A network of tightly packed streets branches out from Jardín del Túria, Valencia’s famed central park, which cuts through the Spanish city.
They twist through the Valencian metropolis, until one of them turns, down an otherwise unremarkable road, and the legendary Mestalla suddenly rises into view – towering above the surrounding apartment blocks as the neighbourhood has continued to grow around it.
Faces of heroes from years gone by stare down from one of the stands, where fans have already started to mill around before the afternoon kick-off. It feels almost South American, a stadium showing its age – weathered, worn, yet full of life.
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The Mestalla is the oldest stadium in La Liga, claims to be the steepest in Europe, and is a home-away-from-home for the people of Valencia.
However, time is finally catching up with it; in just over 12 months, the Mestalla will shut its doors for the final time as Los Che move 4km northwest to the Nou Mestalla – a project almost two decades in the making.
The Mestalla first opened in 1923, built on top of an irrigation canal that lends its name to the stadium. Franco Segarra explained to a room of journalists, including Daily Star Sport , earlier this month, that the stadium has been hamstrung by its limitations as they try to modernise.
Segarra noted that licenses are complicated and the location and age add a barrier for innovation – not because the ideas aren’t there, but because the structure itself resists them. The Nou Mestalla, on the other hand, will offer a clean slate.
Following Valencia’s successes in the early 2000s, the decision was taken to provide the team with an impressive new home. Former president of Los Ches, Juan Soler, revealed plans for this sparkling stadium in November 2006.
Initial plans had slated it for completion by summer 2009, ready for use in the 2009/10 season. However, after the global financial crisis, construction was halted.
And so, for almost two decades, the skeleton of what was to be the new stadium lay dormant as the city continued to grow around it.
Then, in 2025, Valencia secured a huge €322million refinancing and construction package backed by Goldman Sachs and La Liga, finally breaking the deadlock that had stalled the project for years and allowing work to resume.
It’s full steam ahead now for the 70,000 seater ground, with club officials aiming for the move to occur next summer.
Valencia’s current home, the Mestalla, holds 49,430 supporters and has averaged crowds of 44,699 this season – meaning the Nou Mestalla will introduce more than 20,000 additional seats. But the club’s ambitions stretch far beyond filling them on matchdays.
The Mestalla opens its doors just 19 times a year for Valencia’s home fixtures. The Nou Mestalla, however, is being designed as a year-round venue – one that can host concerts, conferences, corporate events and entertainment alongside football.
Segarra pulled up an article from the Daily Mail, which claimed Valencia was Spain’s finest Mediterranean city. He explained this feeling, described by the Mail, is what the new stadium wants to capture.
Valencia will significantly increase their hospitality seats, employing Legends Hospitality to put together the packages, explaining they will be treated similarly to how airlines offer their tiers.
The aim is to turn the stadium into a destination throughout the week, rather than somewhere supporters visit only on matchdays.
Those who purchase hospitality packages will have access to facilities, such as restaurants, year-round – a strategy that is already proving successful, with some options, including the Mediterranean package, having already sold out.
Valencia also outlined plans for 45 bars spread across the stadium, alongside food kiosks and even a nightclub-style disco area as part of the wider entertainment offering.
Segarra admitted the club will finally be able to build a proper fan zone too – something the tight layout and surrounding infrastructure at the current Mestalla does not allow.
He also spoke about the wider redevelopment of the area surrounding the stadium, with tertiary land set to be sold off for office space. The hope, he explained, is to create a district that feels active.
However, the fans remain at the heart of the move, Segarra said they can’t get this move wrong – it will only happen to fans once in their lives.
The club’s plan is to reward loyalty when allocating seats in the new stadium, with long-serving season ticket holders given first choice.
Fans will be able to select seats based on the length of time they have held their own season ticket, while groups wishing to sit together can instead use the average tenure across the group to determine priority.
Segarra said there’s no stadium like this in Southern Spain – and he’s right. The Nou Mestalla has already been provisionally selected as one of the host venues for the 2030 World Cup, underlining the scale of Valencia’s ambition.
And after Valencia mounted a late push for European qualification in the closing weeks of the season, only to fall agonisingly short, supporters will hope the move into a new home can also signal the beginning of a new era on the pitch.
UK fans can watch LALIGA live throughout this season via Premier Sports, or on Disney+ for each Saturday 8pm kick off