Estudiantes de La Plata - Facilities

Facilities

Jorge Luis Hirschi Stadium is located on 1st Avenue, between 55th and 57th Streets, in La Plata. In its previous incarnation, it had room for 23,000. The wooden stands behind the goal-lines were standing-room only. The stands next to the avenue were sitting-room, and were separated from the avenue by a row of tile trees. The opposite side was roofed and had the best seating arrangements. The noisiest fans used to occupy the 55th Street popular, while visiting fans were often directed to the 57th St. popular, opposite a technical high school (whose inconvenient location was responsible for the relatively small size of the pitch, at 105 x 68 m).

For many international games in the Zubeldía era, Estudiantes played in Boca Juniors' La Bombonera, noted for its intimidating acoustics.

With the erection of Estadio Ciudad de La Plata in the 1990s, both Estudiantes and Gimnasia decided initially against relocating their home games. However, Estudiantes's field was closed down in September 2005 because of new safety regulations which forbid standing-only wooden stands. This began a sequence of political infighting between the club and City Hall.

During the 2005 Apertura tournament, Estudiantes played its home games in the nearby Gimnasia stadium, and after that in Quilmes Atlético Club's Centenario field. There, Estudiantes made history with a come-from-behind 4–3 Libertadores win against Sporting Cristal.

On April 2006 a court decree allowed the re-opening of 1 y 57, but mayor Julio Alak intervened again to prevent this from happening. In August 2006, an agreement was reached to build sitting room for 20,000 (later amended to 23,000) and using the city stadium for games exceeding that capacity. Renovation work on the stadium started in 2007, and has met with opposition from several groups, notably the "Hoja de Tilo" NGO, who claims that the works would damage the environmental balance of the park behind the stadium.

Meanwhile, Estudiantes settled in the city stadium, where it earned five consecutive derby wins, and had a streak of 37 games undefeated in the local league (2007–2009). When roofing work began in August 2009 to install a new roof in the city stadium, Estudiantes moved once again to Quilmes. As the city stadium will host the 2011 Copa América, it is expected to reopen in time for the 2011 Clausura.

Estudiantes' training grounds are located in the Country Club premises in City Bell, north of La Plata. Many facilities were paid for by Juan Sebastián Verón while he played in Europe. Verón was also instrumental in the negotiations over the stadium, meeting then president Néstor Kirchner to unlock the process that was being stalled by mayor Alak.