ULLEVAAL STADION

(Redirected from Ullevaal Stadium)

'Ullevaal Stadion', located in Oslo, is Norway's national football ground. The Norwegian Cup final is played at Ullevaal, as well as various final matches of the annual, international age-based tournament Norway Cup. The stadium is the home ground of F.C. Lyn Oslo and Vålerenga I.F. Fotball, and is owned by the Football Association of Norway (NFF) from March 2007.
The stadium currently has a capacity of 25,572, down from its peak capacity of around 35,000. The stadium saw its largest attendance ever for an international game in 1935 when Norway played Sweden in front of 35,495 spectators. Lyn's record attendance of 35,000 was set against Sarpsborg in the semifinal of the 1946 Norwegian Cup, a game for which so many people turned up that thousands were left standing outside. Estimates suggest as many as 60,000 people may have followed the game in and around the stadium.

History

Ullevaal Stadion, looking towards the Hafslund Stand

The Coca-Cola Stand

Ullevaal was built by Lyn as a multi-use stadium and was opened by Crown Prince Olav on September 26, 1926. Lyn, strengthened with players from other local clubs, defeated Swedish team Örgryte 5-1 in the opening match. The stadium quickly became a venue for international games, hosting its first international in 1927, between Norway and Denmark. Ullevaal's original capacity was 18,000-20,000; within ten years of its inauguration the stadium had been expanded to hold more than 35,000 spectators.
The Football Association of Norway became a shareholder in 1945 and began hosting the cup final at Ullevaal from 1948 onwards. In 1960, stock majority passed to the NFF, who proceeded to fund a refurbishment of the stadium. The new Japp Stand was completed in 1967, housing dressing rooms, a gymnasium and the administrations of Lyn and the NFF. With a capacity of 5,000 it was once the largest single-tier stand in Norway.
The process of converting Ullevaal into a football specific stadium began in 1985 with the construction of the Coca-Cola Stand, located at the west end of the pitch. It is a single-tier stand with a capacity of 5,940. The north and east sides of the stadium were redeveloped at the start of the 1990s. Differing radically from the Coca-Cola Stand, these were the first two-tier stands in the country. Like the other stands at Ullevaal, the north and east stands have sponsored names. The north stand is called the Postbanken Stand. It functioned as the main stand until 1999. The east end is called the VG Stand. The lower tier of the VG Stand and the bottom rows of the Coca-Cola Stand were initially standing areas, and until seats were installed in 1997 the capacity of the stadium was 28,000. Nowadays, the lower tier of the Postbanken Stand is where the most enthusiastic Lyn and Vålerenga fans reside during their respective home matches.
The Japp Stand was demolished in 1998, giving way to the Norsk Tipping Stand. Under-soil heating was installed at the same time. Unlike the Postbanken and VG Stands, the new main stand has three tiers. The royal box is situated on the bottom tier, above the tunnel. The cup trophy is presented here. The second tier contains a row of executive boxes and the third tier houses AV and press facilities. In 2005, it was renamed the Hafslund Stand after its new sponsor.
Vålerenga moved to Ullevaal in 1999 after 55 seasons at Bislett. The club's contract for use of the stadium runs until 2010, at which point they are hoping to move to a new stadium closer to their historical roots at Vålerenga in eastern Oslo. Their highest attendance at Ullevaal is 24,894, set against Rosenborg in 2005.
Lyn's ownership in the stadium diminished significantly during the 1990s and 2000s, until the NFF had obtained 86.93% of the shares by 2005. On March 23, 2007, both parties released statements revealing that Lyn had agreed to sell their remaining stake of 13.07% to the NFF for 32.5 million NOK.^[1]^[2] The NFF will thus become the sole owner of the stadium sometime in 2007. Lyn will continue to play at Ullevaal until at least 2010.

Name

The stadium (as well as the borough of Ullevål) has its name from an old farm, Norse ''Ullarváll''. The first element is the genitive case of the name of the Norse god Ullr. The last element is ''váll'' m "clearing in the woods" (or maybe ''hváll'' m "small hill").

Events

The largest non-football related event to take place at Ullevaal was a revival meeting with Billy Graham in 1955, which gathered a crowd of 40,000. The stadium has also hosted boxing matches, concerts (most recently R.E.M. in 2005, although sometimes fear of damaging the grounds' turf has caused large outdoor concerts to be placed at the rink-floored Valle Hovin instead), and even a cross-country skiing event in 1994. Under consideration is a biathlon event to take place next winter, similar to the one held since 2002 at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

Tours and Museum

The Football Museum is located in the Hafslund Stand. Opened in 2002, the centenary year of the NFF, it documents over 100 years of Norwegian football history. Guided tours of the stadium, including the royal box and the dressing rooms, are available.

Future Plans

The Football Association of Norway aims to develop Ullevaal into a UEFA 4-star stadium. Future plans include:

★ Change the pitch from grass to artificial turf earliest in 2010

★ Expanding the Coca-Cola Stand for a total capacity of over 30,000 earliest in 2012

★ A retractable roof earliest in 2010

★ A hotel near the stadium

★ An artificial ice pitch near the stadium with an underground parking lot

Address

:Ullevaal Stadion
Sognsveien 75 J
Serviceboks 1 US
0840 Oslo
Norway