Th
ng big
m
CHAMPIONS
LEAGUE
0 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 0
There are several ways of thinking big.
IFK Göteborg and Rosenborg BK illustra
te two of them. The Swedish champions
have always enjoyed having the biggest
stadium in Scandinavia and rumour has it
that the slightest whiff of a challenge from
king big. The Lerkendal stadium, built in
1950 at one of the world's most norther
ly venues, previously had only one main
stand holding some 6,000 spectators.
What's more, the stadium is municipally-
owned, so the club was under no obliga
tion to undertake improvement work. But
during 1996 the stadium has been trans
formed and Rosenborg have footed the
bill. Very modern new stands have been
built, complete with VIP areas and with
comfortable seats replacing the terraces.
The club has also financed the construc-
Copenhagen or Stockholm was enough
to provoke an immediate response at the
famous Nya Ullevi stadium, built for the
1958 World Cup (to replace the Gamla
Ullevi built in 1916) and scenario of the
memorable EURO 92 final.
In fact, the latest improvements were
sparked off by the World Athletics
Championships held in Gothenburg last
year. A whole new section was added to
the main stand, making the Nya Ullevi a
43,000-capacity all-seater stadium with
very modern facilities, including a car park
built underneath the pitch.
In Norway, Rosenborg BK, bearing in
mind that Trondheim has only 135,000
inhabitants, have a different way of thin
Picture: Bo Andersson/Empics
tion of an indoor football hall in the
Lerkendal sports complex and their way
of thinking big has been to invest their
profits from two UEFA Champions
League campaigns in construction work
which will be of permanent benefit to the
club and the community.
