Estadio George Capwell

Infobox_Stadium
stadium_name = Estadio George Capwell
nickname = 1er Estadio del Ecuador


caption = "El Capwell"
legal name = Estadio George Capwell
commercial name = Estadio Capwell
location = Guayaquil, Ecuador
built = 1943
opened = October 21, 1945
renovated = 1991
closed =
demolished =
owner = Club Sport Emelec
operator = Club Sport Emelec
surface = Grass
tenants = Club Sport Emelec
seating_capacity = 20,000
dimensions = 95 x 65 meters

Estadio George Capwell is a multi-use stadium in Guayaquil, Ecuador. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Club Sport Emelec.

History

Several years after the creation of the Empresa Eléctrica del Ecuador sports club, it's founder, George Lewis Capwell, decided that it was time for the club to have its own Baseball stadium, so in 1942 Guayaquil's Municipal authorities donated 4 city blocks for the construction of the first private sports stadium in Ecuador. A year after that, in 1943, Emelec's staff officially named and initiated the construction of the George Capwell Stadium.

The beautiful George Capwell Stadium opened its doors for the first time on October 21 of 1945, the inaugural game was a Baseball match between Emelec and Oriente, and George Capwell played as a catcher for the "Azules" (Emelec). Although Emelec's president did not like football and their stadium was not initially intended to be a football field, soon after the inauguration the first football match was held. Emelec won 5 - 4 against an all stars team from the cities of Manta and Bahia.

The 1947 Copa America competition was held exclusively at George Capwell Stadium, and an undefeated Argentina became South America's champion with an all star team that included names like Alfredo Di Stefano, Lostau, and Mendez. Ecuador finished in 6th place. (Brazil did not participate on this competition.)

After the birth of Guayaquil's Estadio Modelo Guayaquil "Alberto Spencer", the George Capwell Stadium was closed for many years because it became obsolete, and in several occasions was almost destroyed for various projects that luckily for the club were never actually completed.

It wasn't until 1991 that with the leadership of Nassib Nehme that the George Capwell Stadium was reopened, to become once again the house of Emelec. Since its reopening the stadium has been enlarged twice and a new and final change has been scheduled for 2008, to reach a final capacity of 45,000 spectators.

At the moment the official capacity of the stadium according to the FEF (Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol) is 18,000 spectators. However, that number has not been changed even after the two enlargements were finished. It is said that the true capacity of the stadium at the moment is 20,000 spectators.