Gamla Ullevi

Story

Gamla Ullevi was a football stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. Named Ullevi until 1958 when Nya ("New") Ullevi opened, it was built in 1915–1916 and opened on 17 September 1916 with the game between IFK Göteborg-AB København (2–2). It had a capacity of 15,000 to 18,000, depending on usage.The record attendance is 32,357 and was set 2 May 1957, when Örgryte IS played IF Elfsborg. IF Elfsborg won 2–1.Demolition of Gamla Ullevi began on 9 January 2007 at 11.15 AM local time. The stadium has been replaced with a new football stadium. The new stadium, opened on 5 April 2009, has been named Gamla Ullevi as well.NameGamla Ullevi was named after the Nordic god Ull. He was a skier and archer who chased away the winter so he could wake up the goddess of the earth. The word vi means holy place. When Gamla Ullevi first opened it was called Ullervi, but after being pressured by a professor of Nordic languages, Hjalmar Lindroth, the r was removed. It was only added in the first place to make the name easier to pronounce. (Johansson & Nilsson 1992, p. 4)HistoryBefore Ullevi, the location was called Idrottsplatsen. It was a velocipede arena with room for 600 spectators. Eventually other sports began to use the facilities and a tenniscourt was built in 1901. Other courts were added too, but a new football stadium was needed with a proper grass pitch because of the growing interest in football. Göteborgs idrottsförbund created a corporation that had a capital of 90 000kr to spend on a new arena. The end cost of Gamla Ullevi was 160 000kr. It was designed as a stadium for only football despite half-promises being made to the archers and equestrians about space. At that time, the finished arena could hold 12 000 spectators. (Johansson & Nilsson 1992, p. 6–7)