Ullevi

History

Sport

The ground opened for the 1958 FIFA World Cup held across Sweden. It hosted four matches in Group D, including a play-off. It also held a quarter-final, a semi-final and the third-place match. The stadium's record attendance for football is 52,194, set on 3 June 1959 when Örgryte IS played against IFK Göteborg. The stadium hosted the 1983 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, which saw Scotland's Aberdeen defeat Spanish giants Real Madrid 2–1 after extra time. It also hosted the first leg of the 1987 UEFA Cup Final between IFK Göteborg and Dundee United of Scotland. The hosts won the game 1-0 thanks to a goal from Stefan Pettersson. The Swedish side would go on to lift the trophy for the second time in their history after a 1–1 draw at Tannadice Park, Dundee in the second leg.

It was also the venue for the first game between National Football League teams to be played on the European continent, organised by Swedish motor company Volvo. In a pre-season game on 14 August 1988, the Minnesota Vikings won 28–21 against the Chicago Bears. The 1990 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was also held at the stadium. It saw Sampdoria of Italy defeat Anderlecht of Belgium 2-0 after extra-time.

Ullevi held three Group B matches at UEFA Euro 1992 as well as a semi-final, and the final itself on 26 June in which Denmark won the trophy against Germany. The 2004 UEFA Cup Final was held at the stadium on 19 May of that year. Valencia of Spain defeated Marseille of France, 2–0. The annual Världsungdomsspelen (translation: World Youth Games) track and field competition is held at the stadium and the mass event has around 3000 athletes competing each year.

Music

Ullevi nearly collapsed during a Bruce Springsteen concert on 8 June 1985 due to the rhythmic movement of tens of thousands of people in the audience and the clay soil on which the stadium is built. The concert also caused nearly £3 million in damages, while David Bowie's Glass Spider Tour in June 1987 was relocated from Ullevi to Eriksberg because of fears about the safety of the structure. Since then, the concrete pillars supporting the stadium have been extended down to the bedrock. Springsteen has performed at the stadium on subsequent tours in 2003, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2023.

Pink Floyd performed at Ullevi on 27 August 1994 as part of their The Division Bell Tour. Michael Jackson came to Ullevi on 16 August 1997, as part of his HIStory World Tour, performing for a crowd of 50,000 people. Elton John hosted a sell-out concert in 1998. It was part of the Face-To-Face Tour with Billy Joel, although Joel was unable to perform because of illness. John played for over three hours. Tina Turner came to Ullevi on 0 August 1996, as part of her Wildest Dreams Tour and 5 August 2000, as part of her Twenty Four Seven Tour with a sold-out crowd of 55,180.

The "big four" of thrash metal (Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth and Metallica) played in the stadium on 3 July 2011. U2 have performed at the stadium four times: the first occasion was on 2 August 1997 during their PopMart Tour, in front of a crowd of 46,658 people. The second was on 29 July 2005 during their Vertigo Tour, in front of a sold-out crowd of 58,478 people. The third and the fourth were on 31 July and 1 August 2009 during their U2 360° Tour, in front of a total sold-out crowd of 119,297 people. The performance of "The Unforgettable Fire" from the first 2009 show was recorded for the group's live album U22.

Foo Fighters performed at the venue on 12 June 2015 on the Sonic Highways World Tour. However, Dave Grohl fell off stage during the second song of the concert, breaking his leg. He was treated in the stadium before returning to the stage to continue the rest of the concert sitting down in a chair while a medic applied a cast. Despite Grohl's injuries, the band was able to complete the concert.

Iron Maiden performed at the stadium five times. The first was on 9 July 2005 during their Eddie Rips Up the World Tour. The second time was on 26 July 2008 during their Somewhere Back in Time World Tour. The third time was on 1 July 2011 during The Final Frontier World Tour. The fourth time was on 17 June 2016 during The Book of Souls World Tour. The fifth time was on 22 July 2022 as a part of Legacy of the Beast Tour before more than 60,000 fans.

The Swedish artist Håkan Hellström has in 2014, 2016 and 2022 broken the attendance record thanks to a small stage which gave room for more spectators.

