Brøndby Stadium ( da, Brøndby Stadion, ) is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Brøndbyvester Brøndbyvester () is a Danish town, seat and main settlement of the Brøndby Municipality, in the Region Hovedstaden. It is known for housing the stadium of football team Brøndby IF. History The town is the original core of Brøndby and somet ...

, Denmark and the home ground of

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

club

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a professional association football club based in Brøndbyvester, Capital Region of Denmark. The club was founded in 1964 as a merger between two local clubs and was p ...

. It is the second-largest stadium in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. Built in 1965 and inaugurated on 31 July 1966 where it had no stands, it saw a major redevelopment in 2000 which increased capacity to 31,500 spectators, of which 19,700 were seated. Continuous adjustments to the spectator facilities have since resulted in the stadium having a total capacity of 29,000 spectators, of which 23,400 are seated. Record attendance dates to 18 June 2003, where a crowd of 31,508 were present in a

Copenhagen Derby The Copenhagen Derby is a Danish football rivalry between Brøndby and Copenhagen. Matches ''As of 28 October 2021'' Abbreviations *DSL – Danish Superliga *DC – Danish Cup *RL – Royal League The Royal League was an annual Scandinav ...

against

F.C. Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

. When hosting the

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competitions Champions League and

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

, seats are installed on the South End terraces ( da, Sydsiden) in accordance with UEFA regulations, which reduces the total capacity to 26,000. The stadium has also hosted the Denmark national football team in five matches. Their first game at Brøndby Stadium was a friendly against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

on 1 September 2006 which ended in a 4–2 win.

History

Turning idea into product

The idea of constructing a centrally located, municipal sports facility was presented by erstwhile mayor

Jens Christian Jensen Jens Christian Jensen (11 May 1928 – 6 April 2013) was a German art historian and curator. Life Born in Lübeck, after the Abitur passed at the Katharineum, Jensen studied art history, classical archaeology, Germanistics and history of Chris ...

in 1945,Barnak 2007, p. 27. but at the time the sports clubs of the municipality could not agree on a common stadium. When a merger of the municipality's three largest sports clubs was considered in the 1950s, much suggests that these plans were fostered on a political as well as executive level. Having only one club in the municipality would enable a more rational use of a future Brøndby Stadium. The idea of a merger gained support in

Brøndbyøster Idrætsforening Brøndbyøster () is a Danish town in the Brøndby Municipality, in the Region Hovedstaden. Notable people * Alex Ambrose (born 1978 in Brøndbyøster) stage name Alex, is a Danish singer, songwriter and actor Brøndbyvester Idrætsforening and Brøndby Strands Idrætsforeninger. The latter, however, immediately disapproved of the idea, while a vote in Brøndbyvester ended up with the same result: a 'no' to merging into a municipal superstructure.Barnak 2007, p. 28. Only a few years would pass before plans of merging Brøndbyøster Idrætsforening and Brøndbyvester Idrætsforening would resurface. Financial benefit was one of the main arguments for uniting the two clubs in order to play at a future municipal stadium, and mayor of Brøndby in the period 1966–2005, as well as chairman of

board in 1971–71, Kjeld Rasmussen, has since stated that he and Brøndby's mayor at the time had decided to construct a stadium, provided that the two clubs would merge.Barnak 2007, p. 61. On 3 December 1964 in Kirkebjerg Salen in

, the boards of Brøndbyvester Idrætsforening and Brøndbyøster Idrætsforening adopted an agreement to merge into one club: Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (Brøndby IF).Rasmussen 2009, pp. 37–38.

Construction and early years

When the stadium reached its completion in 1965, the ground consisted of nothing more than a grass pitch surrounded by an

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

track and a spectator rail circling the field of play, a training complex featuring four grass pitches, and a gravel pitch. Behind one of the goals various athletics facilities were established, as the club shared the stadium with Brøndby Atletik. In addition, a changing room with four separate compartments was constructed, featuring showers and toilet facilities. The official inauguration of the pitch was officially planned for late summer 1965, but issues with making the grass grow postponed the launch to 31 July 1966. In the following years, the area around Brøndby Stadium continuously developed and expanded; in 1969–70 the municipality constructed additional training pitches south of the ground, close to the Holbæk Motorway,Barnak 2007, p. 33 and even more training complexes were built South of the motorway in 1972–74. Conditions around the main playing pitch were also improved; in 1966 two

turnstile A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a t ...

s were set up at the stadium entrance, and in 1969 a clock was added, courtesy of local

watchmaker A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their par ...

