 Naming rights agreement since July 2015 | |
 View from the outside | |
 Interactive map of Aarhus Stadion Ceres Park | |
| Former names | Aarhus Stadion (1920–present) Atletion (2003–2006) NRGi Park (2006–2015) Ceres Park (2015–present) |
|---|---|
| Location | Stadion Allé 70 DK-8000Aarhus C |
| Coordinates | 56°07′55″N10°11′48″E / 56.132033°N 10.196589°E /56.132033; 10.196589 |
| Owner | Ceres Park & Arena (AGF)[4] |
| Capacity | 19,433 |
| Surface | MixtoHybrid grass by Nordisk Kunstgræs Import ApS[5][6] |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1916[1] |
| Built | 1918–1920[2] |
| Opened | 5 June 1920[1] |
| Renovated | 1948, 1993, 1998, 2004[3] |
| Architect | Axel Høeg-Hansen (original) |
| Tenants | |
| AGF (1920–present) AGF Håndbold Aarhus 1900 Team Århus Floorball Denmark national football team (some matches) | |
Aarhus Stadium (Danish:Aarhus Stadion) known for sponsorship reasons as theCeres Park is an association football stadium inAarhus, Denmark which has been the home ground ofAarhus Gymnastikforening since the 1920s. With a current capacity of 19,433, it is thethird largest football stadium of any football team in Denmark.[7] It is part of the sports complex, known asAarhus Sports Park (Danish: Aarhus Idrætspark), that is run by Ceres Park & Arena.
The venue was inaugurated in June 1920 as Aarhus Stadium with major renovations made in the 1990s and 2000s. In recent years, it has been known under several names due tosponsorship arrangements;Atletion (2003–2006),NRGi Park (2006–2015), and in July 2015 it was renamedCeres Park, when the naming rights for AGF's football matches and events was acquired byCeres Brewery, a subsidiary ofRoyal Unibrew.[8][9] InFIFA andUEFA matches, it is known under its original name, Aarhus Stadium, due to sponsorship restrictions.[10]
Before the inauguration ofAarhus Sports Park (Danish: "Aarhus Idrætspark"), the city ofAarhus had for a long time lacked modern sports facilities for mainly athletics. In 1914, the idea of a common sports ground in the city began inspired by stadium constructions inCopenhagen and the rest of theNordic countries. This, however, proved difficult, in regards to agreeing to location as well as economy and scope of construction, which is why the project was abandoned for some time.
When the director ofAarhus Oliefabrik A/S, Frederik Lausen, was elected chairman ofAarhus Gymnastikforening (AGF) in 1916, the project was resumed with new momentum. A location in theMarselisborg Forests in the area aroundFriheden was agreed upon, and the design was laid in the hands of engineer T. Engquist and architectAxel Høeg-Hansen. Now, a determined effort was made towards realising architectural and sporting plans in one master plan that also included the construction of Stadion Allé, a central street cutting through the borough ofFrederiksbjerg and ending at the central piece of the sports park, Aarhus Stadium. The construction of the sports park was approved by theAarhus City Council on 16 May 1918. The construction area was a gift from the city and during the construction of the indoor arena, today known asCeres Arena, adjacent to the stadium, the wooden arch structure from Copenhagen's secondCentral Station, which had been constructed in the years 1863–64 and designed by architectJohan Daniel Herholdt, was reused in this new context. The arch had become available as a new central station was being constructed in Copenhagen.[11] To finance the sports park, the municipality contributedDKK 280,000, while the remaining DKK 380,000 was collected from private investors. Frederik Lausen, the chairman of AGF, was responsible for a large part of this private financing. The stadium was inaugurated on 5 June 1920, the DanishConstitution Day, with the participation of KingChristian X of Denmark and his spouse,Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.[12] The first international match at the stadium was marked by pouring rain, asDenmark facedFinland on 27 September 1925.[12]
Since its inauguration in 1920, Aarhus Stadium has undergone several extensive renovations and expansions; all made in harmony with Høeg-Hansen's original red and whiteneoclassicist style. In 1971, a modern athletics facility was established, which was Northern Europe's first withpolyurethane covering all tracks. In the following years, 1972–73, people began to politically consider the construction of a modern and more contemporary indoor arena for sporting events and music concerts. However, a long time passed between the decision-in-principle was reached in 1980 and the actual implementation of the plans. In the meantime, a newTeam Danmark centre was built at the stadium in 1991. In 1997, the Copenhagen-based architectural firmBBP Arkitekterne was named the winner of the architectural competition which the municipality had announced with the objective of constructing a new indoor arena. An extensive rebuilding of the stadium was also included in the plans. Between 1993 and 2001, the construction of the arena, the completion of a new athletics facility and the stadium project itself took place.[4]
With the extensive project reaching its conclusion,Aarhus Sports Park now possessed an arena with a glass-covered entrance and a spectator capacity of 5,000, as well as a new stadium grandstand divided into two decks with its entrances to the surrounding forest, a transparent canopy and seating capacities for 16,500 spectators – a capacity which was immediately expanded to 20,032 seats.[13][14] This meant that Aarhus had the largest stadium outside theCapital Region. The project was budgeted atDKK 250 million, but this budget was later found to have been exceeded by DKK 48 million.[4]
Since then, an expansion of theVIP facilities has decreased the total capacity to 19,433.[15]
A new project initiated byAarhus Municipality namedVision Kongelunden, which included plans of constructing a new stadium inAarhus, received a potential donation of DKK 500 million bySalling Fonden andLind Invest in December 2019.[16][17] The new stadium is expected to reach its completion in 2026.[18] Talks of a new stadium had been ongoing for years, as Aarhus Stadium had been criticised for being outdated and due to the stands' distance to the pitch.[19][20]
On 27 May 2006, theDenmark national football team played a friendly againstParaguay at Aarhus Stadium.[21] This was the first national home match not played inParken in Copenhagen since 1992.[22]
In 2007, the stadium hosted two of Denmark'sEuro 2008 qualifying matches againstLiechtenstein andSpain afterUEFA ordered the matches played away from Copenhagen following a fan attack in theprevious match againstSweden.[23][24]
In 2011, Aarhus Stadium hosted the final of the2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. Three group stage matches were also played at the stadium.[25]
In 2018, the stadium hosted Denmark's two group stage matches of the2018–19 UEFA Nations League againstWales andRepublic of Ireland.[26]
The park has hosted concerts by many famous artists, includingCliff Richard,[27]Phil Collins,[28]Elton John,[29]AC/DC,[30]Depeche Mode,[31]The Eagles andGeorge Michael, among others.[32][33]
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