The Gothenburg-raised artist Laleh became the first Swedish female to headline Ullevi, with a concert held on her 40th birthday on 10 June 2022. When the tickets were released, 15,000 were sold in the first hour. The concert, which featured orchestration from the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, was broadcast on SVT1 on 2 January 2023 and made available on SVT Play on 28 December 2022.{{cite web |url=https://www.svtplay.se/video/e4gyo1b/laleh-pa-ullevi |title=Laleh på Ullevi |date=28 December 2022 |access-date=1 January 2023 |language=Swedish |trans-title=Laleh at Ullevi

Innovation

In March 2007, Ullevi installed what whas then one of Sweden's largest solar power plants, consisting of 600m² of photovoltaic panels situated on the roof of the luxury boxes section. The peak power is 86.4 kW and the yield is supposed to cover the total power used by the artificial lighting for events, with a surplus.

Speedway

Ullevi has also hosted Motorcycle speedway and hosted the Speedway World Championship on no less than eight occasions, second only to the old Wembley Stadium in London, England which hosted the World Final a record 26 times. The track is a dirt surface laid out over the athletics track and is officially 404 m long with a track record of 69.4 seconds (4 laps clutch start).

The first Championship World Final to be held at Ullevi was the inaugural Speedway World Team Cup competition in 1960. Led by reigning world champion Ove Fundin and his teammates Olle Nygren, Rune Sörmander and Björn Knutson, Sweden swept to victory over England, Czechoslovakia and Poland. Ullevi would have to wait 26 years before World Team Cup competition returned with the stadium hosting the first round of the three round 1986 Final.

The first ever Individual World Final staged at Ullevi was in 1964 when New Zealand's Barry Briggs won with a 15-point maximum. The largest attendance for a World Final at Ullevi occurred in 1974 when 38,390 turned out to see Sweden's own Anders Michanek win his only World Championship with an unbeaten 15 point maximum. No World Championship winners at Ullevi dropped more than one point in their five rides with five of the seven World Finals being won with a 15-point maximum. The stadium also hosted other qualifying rounds for the Individual World Final including the inaugural running of the Intercontinental Final in 1975 won by New Zealand legend Ivan Mauger.

Since the World Championship was changed in 1995 from a single meeting Final to the Speedway Grand Prix (SGP), Ullevi has hosted a round of the series in 2002, 2003, 2004 (Grand Prix of Scandinavia), 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 (Grand Prix of Sweden).

Ullevi hosted its only World Pairs Championship Final in 1983 when Peter Collins and Kenny Carter won England's 6th Pairs crown.

Speedway World Finals

Individual World Championship

• 1964 - NZL Barry Briggs - 15pts
• 1968 - NZL Ivan Mauger - 15pts
• 1971 - DEN Ole Olsen - 15pts
• 1974 - SWE Anders Michanek - 15pts
• 1977 - NZL Ivan Mauger - 14pts
• 1980 - ENG Michael Lee - 14pts
• 1984 - DEN Erik Gundersen - 14pts
• 1991 - DEN Jan O. Pedersen - 15pts

World Pairs Championship

• 1983 - ENG England (Peter Collins / Kenny Carter) - 25pts

World Team Cup

• 1960 - SWE Sweden (Ove Fundin / Olle Nygren / Rune Sörmander / Björn Knutson) - 44pts
• 1986* - DEN Denmark (Hans Nielsen / Erik Gundersen / Tommy Knudsen / Jan O. Pedersen / John Jørgensen) - 130pts ** Ullevi hosted the first of 3 rounds in the Final.*

Speedway Grand Prix

• 2002 Speedway Grand Prix of Scandinavia - AUS Leigh Adams
• 2003 Speedway Grand Prix of Scandinavia - AUS Ryan Sullivan
• 2004 Speedway Grand Prix of Scandinavia - DEN Hans N. Andersen
• 2008 Speedway Grand Prix of Sweden - POL Rune Holta
• 2009 Speedway Grand Prix of Sweden - RUS Emil Sayfutdinov
• 2010 Speedway Grand Prix of Sweden - DEN Kenneth Bjerre
• 2011 Speedway Grand Prix of Sweden - AUS Chris Holder
• 2012 Speedway Grand Prix of Sweden - SWE Fredrik Lindgren
• 2013 Speedway Grand Prix of Sweden - RUS Emil Sayfutdinov

