Gamla Ullevi
Gamla Ullevi
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Gamla Ullevi

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Gamla Ullevi

Gamla Ullevi (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈɡâmːla ˈɵ̂lːɛˌviː], lit.'Old Ullevi') is a football stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden, that opened on 5 April 2009. The stadium replaced the city's previous main football stadium, also called Gamla Ullevi, and is the home ground of GAIS, IFK Göteborg and Örgryte IS. It is also the national stadium for the Sweden women's national football team. The new stadium was built on the ground of the now-demolished old stadium. The construction of the stadium was surrounded by controversy, regarding the cost of the project, the alleged low standard of the finished stadium, as well as its name.

The first competitive match at the stadium on 5 April 2009 was also an Allsvenskan derby between Örgryte IS and GAIS, attracting 17,531 spectators. GAIS won, 5–1. The current attendance record of 18,276 was, however, set about a week later when IFK Göteborg played their first game at Gamla Ullevi against Djurgårdens IF. The stadium hosted the 2021 UEFA Women's Champions League Final between Chelsea and Barcelona.

The three clubs of the Gothenburg Alliance (Göteborgsalliansen)—GAIS, IFK Göteborg and Örgryte IS—played the majority of their matches on the old Gamla Ullevi from its inauguration in 1916 until the newer Ullevi stadium was completed in 1958 for the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. From that year most matches were played on the large stadium with a capacity of over 40,000, but as the attendance numbers decreased in the 1980s and early 1990s, and in connection with the removal of the terraces, calls for a move back to the old stadium was heard. After a renovation, Gamla Ullevi was from 1992 once again the home of the Alliance clubs.

But playing in a stadium built almost 100 years ago was not ideal, lacking in service capacity, security, and architecture, the terraces having poles obscuring the view for the audience. Propositions for a modernisation of either of the two Ullevi stadiums, or construction of a new stadium were revealed in April 2002. Four different plans were presented; construction of movable seating on the short ends of Ullevi, two different ideas for renovation and expansion of Gamla Ullevi, or to demolish Gamla Ullevi and construct a new arena on that site.

Other propositions in 2002 and 2003 included building a new stadium in Mölndal, a neighbour municipality of Gothenburg, a new stadium built on the site of the old stadium Valhalla IP, located between Ullevi and Scandinavium, and a third suggestion wanted to demolish Gamla Ullevi and move all football activities to the larger Ullevi which would be rebuilt to a dome arena, with a rotatable pitch that would move it closer to the seats for regular season matches.

Another plan was revealed in January 2005, and proposed a giant sport complex on the site of Valhalla IP, having both a football stadium (28,000 seats) with a retractable roof and an ice hockey arena (12,000 seats) built wall to wall, sharing several components such as pubs and restaurants. The cost was calculated to 700 million SEK, and the complex would be owned by the three football clubs and the largest hockey club in the city, Frölunda HC.

The proposition that was decided to be used was to demolish Gamla Ullevi and to build a new stadium on the grounds of the old. Municipal commissioner Göran Johansson presented his plan for the new football stadium at the site of Gamla Ullevi—and the idea to make it the national stadium for the women's national team—to the contractor Higabgruppen, and in early 2005 architect Lars Iwdal got a confidential assignment from Higabgruppen to create a first sketch of the new stadium. Lars Iwdal said in a newspaper interview that

the fact that it was an arena for women's football was Göran's way to get the municipality on the project.

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