 Aerial View | |
 Interactive map of Borås Arena | |
| Full name | Borås Arena |
|---|---|
| Location | Ålgårdsvägen 32, 506 30Borås,Sweden |
| Coordinates | 57°44′4″N12°56′5″E / 57.73444°N 12.93472°E /57.73444; 12.93472 |
| Owner | IF Elfsborg 100% |
| Operator | Borås Arena AB |
| Capacity | 14,500[1] |
| Field size | 105 x 68 m |
| Surface | Artificial turf |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 13 December 2003; 21 years ago (2003-12-13) |
| Opened | 17 April 2005; 20 years ago (2005-04-17) |
| Construction cost | 112 millionkronor |
| Architect | Crister Larsson (Creacon) |
| Main contractors | IBAB |
| Tenants | |
| IF Elfsborg Norrby IF | |
TheBorås Arena is afootballstadium inBorås,Sweden. It is the home ground ofIF Elfsborg andNorrby IF and was opened in 2005. Borås Arena has anartificial turf pitch, GreenFields MX by GreenFields,[2] and has a capacity of 14,500. Both clubs presently using the stadium previously hadRyavallen as their home ground. Until recently it was the only stadium inAllsvenskan built in the last 40 years. The arena is located inKnalleland and is very close to the newly built athletics hall Ryahallen.
The first game at Borås Arena wasIF Elfsborg vsÖrgryte IS on 17 April 2005 in the top Swedish league,Allsvenskan. The game ended in a 1–0 victory forElfsborg,Daniel Mobaeck scoring the goal. The current record attendance is 17,070 and was set 4 July 2005 in a game betweenIF Elfsborg andKalmar FF which marked the return of bothAnders Svensson andMathias Svensson.
The stadium was originally scheduled to be a tournament site for the2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, but a sponsorship conflict withMax fast food chain's location at the stadium and official UEFA sponsorMcDonald's, plus a contractual requirement for official sponsors to have a monopoly over the stadium's area, and a refusal to close the restaurant led to it losing its status as a site for the tournament.
Borås Arena didn't only open a new era forIF Elfsborg but also for other clubs inAllsvenskan, Elfsborg was the first club to build a new arena owned by their investment company. Many other clubs have built new arenas copying the model Elfsborg set up, trying to own their arena which gives big economic resources.[3]
Borås Arena is a football stadium inBorås,Sweden, and it is the home ground of IF Elfsborg andNorrby IF. Borås Arena has anartificial turf pitch, and was changed to the most modern synthetic turf on the market during theUEFA Euro 2012[4] at a cost of £500,000. The capacity of the arena is 11,700–14,500 depending on usage, 11,700 is the capacity during international matches because it is seating only.[5] Borås Arena is located next to Elfsborg's old home groundRyavallen, both of the stadiums are built together at the roofs, which means that the new stadium is still attached to the old historical Ryavallen.[6]
The first construction started on 31 December 2003 and was inaugurated April 17, 2005 at a cost of £8,500,000 which was very cheap at this time considering to be Sweden's most modern stadium at that time. It was an effort byBorås Municipality that went out as a lender to Elfsborg. A necessary investment for the club and the city, Elfsborg would own their own stadium by the companyBorås Arena AB and would receive all revenues without any intermediaries from matches. Borås Arena didn't only open a new era for IF Elfsborg but also for other clubs inAllsvenskan, Elfsborg was the first club to build a new arena owned by their owninvestment company. Many other clubs have built new arenas copying the model Elfsborg set up, trying to own their arena which gives big economic resources. Borås Arena consists of four main grandstands; Knallelandsläktaren, Ålgårdsläktaren, Sjuhäradsläktaren and Elfsborgsläktaren.[7]
The first game at Borås Arena was between IF Elfsborg vsÖrgryte IS on 17 April 2005 in the top Swedish league,Allsvenskan. The game ended in a 1–0 victory for Elfsborg,Daniel Mobaeck scoring the only and first goal in history on Borås Arena.[8] The current record attendance is 17,070 and was set 4 July 2005 in a game between IF Elfsborg andKalmar FF which marked the return of bothAnders Svensson andMathias Svensson. Anders Svensson also became the first on Borås Arena to score a hat-trick in the derby against rivalsIFK Göteborg, Elfsborg won with Anders 3 goals, 3–1. The highest attendance on an international tournament was during theChampions League play-off againstValencia CF where 13,148 spectators came to see Elfsborg deal with theSpaniards. Elfsborg lost with 2–1, after a goal byDaniel Alexandersson.[9]
The stadium was originally scheduled to be a tournament site for the2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, but asponsorship conflict withMax fast food chain's location at the stadium and official UEFA sponsorMcDonald's, plus a contractual requirement for official sponsors to have a monopoly over the stadium's area, and a refusal to close the restaurant led to it losing its status as a site for the tournament. A strange conflict that led to Elfsborg and Borås Arena lost the championship as an arranger.[10]
2006[11] was the highlight in Borås Arenas young history. The year when Elfsborg received dividends on their great effort by salvaging the club's 5thSM-Gold. An explicit goal from the club was to winSM-Gold by 2007 and this was accomplished a year in advance, 5 November 2006. The association was strengthened at all levels for a couple of years, not least organizationally and financially, with new sports director "Mr.Elfsborg" Stefan Andreasson, President-elect Bosse "Bank" Johansson and two billionaires as external funders. The new highly skilled (and young) manager coupleMagnus Haglund and Peter Wettergren, who was employed before the 2004 season, was also of course in the club's big bet. The following year (2005) was alsoElfsborg Fortress, Borås Arena, completed while enlisted old heroes in the form ofAnders andMathias Svensson came back. Memorable matches this season on Borås Arena was at home the victory againstMalmö FF (4-2), which many described as the best in the season and whereAnders Svensson made the team's single best effort during the season. Another memorable match was the last and crucial one. Gold match at a packed Borås Arena againstDjurgårdens IF whereJoakim Sjöhage became gold shooter with the only goal which meant that over 40 years of waiting was over for Elfsborg's fans.[12][13]
| Season | IF Elfsborg | Norrby IF |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 10,746 | 559 |
| 2006 | 12,176 | 337 |
| 2007 | 11,867 | 286 |
| 2008 | 9,513 | 295 |
| 2009 | 9,719 | 312 |
| 2010 | 8,423 | 512 |
| 2011 | 10,029 | 634 |
| 2012 | 10,513 | 470 |
| 2013 | 9,077 | 438 |
| 2014 | 8,031 | 398 |
