From Mérida UD to Mérida AD

After CP Mérida disappeared, Mérida UD, formerly its reserve side, used the stadium from 2000 to 2013. That year the club was liquidated and Mérida AD acquired its sporting rights at a court auction. The new club, which became a public limited sports company on 4 August 2016, started in the fourth tier: runners-up in 2013-14 and group champions in 2014-15, when they won promotion to Segunda División B by beating CD Laredo. They were relegated in 2017-18, returned to Segunda B as Extremadura group champions in 2018-19 and, in 2021-22, after finishing second in Segunda Federación and winning the promotion play-offs, earned a place in Primera Federación, the third tier, where they have competed since 2022.

Women’s football finals

The Romano has hosted two finals of women’s competitions. On 2 June 2018 it staged the Copa de la Reina final: FC Barcelona beat Atlético de Madrid 1-0 with a Mariona Caldentey goal in the 122nd minute of extra time, in front of 12,500 spectators, for their sixth title in the competition. On 22 January 2023 it hosted the final of the Spanish Women’s Super Cup, in which FC Barcelona beat Real Sociedad 3-0 with two goals from Aitana Bonmatí and one from Asisat Oshoala, before a crowd of 6,339.