Nya Gamla Ullevi is a temporary name for a planned football stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. The name means New Old Ullevi and is a play on
the name of the two current main stadiums of the city, Gamla Ullevi and (Nya) Ullevi. However the contractor, Higabgruppen, uses another name
for the project, which is "Fotbollsarenan" ("The Football Arena"). Nya Gamla Ullevi is to replace Gamla Ullevi as the home arena for three
Gothenburg clubs, GAIS, IFK Göteborg and Örgryte IS, as well as becoming the national stadium for the Sweden women's national football
team. The new stadium is built on the ground of the now demolished old stadium.
The three clubs of the Gothenburg Alliance (Göteborgsalliansen)—GAIS, IFK Göteborg and Örgryte IS—played the majority of their matches on
Gamla Ullevi from its inaguration in 1916 until the newer Ullevi stadium was completed in 1958 for the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. From that
year most matches where played on the large stadium with a capacity of over 40,000, but as the attendance numbers decreased in the 1980s
and early 1990s, and in connection with the removal of the terraces, calls for a move back to the old stadium was heard. After a renovation,
Gamla Ullevi was from 1992 once again the home of the Alliance clubs.
But playing on a stadium built almost 100 years ago was not ideal, lacking in service capacity, security, and architecture, the terraces having
poles obscuring the view for the audience. Propositions for a modernisation of either of the two Ullevi stadiums, or construction of a new stadium
were revealed in April 2002. Four different plans were presented; construction of movable seating on the short ends of Ullevi, two different
ideas for renovation and expansion of Gamla Ullevi, or to demolish Gamla Ullevi and construct a new arena on that site.
Other propositions in 2002 and 2003 included building a new stadium in Mölndal, a neighbour municipality of Gothenburg, a new stadium built
on the site of the old stadium Valhalla IP, located between Ullevi and Scandinavium, and a third suggestion wanted to demolish Gamla Ullevi and
move all football activities to the larger Ullevi which would be rebuilt to a dome arena, with a rotatable pitch that would move it closer to the seats
for regular season matches.
Another plan was revealed in January 2005, and proposed a giant sport complex on the site of Valhalla IP, having both a football stadium
(28,000 seats) with a retractable roof and an ice hockey arena (12,000 seats) built wall to wall, sharing several components such as pubs and
restaurants. The cost was calculated to 700 million SEK, and the complex would be owned by the three football clubs and the largest hockey
club in the city, Frölunda HC.
Construction
Gamla Ullevi was originally planned to be demolished starting 1 October 2006, but paperwork postponed the start and the demolishing of the
old stadium started several months later on 9 January 2007. This also delayed the construction which was planned to be finished for the start
of the 2008 season in April, but the new schedule indicates that new stadium will not be finished until the autumn of 2008, probably around
September or October. As the Swedish football season ends in late October or early November, it is probable that the few matches left of the
season will not be played on the new stadium, and that the official opening will not take place until the start of the 2009 season.
The capacity will be 17,800 and the stadium will be the home for the three largest clubs in Gothenburg, as well as the home for the women's
national team. During the construction, the three clubs mentioned, which previously had Gamla Ullevi as their home stadium, will play at the
much larger Ullevi stadium, except Örgryte IS who will play on Valhalla IP. The cost for construction has been calculated to 270 million SEK.
