With a capacity of around 14,000, the Estádio dos Barreiros is the largest sports venue on the island of Madeira, and is home to the most popular sports team on the island, CS Marítimo.
Football has been played on the site of the stadium since 1927, when it was known as the Campo dos Barreiros. However back then it was home to rival club Nacional da Madeira. It wasn’t until later on when Marítimo moved from the Campo do Almirante Reis into the new stadium, sharing with Nacional and also União Madeira.
The stadium was home to Madeira’s top three clubs for many years, and this showed on the poor quality of the pitch, which couldn’t handle three matches a week. During the early 1990’s Nacional moved out, and into their own new stadium.
Nicknamed the ‘Caldeirão’ (Cauldron) because of its hostile atmosphere, the stadium has become a fortress for Marítimo, with many teams struggling to win any points on their visits, notably Benfica who famously took 10 years to secure a win at the stadium, ending the ‘curse’ in 2003.
Sitting at the top of the main stand in this picturesque stadium, gives you great views not only of the football pitch, but also of the city of Funchal, the mountains to the north and the sea to the south.
For many years a new, modern, up-to-date stadium has been promised to the fans of Marítimo, by the club and the Madeiran government, but in reality a new stadium for Marítimo is still in the distant future, especially as the construction of the current project, the Sports Complex, is underway.
For directions to the stadium, click here. Click on pictures below to enlarge. |
