Intility Arena

Intility Arena
Valle Hovin, Valle
Façade west, January 2017
Location Valle Hovin, Oslo, Norway
Coordinates 59°55′4″N 10°48′25″E / 59.91778°N 10.80694°E / 59.91778; 10.80694Coordinates: 59°55′4″N 10°48′25″E / 59.91778°N 10.80694°E / 59.91778; 10.80694
Owner Vålerenga kultur- og idrettspark AS, owned by Vålerenga Fotball
Operator Vålerenga kultur- og idrettspark AS
Capacity 16,555[1]
15,389 (International capacity)
Record attendance 17,011 (Vålerenga vs Sarpsborg 08, 10 September 2017)
Field size 105 by 68 metres (115 by 74 yd)
Surface Artificial grass
Construction
Broke ground 2015
Opened 9 September 2017
Architect Lille Frøen AS
Tenants
Vålerenga Fotball (2017–)

Intility Arena[2], also referred to as Valle Hovin, is an association football stadium in Oslo, Norway. The stadium is the home stadium for the Vålerenga Fotball, currently playing in the Eliteserien, and it has a seating capacity of 16,555 people.[1]

The stadium plans were accepted by the city council of Oslo in 2014 and by EEA in June 2015. Construction started in August 2015, and the stadium opened in September 2017.[3]

History

From the 1960s till the 1980s and a short period in the end of the 1990s Bislett Stadion was Vålerenga's home ground. Bislet Stadion also hosted speed skating and track and field events in addition to football, and hosted the 1952 Winter Olympics. Poor conditions and maintenance of Bislett forced Vålerenga to move to Ullevaal and a groundshare with FK Lyn.

After Vålerenga moved from Bislett Stadion plans for building their own ground were conceived, but poor results on the field combined with financial problems kept those plans at bay for a few years. After the second place in 2004 and the league title in 2005 as well as business man John Fredriksen's deletion of the club's debt in 2003, the talks of building a ground for Vålerenga resurfaced.

Following a press statement made on 15 May 2008, Vålerenga announced that they will be moving home to Valle Hovin after purchasing the area of the proposed stadium for the symbolic sum of 1 Norwegian Krone. In late 2014, the plans were accepted by the city council of Oslo.[4] On 10 June 2014, the European Free Trade Association Surveillance Authority accepted the plans for the stadium.[3]

Construction started in the summer of 2015.[3]

Vålerenga's opening match in the stadium, on 10 September 2017 against Sarpsborg 08, ended in a 1–3 defeat.

In October 2017, Norwegian technology company Intility reached an agreement with Vålerenga to change the stadium name to Intility Arena.

Transport

The stadium will be served by several stations on the Oslo Metro. Helsfyr Station is the closest station, approximately 500 metres away from Valle Hovin. Ensjø Station and Hasle Station are both approximately one kilometre away.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "FAKTA OM INTILITY ARENA" [Facts About the Intility Arena]. VIF-Fotball.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  2. ↑ "Vålerenga får grønt lys, starter stadionbygging til høsten" (in Norwegian). vkip.no. Retrieved 12 Jun 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 Sørgjerd, Christian (10 Jun 2015). "Vålerenga får grønt lys, starter stadionbygging til høsten" (in Norwegian). Osloby.no. Retrieved 10 Jun 2015.
  4. ↑ Eriksen, Per Øivind (11 Feb 2015). "Det nærmer seg byggestart for Vålerenga Stadion på Valle Hovin men stadion blir enklere enn tidligere vist på bilder" (in Norwegian). Ensjo.org. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
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