Parque Luis Méndez Piana

The ground at Avenida Ramón V. Benzano 3471 carries two names. Parque Luis Méndez Piana sits in the Parque Batlle neighbourhood. The stadium has lived through a merger in 1980 that reshaped the club, and a further rebuild in 2003 that did little to change the character of the place. It remains a local anchor, a place where the Segunda División games take place under a sky that is often grey.

The most notable visitor was not a footballer. Dwight D. Eisenhower landed his helicopter on the field in 1960, a moment that should have made the ground famous, but the fame passed elsewhere. Recently, the grounds were used for hospitality tents during continental finals, yet the stadium itself stayed quiet. The club plays matches here, and the crowd is small, but the place holds its own shape. The pitch does not flood, and the gates close at the right time. It is a functional piece of infrastructure, not a monument, and that is how it should be. The club website lists the address, but the location is better known by the people who live in Villa Dolores. The stadium does not reach for more than that.