Is it Camp Nou or Nou Camp? The answer is here

Finally, we can now all be on the same page when it comes to one of the most iconic stadiums in world football: Barcelona’s Camp Nou, or should that be Nou Camp?

Barcelona Camp Nou

Barcelona's Camp Nou (Getty Images)

The Primera Liga giant itself has come to the rescue, releasing everything you ever needed to know about the club’s home ground, which was opened in 1957.

Broadcasters around the world have all had their own take on the correct order of Camp and Nou, not least how to actually say them. So, here is the official word.

Since 2001, the officially correct order is Camp Nou.

“In Catalan … the adjective for ‘new’ (nou) can go either before or after the noun, in this case ‘ground’ or ‘field’ (camp),” the club revealed on its website this week.

“So both ‘Camp Nou’ and ‘Nou Camp’ were technically correct until ‘Camp Nou’ was recognised as only the correct form in 2001.”

The stadium, which held 120,000 for the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain, now has a capacity of 99,354, making it Europe’s biggest sporting stadium. But if you happen to be in the area, asking for directions, how would you pronounce the destination properly?

“The ‘Camp’ bit is simple enough, that’s more or less the same as we say ‘camp’ in English, although there is a tendency among Catalans to drop the ‘p’ at the end and just say ‘cam’,” we’re told.

But what about “nou”? Is it “new”, “noo”, or is it “now”? The answer: it’s neither. The most correct English equivalent pronunciation is “know”. So ask for the “Cam Know”, and you’ll be well in with the locals, and right on course to reach one of the world’s meccas of football.

If you want to hear that in your own ears, you can click .


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2 min read
Published 28 January 2015 12:31pm
Updated 28 January 2015 12:50pm
By Toby Forage
Source: SBS

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