Intility Arena

Intility Arena
Valle Hovin, Valle
	Aerial view of Intility Arena
Location	Valle Hovin, Oslo, Norway
Coordinates	59°55′4″N 10°48′25″E / 59.91778°N 10.80694°E
Public transit	Helsfyr
Owner	Vålerenga kultur- og idrettspark AS, owned by Vålerenga Fotball
Operator	Vålerenga kultur- og idrettspark AS
Capacity	16,555; 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–present)

Intility Arena,^[2] also referred to as Vålerenga Stadion, is an association football stadium in Oslo, Norway. The stadium is the home stadium for the Vålerenga Fotball, currently playing in the Norwegian First Division, 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] The stadium was initially called Vålerenga kultur- og idrettspark.

History

Early grounds

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.

Planning

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 and opening

The foundation stone of the new stadium was laid on 29 July 2015, the club's 102nd anniversary.^[5] Construction started in the summer of 2015.^[3]

The first game at the stadium was played on 9 September 2017 and was a women's Toppserien game Vålerenga Damer won 2–0 against Kolbotn.^[6] The men's opening game was played on the following day, 10 September 2017, an Eliteserien game Vålerenga lost 1–2 against Sarpsborg 08.^[7] The record attendance of 17,011 spectators dates from this game.

Naming rights

In October 2017, Norwegian technology company Intility reached an agreement with Vålerenga to buy the stadium's naming rights for ten years. The deal saw the stadium's name change 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.