Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto
Alajuela, Costa Rica
Formerly: Estadio de Alajuela, Estadio Municipal de Alajuela, Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto Scotiabank
Alajuela built its ground in 1940, then sent for the old wooden stand from the National Stadium in San José and set it up here, so the club's first home carried a grandstand with its own history before a ball was kicked. The stadium opened on 18 January 1942, with Alajuelense facing Club Sport Cartagines, and stood for twenty-four years as the Estadio Municipal de Alajuela before the club renamed it for Alejandro Morera Soto, a former player, in July 1966.
The ground grew in stages rather than one grand rebuild: a second stand went up between 1979 and 1985, along with extra seating above the dressing rooms, a royal box followed in 1998, a video screen arrived in 2010, and the natural turf gave way to a hybrid pitch in 2017. A sponsorship name, Scotiabank, was attached in 2011, though supporters and the press have kept using Morera Soto regardless.
Its concert history sits oddly against its football one. Elton John played here in November 1995, Iron Maiden filled roughly 14,500 of its 18,000 concert capacity in March 2009, and WWE brought both SmackDown and Raw through in 2010 and 2011. The Costa Rican national team, despite the stadium's size and standing, has never played a match on this pitch — the honour has stayed with Alajuelense alone, the club that owns the ground outright and runs its only official presence online through its own channel rather than a dedicated stadium site.
Who plays here
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LD Alajuelense
192 matches
Recent matches here
| Date | Match | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Sep | LD Alajuelense — Deportivo Saprissa | 0:2 |
| 27 Aug | LD Alajuelense — Plaza Amador FC | 3:1 |
| 24 Aug | LD Alajuelense — San Carlos | 0:1 |
| 15 Aug | LD Alajuelense — Puntarenas FC | 2:1 |
| 2 Aug | LD Alajuelense — Escorpiones Belén | 2:1 |
| 30 Jul | LD Alajuelense — Xelajú | 1:0 |
| 13 Jul | LD Alajuelense — CS Herediano | 0:1 |
| 24 Apr | LD Alajuelense — Puntarenas FC | 5:2 |