Here are attendance numbers for the most recent completed seasons in Scandinavia. Norway should top 10.000 next season with Aalesund up again and Fredrikstad and Start with brand new stadiums. The latter two look certain to reach 10,000 in average each and Aalesund could also pull it off. What is the situation with new stadium projects in Sweden and Denmark? SWEDEN 2006 (average: 9.423) 1 AIK..........................21.434 2 Malmö FF..................13.665 3 Djurgårdens IF...........13.358 4 Helsingborgs IF...........12.415 5 IF Elfsborg.................12.176 6 Hammarby IF..............11.793 7 IFK Göteborg..............10.258 8 GAIS..........................7.073 9 Halmstads BK...............6.003 10 Östers IF...................5.364 11 Kalmar FF..................5.198 12 Gefle IF.....................5.029 13 Örgryte IS.................4.996 14 BK Häcken.................3.153 NORWAY 2006 (average: 9.100) 1 Rosenborg BK............19.481 2 SK Brann..................16.691 3 Viking FK..................13.913 4 Vålerenga IF.............13.871 5 Lillestrøm SK...............8.616 6 Fredrikstad FK.............8.099 7 IK Start.....................7.677 8 FC Lyn Oslo................7.059 9 Molde FK....................6.127 10 Ham-Kam..................5.506 11 Sandefjord Fotball......5.321 12 Tromsø IL.................5.068 13 Stabæk IF.................5.056 14 Odd Grenland BK.........4.917 DENMARK (2005/06) (average: 7.957) 1 FC København............21.552 2 Brøndby IF.................16.136 3 OB Odense...................8.195 4 AGF Aarhus..................7.323 5 FC Midtjylland...............7.193 6 Esbjerg........................6.902 7 AaB Aalborg.................6.823 8 Viborg FF.....................5.141 9 AC Horsens..................3.997 10 Sønderjyske.................3.864 11 Silkeborg IF.................3.665 12 FC Nordsjælland............3.504
In Sweden there will be built a new national stadium that takes around 50,000, it will be sued by the NT and AIK will hire it I think, Råsunda will be demolished. Bu t that's not until some years. There are also some propsitions that Djurgården and Hammarby should get new ones. Elfsborg has one of the newest in Sweden built in 2005. Also Malmö will have a new arena in 2009 with 30,000 seats. Other than that, I think most stadiums in Sweden aren't really good. For example 3 teams from Gothenburg share one old stadium (that will be rebuilt however). And many other stadiums were built in the 10s and 20s. I like the progress in Norway where many clubs build arenas that stay around 10,000-15,000 seats so that they aren't too big and concentrate more on quality. Because you don't really need bigger than that if you aren't a top club and a new arena will also get higher attendance. I also think that Sandefjord is building a new stadium, aren't they? Edit: Strømsgodset will have a new stadium by 2008 too. Soon most Tippeligaen teams will have modern stadiums.
Damn, FCK beat us narrowly. I agree many Swedish stadiums aren't up-to-date. Elfsborg's, Örebro's and Gefle's home grounds have plastic grass. I don't like that: the ball rolls much faster and bounces somewhat differently, which makes the game quite different.
Well, infact the Danish attendance figures above are from last season and should be compared with the Swedish 2005 figures. This season FCK so far got a home average of 23,998 and could get very close to an average 25,000 at the end of this season. Most of the stadions in Denmark at top-flight level are btw quite up-to-date http://www.stadionwelt.de/stadionwelt_stadien/index.php?template=stadionlisten&land=Dänemark .
Kalmar are trying to get a new stadium built in Sweden to replace Fredriksskans. There are some plans up on their website http://www.kalmarff.se/default.php?page=article/showArticle&articleID=1304 for a 11,500 seat stadium, with another 1,500 or so standing-room spots. No official word on when that will be ready yet though.
Some plans for future stadia in Norway: Stabæk: http://www.stadiumguide.com/fornebu.htm SK Brann: http://www.stadiumguide.com/brannnew.htm Fredrikstad FK: http://www.stadiumguide.com/fredrikstadnew.htm Hamkam: http://www.stadiumguide.com/hamkamnew.htm IK Start: http://www.stadiumguide.com/startnew.htm Vålerenga IF: http://www.stadiumguide.com/vifstadion.htm Sandefjord Fotball: http://www.stadiumguide.com/sandefjord.htm Odd Grenland: http://www.stadiumguide.com/grenland.htm The Magpie
Projects in Sweden: New Råsunda, NT / AIK - 50.000 Status: Planning, almost 100% to get built Pics: 1 2 3 Malmö Arena, Malmö FF 26.000-30.000 Status: Financing ready, planning Pics: 1 2 (Not the final renders/plan!) New Söderstadion, Hammarby IF - 25.000 Status: Planning stage, probably/hopefully gets built this time New for Djurgården, DIF - 25.000 Status: Planning stage, same as Söderstadion Expanded Borås Arena (retractable roof, seats), IF Elfsborg - 21.000+ Status: "Vision" Expanded Olympia, Helsingborgs IF 20.000+ Status: Planning stage Pics: 1 2 3 4 5 "Nya gammla Ullevi", IFK Göteborg / GAIS / Örgryte IS - 18.000 Status: Approved, Gammla Ullevi is being demolished Pics: 1 2 3 4 Expanded Parken, IFK Norrköping - ~18.000 Status: Planning stage? Pics: 1 2 3 New in Växjö, Östers IF - 15.000 Status: Planning stage, Steen & Strøm AS are the ones behind it New in Halmstad, Halmstads BK - ~15.000 Status: ??? Expansion Bhern arena, Örebro SK - ??.??? Status: Under construction Pics: Construction pics and here Kalmar Arena, Kalmar FF - 11.500-13.000 Status: Very far in planning stage Pics: 1 2 3 --------------- Hopefully all or most of these projects will get built, it would be fab.
Aftonbladet are reporting that Allsvenskan newcomers, Stockholm club IF Brommapojkarna are set to announce plans this week to expand their stadium, Grimsta IP. The article doesn't say when the upgrades would be complete, but does peg the cost at a little more than 18 million kronor, which would double the capacity from 4,000 to 8,000. Basically, it sounds like they want to give the park more of a facelift, upgrade security, public facilites, press, the whole deal. Ultimately, if BP can stay in the Allsvenskan, the plan is that the only matches that would have to be moved from Grimsta to Söderstadion would be Stockholm derbies.