Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto
A Clásico match between Alajuelense and Saprissa at the Morera Soto stadium
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| Full name | Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto |
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| Location | Alajuela, Costa Rica |
| Coordinates | 10°1′18″N 84°12′32″W / 10.02167°N 84.20889°W |
| Owner | LD Alajuelense |
| Operator | LD Alajuelense |
| Capacity | 17,895 |
| Field size | 105 m × 74 m (115 yd × 81 yd) |
| Surface | Synthetic Grass |
| Scoreboard | Yes |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1940 |
| Opened | January 18, 1942 |
| Tenants | |
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Alajuelense (1938–present) Carmelita (2009–present) |
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The Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto is a football stadium in El Llano neighborhood of Alajuela, Costa Rica which is the home of Liga Deportiva Alajuelense. It also serves as the home ground of Carmelita, who rent the stadium from Alajuelense.
The stadium, which holds a capacity of 17,895 people, is named after Alejandro Morera Soto, a notable former player of LD Alajuelense, FC Barcelona and Hércules CF.
The project to find a proper site for a permanent home started in 1938 when the director of the club, Carlos Bolaños, proposed that the club should purchase its own land. The land was purchased in 1940, but the site would not be soccer-ready until 1942, when Alajuelense played its first match at the site. The first game was played on January 18, 1942 when Liga Deportiva Alajuelense played Club Sport Cartagines. The Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto is known as the Cathedral of Costa Rican Soccer.
On September 27, 1949, a professor from a local high school named Armando Morux Sancho started what was called "La marcha del ladrillo" (The Brick's March) in which every student would donate a brick to help building the concrete walls of the stadium and start building the concrete stands. The first stands that were built were the ones located in north, west an east around the pitch.
On July 20, 1966, due to a motion by the Municipality of Alajuela, the stadium was renamed to honor the great Alajuelense and Barcelona player Alejandro Morera Soto. On March 19, 1970 the stadium saw its first night game when Alajuelense faced Honduras Club team Motagua, beating them 4-1.
In 1979, the enlargement of the stadium was initiated with the project of building a second stand on top of the first already built and add an additional stand over the dressing and conference room (south) and also, add roof to the stand located on east and the one located on south after was finished. The project was fully completed in 1984. The stadium was re-inaugurated that year along with the new illumination, which was at the moment, in the top illuminations systems.
Costa Rican football started getting more attention by the international press after the national team participated to the World Cup in 1990 and with footballers playing abroad. The club decided to build a royal box in the top of the west stand, which would have a two-floor royal box with TVs, carpet, bathrooms, elevator and air conditioner. The royal box was finished in 1999 and is the only team in Costa Rica with such an amenity.
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