Lucrările de construcție a vechiului Stadionului Steaua au început în martie 1973. Doar un an mai târziu, pe 9 aprilie 1974, avea loc meciul inaugural, pe care echipa armatei avea să îl dispute în compania celor de la OFK Belgrad. În prezența a 30.000 de spectatori, Steaua termina la egalitate, 2-2, meciul cu sfert finalista Cupei Uefa din sezonul anterior.

Primul meci oficial jucat de Steaua în Ghencea s-a încheiat tot cu un 2-2, într-o zi de duminică, 28 aprilie 1974, în compania celor de la Steagu Roșu Brașov.

Although there were plans to seat 55,000 spectators, the original capacity of the arena was ultimately 32,000. It was inevitably reduced in 1991 to 28,365 seats, when the new regulations imposed the switch from wooden terraces to individual seats. The main stand at that time had 126 seats for the press, 440 seats in VIP boxes and 733 armchairs.

At the beginning of the '90s work also began on the floodlights, inaugurated on the 1st of September 1991, with the occasion of a match won by Steaua with 2-0 against Dacia Unirea Brăila.

În 1996 stadionul trece printr-o nouă etapă de modernizare, cantonamentul de sub tribuna a doua fiind renovat la nivelul unui hotel de patru stele, iar utilitățile fiind aduse la standardele din acele timpuri. În 2006 are loc ultima intervenție, ocazie cu care arena este adusă la cerințele UEFA pentru găzduirea de meciuri în competițiile europene. O nouă tabelă electronică, modernizată, a fost folosită începând cu meciul Steaua – Dinamo din 7 aprilie 2007. Toate îmbunătățirile păreau însă ca doar amână inevitabilul, stadionul oferind un confort tot mai redus publicului și având foarte des probleme cu sistemul de drenaj.

Timp de 41 de ani însă acest stadion a fost martorul unor performanțe care pe bună dreptate au intrat în cartea de istorie a fotbalului românesc și deloc întâmplător a ajuns să fie denumit “Templul fotbalului românesc”.

Here are some of the highlights:

• 9th of April 1974 - the inaugural match: Steaua – OFK Belgrade 2-2

• 28th of April 1974 – the first official match: Steaua – Steagu Roşu Braşov 2-2
• 9th of May 1974 – the first win in Ghencea: Steaua – Poli Timişoara 2-0
• 10 noiembrie 1974 – prima înfrângere: Steaua – Sportul Studențesc 2-3
• 29th of September 1976 – the first European match: Steaua – FC Bruges 1-1

• 3rd of October 1979 – the biggest win in the European Cups: Steaua – Young Boys Bern 6-0

• 5 iunie 1982 – prima apariție a lui Lăcătuș în Ghencea, pentru Brașov, Steaua – FC Brașov 2-1
• 6th of November 1982 – Hagi, the first goal in League 1 - for Constanţa: Steaua – FC Constanța 1-1
• 3 septembrie 1983 – debutul lui Lăcătuș pentru Steaua (hat-trick): Steaua – ASA Tg Mureș 5-0

• 16th of April 1986 – Steaua's most important win in Ghencea: European Cup semifinal, Steaua – Anderlecht 3-0

18th of May 1986 – at the first home match as European Champions (vs. Victoria 4-0), Steaua was greeted not only by a sold out stadium, but also by a unique arrangement, imprinted right on the grass.

6th of April 1988 – the second European Cup semifinal: Steaua – Benfica 0-0

7h of December 1988 – the biggest win in the domestic championship: Steaua – Corvinul 11-0

15th of March 15 1989 – the first hat-trick in the European Cups (Lăcătus): Steaua – IFK Goteborg 5-1

5th of April 1989 – another qualification in an European Cup final: Steaua – Galatasaray 4-0

• 6th of May 6 1990 - Hagi's last match and last goal in Romania’s First Division: Steaua – Corvinul 4-0
• 1st of September 1 1991 – the first match played at night, inaugurating the floodlights: Steaua – Brăila 2-0
• 13th of September 13 1995 – the first home win in the UCL, the new European Cup format: Steaua – Rangers 1-0, Didi Prodan goal

• 4th of April 4 1998 – the biggest goal difference in a domestic derby: Steaua – Dinamo 5-0

The Romanian National Football Team played the first of a long series of memorable matches in Ghencea on 23 rd of March 1977, when the Tricolors beat Turkey 4-0 in a Balkan Cup match, and 3 of the scorers were Steaua’s players: Liță Dumitru, Iosif Vigu and Anghel Jordanescu. Three weeks later Romania defeated Spain in the preliminaries for the 1978 World Cup, in the first official match played in Ghencea.

For 32 years, the Romanian National Football Team achieved memorable victories on the Steaua Stadium that would take them to three World Championship final tournaments (1990, 1994 and 1998) and two European Championships (1996, 2000).

The golden period of the national team will always be linked to this place. Here, Romania defeated Spain, Denmark, Belgium, Wales, Ireland, and those present in the stands had the chance to see live world class players, from Zidane, Schmeichel, Deschamps, Zubizarreta, to Butragueno, Scifo, the Laudrup brothers, Figo, Ian Rush, Maldini or Del Piero.

Iată câteva dintre bornele naționalei pe Stadionul Steaua:

• 23rd of March 1977 – Romania's first match in Ghencea: Romania – Turkey 4-0

• 16th of April 1977 the first official match of the national team on Steaua Stadium: Romania – Spain 1-0

• 10th of September 1986 - the return of the national team to Ghencea: Romania - Austria 4-0

• 15th of November 1989 - World Cup final tournament qualification after 20 years: Romania - Denmark 3-1

• 20th of May 1992 – Probabil cea mai bună primă repriză din istoria naționale

• 29th of March 1997 - Gică Popescu, 4 goals in a match for the national team: Romania - Liechtenstein 8-0

• 23rd – 31st of May 1998 – Steaua Stadium hosted several matches for -the European U21 Football Championship, including the final between Spain and Greece, score 1-0.

• 5th of June 1999 – Hagi returns to the national team: Romania – Hungary 2-0

• 8th of September 1999 - Hagi's last goal for the national team: Romania - Portugal 1-1

• 9th of September 2009 – the last match of the national team on the old Steaua Stadium: Romania – Austria 1-1

After four decades full of memorable moments, with unique sporting performances, huge emotions and countless joys, 3 years after the last official match (22nd of March 2015), in August 2018, the old Steaua Stadium was demolished.