Historic Stadiums: Gran Parque Central – The Oldest Football Stadium in the Americas

Walking through the Montevideo district of La Blanqueada, the red and blue graffiti on white walls leaves you in no doubt that this is Nacional territory. The oldest ‘criollo’ (native-born) club in the Americas also plays in the oldest football stadium in the Americas. Gran Parque Central is a place of national significance for the Uruguayan people and hosted the first World Cup match. When I visited Montevideo, I went on a stadium tour.

Bienvenidos a La Blanqueada. The message takes up one side of the stadium. I’m walking around the periphery, looking for the entrance. The walls are adorned with fan graffiti. Since I was a kid, I’ve been coming to see you, Nacional, reads another. Next to it, King of Cups. 

This is Gran Parque Central, the 16^th oldest football ground in the world. When Everton’s Goodison Park closes its doors at the end of the 2024/25 season, Gran Parque Central will move up one spot. 

It’s also the oldest football stadium in the Americas and was opened on 25 May 1900. That date is the national day of Uruguay’s neighbour, Argentina, and the park is also significant to Uruguay’s story. This area used to be the Quinta de la Paraguaya, a country house where General José Artigas, the father of the Uruguayan nation, was proclaimed ‘Leader of the Orientales’, a name for what became the state of Uruguay after independence from Spain.

The foundation of Club Nacional de Football

Football was first introduced to Uruguay by the British community in the late 19^th century. It remained an Anglo-centric affair in the 1890s with clubs such as Albion FC, the Central Uruguay Railway Cricket Club (CURCC, a forerunner to Peñarol), and the German community club, Deutscher. English was the language of the game, and while local-born criollos – typically of Spanish or Italian descent – did play with existing clubs, Club Nacional de Football was formed on 14 May 1899 by Uruguayan-born footballers and is the oldest criollo-formed club in the Americas.  

Nacional adopted the white, red and blue of Artigas’ flag as the club’s colours.

Nacional played its first match at Gran Parque Central on 27 May 1900 against Deutscher. At one end of the ground, there is a pitch-side statue of Prudencio Reyes who, in Nacional’s early years, inflated the balls for the club. He was known as ‘the puffer’ – or hincha in the local slang. Reyes was known for his emphatic support for Nacional, shouting enthusiastically from the touchline. The term hincha became associated with football support and is now the common term for football fans in Latin America.

Nacional won its first league title in 1902, the first of 49 titles (as of 2025). Nacional has also won three Copa Libertadores. Nacional’s big rival is Peñarol (52 titles, five Copa Libertadores), who compete in El Clásico Uruguayo, which – like most big games – is moved to the much bigger Estadio Centenario. 

Another historic – and tragic – event that happened at Gran Parque Central was the suicide of Nacional defender Abdón Porte on 5 March 1918. Porte had won four titles with Nacional but found himself dropped after a run of bad form. Despite getting back into the side, Porte headed to Gran Parque Central in the middle of the night and shot himself in the centre circle.

Gran Parque Central and international football

The Uruguayan national side played its first match at the ground in 1904, and it was a regular host stadium for Uruguay until the construction of Estadio Centenario in 1930.

The Uruguayan national side wears the Celeste (sky blue) shirt due to a famous incident at Gran Parque Central. In 1910, another criollo-founded club, River Plate FC, took on the powerful Argentinian club Alumni. Both wore red-and-white stripes, so the Uruguayans switched to a light-blue away shirt and went on to win 2-1. Uruguay adopted the sky blue shirt in a match a few months later against Argentina and also won, so the colours stuck.

In 1924, Uruguay won the Olympic football tournament. Around a third of the squad – seven of the 22 – played for Nacional. When Uruguay retained the gold in Amsterdam in 1928, eight of the 22 were drawn from Nacional, including winning goal-scorer Héctor Scarone and the exciting José Andrade. 

By the time Uruguay hosted the first FIFA World Cup in 1930, Nacional contributed nine of the 22-man squad. The Estadio Centenario was not quite ready to host matches, so the first matches of the tournament kicked off at the same time at Gran Parque Central and Peñarol’s Estadio Pocitos. While spectators in Pocitos were treated to the first World Cup goal, scored by Lucien Laurent of France against Mexico, those at the Gran Parque Central witnessed the US dispatch Belgium by 3-0. There is a display to all 13 participating countries of the inaugural World Cup at the Gran Parque Central, which hosted six matches during the tournament.

Gran Parque Central today

Nacional’s ground has a capacity of 37,000. It’s a lovely, tight-knit stadium and I had a very agreeable lunch at the club restaurant that overlooks the pitch before going on a stadium tour. The plateas (side stands) and populares (behind the goals) are open to the elements and one side is dominated by palcos – executive boxes.

It has changed a lot since 1900, due to redevelopment and has even experienced a couple of fires. As well as Prudencio Reyes, there’s a statue of legendary tango singer Carlos Gardel, looking dapper in his suit and hat. Gardel enjoyed watching football at the Gran Parque Central, including at the 1930 World Cup.

The Gran Parque Central stadium tour is excellent. I understand it is available in English, but I went on the Spanish language tour with an excellent guide who could slip seamlessly into Portuguese for the Brazilian visitors in our group. Visitors start outside the ground at the mural and bust of Luis Suárez, who played two stints at Nacional at the beginning and towards the end of his career and is Uruguay’s top international goal-scorer. 

You get an insightful history lesson and a tour of the facilities, including changing rooms, pitch-side and dug-outs, and into the stands. You can pop into a neighbouring building to look at the many trophies won by the club over the years.

Gran Parque Central is one of the great world stadiums. It is modest in size by modern standards, but few can boast such a history.