Friends Arena

Friends Arena
The stadium in late October 2012
Earlier names
Swedbank Arena (2009–2012)
Data
place	Råsta Strandväg 1 169 79 Solna , Stockholm County , Sweden
Coordinates	59 ° 22 '21 "  N , 18 ° 0' 1"  E Coordinates: 59 ° 22 '21 "  N , 18 ° 0' 1"  E
owner	Svenska Fotbollförbundet Municipality of Solna Jernhusen PEAB Fabege
operator	Lagardère Unlimited
start of building	December 2009
opening	October 27, 2012
First game	November 14, 2012 Sweden - England 4-2
surface	Natural grass ice surface parquet
costs	2.8 billion SEK (around 326 million euros )
architect	Berg Arkitektkontor AB Arkitekterna Krook & Tjäder Arkitektfirmaet CF Møller Populous
capacity	51,060 seats (football) 67,500 seats (concerts)
playing area	105 × 68 m
Societies)
Swedish national football team AIK Solna
Events
European Women's Football Championship 2013 Final in the Swedish Men's Football Cup (since 2013) Bandy Elite Series Final 2013 Finale Melodifestivalen (since 2013) 2017 UEFA Europa League final Concerts

The Friends Arena is a football stadium with a closable roof in the Swedish municipality of Solna ( Stockholm County ) and home to the first division club AIK and the Swedish national football team . A wide variety of events can take place in the arena thanks to the variable roof.

history

Construction began in December 2009 and was completed in autumn 2012. The Friends Arena replaces the Råsunda Stadium as the home ground of the Swedish men's national football team and the national stadium. AIK also moved from Råsunda to the new arena. The stadium is named after Swedbank , which announced on March 28, 2012 that it would be renaming the stadium the Friends Arena.

The inauguration of the arena took place on October 27, 2012. On this occasion there was a show staged by Colin Nutley with Swedish musicians like u. a. Loreen , Roxette , The Hives , Agnes Carlsson and Tomas Ledin . The men's first international football match took place on November 14, 2012. Sweden and England met there . Striker Zlatan Ibrahimović not only scored the first goal in the stadium in Sweden's 4-2 win, but also scored all four of the home side's goals. His goal to make the final score 4: 2 is legendary in football circles.

In the first year, the Friends Arena ran a deficit of 22 million euros. The reasons include start-up difficulties with new stadiums and the lack of surrounding development, which will include the largest shopping center in the region. It is assumed that 2015 will break even. In December 2014, Lagardère Unlimited became the operator of the arena. The contract initially has a term of ten years.

Location and facilities

The stadium is located near the Solna Pendeltåg stop, about six kilometers from Stockholm Central Station. The old Råsunda stadium was just under a kilometer southwest of the new stadium.

There is a parking lot for 300 buses and 4000 cars next to the stadium. The arena has a capacity of 50,000 for football matches and 65,000 for concerts. The closable roof with an area of ​​3750 m² can be closed within 20 minutes. Under the umbrella of a 64 tonne heavy video cube with four LED - screens suspended with 65 square meters.

Special events

• On November 22, 23 and 24, 2012, the Swedish house group Swedish House Mafia performed there for the first time in Sweden.

• The final of the Melodifestivalen , the Swedish preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest , took place for the first time on March 9, 2013 and has been held annually since then in the Friends Arena.

• On July 28, 2013, the final of the European Women's Football Championship was played. Germany won 1-0 against Norway .

• On September 21, 2013, the Scandinavian Grand Prix took place as part of the Individual Speedway World Championship .

• Depeche Mode started their ten month world tour Global Spirit on May 5th, 2017 .

• The final of the UEFA Europa League between Manchester United and Ajax Amsterdam (2-0) was played on May 24, 2017 in the Friends Arena.

• On December 5, 2019, a memorial concert for DJ Avicii , who died in 2018, was held in the Friends Arena .

gallery

• 

  The Friends Arena in the background and in front of it the Quality Hotel Friends in October 2013

• 

  Aerial photo of the Friends Arena from September 2014

• 

  The facade structure of the arena

• 

  The meanwhile demolished Råsundastadion and behind it the new arena

and display information about the image

Friends Arena interior (March 2013)

Web links

Commons : Friends Arena  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• friendsarena.se: Official website of the Friends Arena (Swedish)
• stadionwelt.de: picture gallery
• stadiumdb.com: Friends Arena (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ stadionwelt.de: New national stadium in Sweden opens article from October 31, 2012
2. ↑ friendsarena.se: Inauguration of the Friends Arena ( memento of November 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (Swedish)
3. ↑ focus.de: Four-goal gala against England - Sweden star Ibrahimovic: Overhead kick from 25 meters Article from November 14, 2012
4. ↑ stadionwelt.de: Million deficit exceeds negative expectations Article from November 6, 2013
5. ↑ stadionwelt.de: Stadium operator for the Friends Arena article from December 10, 2014
6. ↑ friendsarena.se: Equipment of the arena ( Memento from July 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (Swedish)
7. ↑ beatmyday.com: Swedish House Mafia to Stockholm's Friends Arena November 22, 23, 24 ( Memento from June 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Article from June 16, 2012 (English)
8. ^ Gustav Dahlander: Finalen av Melodifestivalen 2013 i Friends Arena. Sveriges Television AB, March 26, 2012, accessed on May 27, 2012 (Swedish, title translation: Finale of the 2013 Melody Festival takes place in the new Friends Arena).