Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Ayma

Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Ayma is a football stadium in San Jose, Costa Rica, which has a seating capacity of 23,112, making it the second largest stadium in the country.

The stadium is the home of Deportivo Saprissa, and was named in honour of the team's founder, Ricardo Saprissa. The stadium's nickname "The Monster's Cave" is derived from the team's nickname "The Purple Monster".

History

Saprissa originally played at the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica (Costa Rica National Stadium), a rented and shared facility. It was Costa Rica's first national stadium.

In 1955 Ricardo Saprissa sought out a permanent site which could serve the training ground and competition play location needs of Deportivo Saprissa. He had several qualities he wanted in the site: a location with easy access from the capital city of San Jose and from the provincial cities such as Alajuela, Cartago, and Heredia. On 3 August 1965 he bought a site in San Juan de Tibas for ₡363,398.90. On 12 October 1966, the initial construction program was a football pitch with stands. On 27 August 1972, following a six year construction and improvement program Estadio Ricardo Saprissa was officially opened. The first match was between Deportivo Saprissa and Comunicaciones of Guatemala. Peter Sandoval of Comunicaciones made the first goal at the stadium. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.

In 2003, the long tropical rainy season at the stadium caused Saprissa to apply and be granted by FIFA, permission to change out the pitch from natural lawn to synthetic turf, the then-only stadium in Latin America to have this type of turf. The stadium has also been used for Costa Rica national football team matches. It is the second-largest football stadium in Costa Rica; Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica (the current National Stadium) has a seating capacity that outranks the Estadio Saprissa seating capacity of 23,112. The local mountains and downtown San Jose overlook Estadio Saprissa.

In 2005, the stadium became the world's first stadium