Record attendances

Most attended concerts

Sports

;One day events

;Multi day events

Location and transport

Ullevi is located on the eastern edge of Gothenburg's city centre and is one of the centrepieces of the event district Evenemangsstråket, with Scandinavium, Liseberg, Universeum, the Museum of World Culture and Bergakungen nearby. Public transport is easily accessible. There are two tram stops named after the stadium; Ullevi Norra (North) and Ullevi Södra (South). Both tram stops serve lines 6 (orange) and 8 (purple). Ullevi Södra also serves lines 2 (yellow) and 13 (beige), while Ullevi Norra also serves lines 1 (white) and 3 (blue). Approximately 700 metres west of Ullevi lies the Gothenburg Central Station and Nils Ericson Terminal. 900 metres south of Ullevi lies Korsvägen, a major public transport hub which serves more than fifteen different bus lines and several tram lines, and the Liseberg station serving the Gothenburg commuter rail.

The stadium has 650 parking spaces located in a garage underneath the pitch. Additionally visitors are guided to eighteen nearby parking lots and parking garages—with a total of 7,000 parking spaces—by the event districts parking guidance and information system. The system has a total of 130 digital signs, located on motorways with information about which exit to use, and on streets in the city with more detailed information about directions and number of available parking spaces.

References

References

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2. Lohr, Steve. (15 August 1988). "Sunday in Sweden: Vikings Beat Bears". [[The New York Times]].
3. "European Competitions 1989-90".
4. "Euro '92 Standings". [[UEFA]].
5. (20 May 2004). "Valencia victorious in Gothenburg". [[UEFA]].
6. [https://www.vuspel.se/pdf/VUinbj19eng.pdf Gothenburg Youth Games 28-30/6 2019, Ullevi Arena in Göteborg, Sweden] {{Webarchive. link. (20 August 2019 . Vuspel. Retrieved 2019-08-20.)
7. Bodare, A.. (3 June 1993). "Rock Music Induced Damage and Vibration at Nya Ullevi Stadium".
8. Currie, David. (1987). "David Bowie: Glass Idol". Omnibus Press.
9. Gustafsson, Amanda. (10 June 2022). "Laleh redo för historiska konserten – första svenska kvinnliga soloartist på Ullevi i Göteborg". [[Sveriges Television]].
10. Waldeck, Lovisa. (28 December 2022). "Följ med bakom kulisserna på Lalehs historiska spelning". [[Sveriges Television]].
11. . (28 December 2022). ["Laleh – välkommen hem"](https://www.tv.nu/program/laleh-valkommen-hem). *[[Schibsted*.
12. . (1 November 2022). ["Laleh presenterar sommarturné 2023 - hennes största någonsin - första svenska kvinnliga artist på Tele2 Arena."](https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/united-stage/pressreleases/laleh-presenterar-sommarturne-2023-hennes-stoersta-naagonsin-foersta-svenska-kvinnliga-artist-paa-tele2-arena-3214286). *MyNewsDesk*.
13. "En av Sveriges största solcellsanläggning producerar grön el på Ullevi". [[Got Event]].
14. Oakes, Peter. (1981). "1981 Speedway Yearbook". Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd.
15. "Speedway World Championships".
16. "1986 WORLD TEAM CUP".
17. Oakes, Peter. (1978). "1978 Speedway Yearbook". Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd.
18. Bott, Richard. (1980). "The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4". Stanley Paul & Co Ltd.
19. "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK".
20. Bamford, Robert. (2007). "Tempus Speedway Yearbook 2007". Tempus Publishing, Stroud.
21. (11 August 2022). "Sheeran lockade rekordpublik".
22. "Aktuella nyheter och pressmeddelanden".
23. (11 August 2022). "Sheeran lockade rekordpublik".
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25. (May 2005). "Så prioriteras evenemangen som syns på skyltarna". [[Swedish Road Administration]].