Ullevi

Ullevi
Location	Gothenburg, Sweden
Opened	May 29, 1958
Owner	Higab
Operator	Got Event
Surface	Grass
Architect	Sten Samuelsson and Fritz Jaenecke
Capacity	43,000 60,000 for concerts
Field dimensions	100 × 68 m
Tenants
N/A

Ullevi is a stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. The stadium was built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but since then Ullevi has also hosted the 1995 World Championships in Athletics and the 2006 European Championships in Athletics, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup finals in 1983 and 1990, the UEFA Euro 1992 final, the UEFA Cup final in 2004, and annually hosted the opening ceremony of the Gothia Cup—the world's largest football tournament.

The stadium is the biggest in Scandinavia, with a seating capacity of 43,000 and a total capacity of 60,000 for concerts.

History

The record attendance, for football, is 52,194 and was set on 3 June 1959, when Örgryte IS played against IFK Göteborg.

A Bruce Springsteen concert on 8 June 1985, became notable because Springsteen – with the help of a very enthusiastic audience – almost rocked the stadium to pieces, literally. As the city rests on a layer of clay, the rhythmic movement of tens of thousands of people was close to causing a structural collapse. Even though Bruce Springsteen has made several more visits since, it is unlikely he will manage to repeat his feat, as the concrete pillars supporting the stadium have since been extended down to solid bedrock.

The record for the stadium, after being partially rebuilt, was set by Irish rock band U2, on 1 August 2009, with an attendance of 60,099.

During the 1980s, the stadium played host to the 1983 UEFA Cup Winners Cup final which saw Aberdeen beat Real Madrid 2–1 after extra time.

Less known, it was also the venue for the first game between NFL teams ever played on the European continent, as Minnesota Vikings faced Chicago Bears, in a pre-season game, 14 August 1988.

Since March 2007, Ullevi has one of Sweden's largest solar power plants, consisting of 600 m² of solar photovoltaic panels situated on the roof of the luxury boxes section. The top effect is 86,4 kW and the yield is supposed to cover the total power used by the artificial lighting used for events, with a surplus.^[1]

Ullevi has also hosted Motorcycle speedway and hosted the Speedway World Championship on no less than eight occasions, second only to Wembley Stadium in London, England which hosted the World Final a record 26 times. The track is a dirt surface laid out over the athletics track and is officially 404m long with a track record of 69.4 seconds (4 laps clutch start).^[2] The largest attendance for a World Final at Ullevi occurred in 1974 when 38,390 turned out to see Sweden's own Anders Michanek win his only World Championship with an unbeaten 15 point maximum.

Since the World Championship was changed in 1995 from a single meeting Final to the Speedway Grand Prix (SGP), Ullevi has hosted a round of the series in 2002, 2003, 2004 (Grand Prix of Scandinavia), 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 (Grand Prix of Sweden).

They pre-SGP World Final's held at Ullevi and the winners were:

• 1964 - Barry Briggs ()
• 1968 - Ivan Mauger ()
• 1971 - Ole Olsen ()
• 1974 - Anders Michanek ()
• 1977 - Ivan Mauger ()
• 1980 - Michael Lee ()
• 1984 - Erik Gundersen ()
• 1991 - Jan O. Pedersen ()

Recorded attendance

The east stand of Ullevi during the 2006 European Athletics Championships

One day events

Date	Events		Audience
August 31, 1990	Motocross	Ullevi Supercross	26,743
2002	Football youth	Gothia Cup finals	28,710
December 28, 2009	Ice hockey	Västra Frölunda IF-Färjestads BK	31,144
August 14, 1988	American football	Minnesota Vikings vs Chicago Bears	33,150
September 16, 1974	Motorcycle speedway	Speedway World Final	38,390
May 20, 1976	Football Div. II	GAIS-IFK Göteborg	50 374
June 3, 1959	Football	Örgryte IS-IFK Göteborg	52,194
September 14, 1958	Boxing	Ingemar Johansson vs Eddie Machen	53,614
July 8, 1985	Concert Before renovation	Bruce Springsteen	64,312
August 1, 2009	Concert After renovation	U2	60,099
August 16, 1997	Concert	Michael Jackson	68,015

David Bowie was scheduled to perform at the stadium during his Glass Spider Tour on June 27, 1987, but the show was cancelled.

Elton John hosted a sell-out concert in 1998. It was part of the Face-To-Face Tour with Billy Joel, but Joel was unable to perform, due to illness. Elton John played for over three hours.

Two day events

Date	Events		Audience
September 4–5, 2004	Athletics	Finnkampen	51,567
February 13–14, 1971	Ice skating	World cup	69,559
August 8 & 9, 2009	Concert	Madonna - Sticky & Sweet Tour	119,709

Location and transportation

Ullevi is located on the eastern edge of Gothenburg's city centre and is one of the center pieces of the event district Evenemangsstråket, with Scandinavium, Liseberg, Universeum, the Museum of World Culture, and Bergakungen nearby. Public transport is easily accessible, there are two tram stops named after the stadium; Ullevi Norra (North) and Ullevi Södra (South). Both tram stops serve lines 6 (orange) and 8 (purple), Ullevi Södra also serves lines 2 (yellow) and 13 (beige), while Ullevi Norra also serves lines 1 (white) and 3 (blue). Approximately 700 metres west of Ullevi lies the Gothenburg Central Station and Nils Ericson Terminal, 900 metres south of Ullevi lies Korsvägen, a major public transport hub which serves more than fifteen different bus lines and several tram lines, and the Liseberg station serving the Gothenburg commuter rail.

The stadium has 650 parking spaces located in a garage underneath the pitch. Additionally visitors are guided to eighteen nearby parking lots and parking garages—with a total of 7,000 parking spaces—by the event districts parking guidance and information system.^[3] The system has a total of 130 digital signs, located on motorways with information about which exit to use, and on streets in the city with more detailed information about directions and number of available parking spaces.^[3]

References

1. ^ "En av Sveriges största solcellsanläggning producerar grön el på Ullevi". Got Event. http://www.gotevent.se/solceller/default.asp. Retrieved 2008-08-18. 
2. ^ http://www.speedwayworld.tv/event/speedwaygp-2011-gothenburg
3. ^ ^{a b} "Så prioriteras evenemangen som syns på skyltarna" (in Swedish) (PDF). Swedish Road Administration. May 2005. http://www22.vv.se/filer/17918/P-evenemang_2-2005_mini.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-08. 

External links

• Ullevi — Official site

Preceded by Camp Nou Barcelona	European Cup Winners Cup Final Venue 1983	Succeeded by St. Jakob Stadium Basel
Preceded by Wankdorf Stadium Bern	European Cup Winners Cup Final Venue 1990	Succeeded by De Kuip Rotterdam
Preceded by Olympiastadion Munich	UEFA European Football Championship Final Venue 1992	Succeeded by Wembley Stadium London
Preceded by Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion Stuttgart	IAAF World Championships in Athletics Venue 1995	Succeeded by Olympic Stadium Athens
Preceded by Estadio Olímpico de Sevilla Seville	UEFA Cup Final Venue 2004	Succeeded by Estádio José Alvalade Lisbon
Preceded by Olympiastadion Munich	European Championships in Athletics Final Venue 2006	Succeeded by Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys Barcelona

Coordinates: 57°42′21″N 11°59′14″E / 57.70583°N 11.98722°E / 57.70583; 11.98722