Brøndby Stadium
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| Brøndby Stadium | |
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| Full name | Brøndby Stadium |
| Nickname | Vilfort Park |
| Built | 1965 |
| Opened | |
| Capacity | 29,000 (23,400 seated) |
| Home of | Brøndby IF |
| Pitch size | 105 x 68 m |
Brøndby Stadium (Danish: Brøndby Stadion) is the homeground of football club Brøndby IF, situated in the Greater Copenhagen area. It is referred to as Vilfort Park among Brøndby supporters, named after club legend Kim Vilfort.
[edit] History
The stadium was founded in 1965 as little more than a grass field with an athletics track circling the field of play. A main stand was not built until 1978, when a stand with the capacity of 1,200 seated spectators was taken into use. When Brøndby IF were promoted to the best Danish football league in 1982, concrete terraces opposite the main stand were constructed, allowing for a crowd of 5,000 additional people. From 1989 to 1990, the athletic track was discarded and a further 2,000 seats were installed on top of the concrete stands for a 10,000 total capacity.
The stadium was temporarily upgraded with scaffolding stands when Brøndby IF played in the European UEFA Cup 1990-91 tournament, which boosted the stadium capacity to 18,000 in the semi-final leg of the tournament. Following the European adventure, the club inaugurated its end stands in 1992, allowing for a total of 22,000 spectators.
Brøndby IF bought Brøndby Stadium from the Brøndby municipality in May 1998. Buying the stadium for 23,5 million DKK[1] the club spent the double amount to modernize the stadium. When the club qualified for the UEFA Champions League 1998-99, the stadium was still under construction and the games were moved to the Parken stadium.
After a rebuilding in 2000-2001, the stadium capacity is now 29,000, and 22,000 at the European games which demand all-seated crowds. The rebuilt stadium was opened on 22 October 2000 with a 4-2 victory over Akademisk Boldklub, before a crowd of 28,416 spectators. Since then, the stadium has seen a number of lesser or larger infrastructural and technical enhancements, and the February 2004 European game against FC Barcelona was played in front of a 26,031 man all-seated crowd. The average attendance at Danish Superliga matches is 16,500, while the record was a 31,508 attendance for a match vs. main rivals FC København on June 18, 2003. In comparison, the two clubs have often met before crowds of 40,000 spectators at FC København's home ground, Parken.
[edit] References
- ^ (Danish) Christian W. Larsen, "Brøndby får eget stadion", Aktuelt article, May 14, 1998
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