Bent Henriksen from Brøndbyøster Torv. In 1973 the municipality allocated DKK 20,000 to set up a modern loudspeaker system consisting of four ''folded''

horn loudspeaker A horn loudspeaker is a loudspeaker or loudspeaker element which uses an horn (acoustic), acoustic horn to increase the overall efficiency of the driving element(s). A common form ''(right)'' consists of a compression driver which produces sound w ...

s suspended on four-metre steel trusses.

Constructing the stands

moved up the ranks, a need arose for a more contemporary stadium. In 1975, the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

allowed the club to improve spectator facilities by installing two-step terraces around the

running track An all-weather running track is a rubberized, artificial running surface for track and field athletics. It provides a consistent surface for competitors to test their athletic ability unencumbered by adverse weather conditions. Historically, v ...

.Barnak 2007, p. 72 This happened despite the club's wishes to install a covered grandstand. Only in 1977, when the club reached promotion to the third highest football league in Denmark, the

Danish 2nd Division The 2nd Division ( da, Danmarksturneringens 2. division or Herre-DM 2. division) is a semi-professional association football league for men and the third division in Denmark. It is organised by the Divisionsforeningen on behalf of the Danish Foo ...

, did the municipality decide that a covered grandstand should be erected. The DKK 4 million project broke ground during the summer of 1978, and in early 1979 the grandstand was ready for use.Barnak 2007, p. 73 The stand, which could hold 1,335 seated spectators, and included a

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

booth, media facilities and a TV plateau, was placed facing West towards Gildhøjskolen. Beneath the stand were constructed four dressing rooms, a kiosk, an office, toilet facilities, a storage room as well as the club room of Brøndby Atletik. In the spring of 1980, the municipality installed the first floodlights with a brightness of 4 x 24 kW. With the new stand, spectator capacity increased to 5,000. As Brøndby IF had reached promotion to the highest football league in Denmark in the fall of 1981, then known as the 1st Division, mayor Kjeld Rasmussen proclaimed that a covered stand would be constructed.Barnak 2007, p. 80 Prior to the 1982 season – Brøndby's first on the highest level – concrete terraces were installed opposite the existing grandstand, consisting of 13 rows of terraces the length of the pitch in open air. This allowed a crowd of 5,000 additional people, bringing the total capacity to 10,000. Brøndby_Stadion_2005-04

After the club had established itself in the top of

Danish football Association football is the most popular sport in Denmark, with 331,693 players and 1,647 clubs registered () under the Danish FA. The game was introduced into Denmark by British sailors. Kjøbenhavns Boldklub is the oldest club outside of the U ...

during the 1980s, Brøndby IF reached a hitherto zenith by reaching the

quarter-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

of the 1990–91 UEFA Cup.Rasmussen 2009, pp. 205–207. At that time, Brøndby Stadium did not live up to international standards to host matches at that level. However, this was solved by installing temporary end stands of

scaffolding Scaffolding, also called scaffold or staging, is a temporary structure used to support a work crew and materials to aid in the construction, maintenance and repair of buildings, bridges and all other man-made structures. Scaffolds are widely use ...

, which allowed the club to receive an approval by the

to organise the home leg against

Torpedo Moscow Football Club Torpedo Moscow (russian: link=no, ФК "Торпедо" Москва, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow that was founded in 1924 and returned to the Russian Pre ...

. The changes raised the total capacity to 15,000 spectators, and the club even outdid themselves when they reached the

semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

by increasing the capacity to 17,000–18,000. In the same period Brøndby IF submitted a bid to host the Denmark national football team at a new national stadium; a "''Stadion Danmark''", which would seat 60,000 spectators and border the Holbæk Motorway. These plans, however, never came to fruition as

Parken Stadium Parken Stadium, also known simply as Parken and as Telia Parken (2014–2020), is a football stadium in the Indre Østerbro (''Inner Østerbro'') district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from 1990 to 1992. The stadium, which features a retractable ...

won the bid and eventually became the national stadium. As Brøndby IF gained domestic and European success, spectator interest had grown to such a degree, that it became necessary to move the biggest matches to

Københavns Idrætspark Københavns Idrætspark, in daily use Idrætsparken, also known as Parken, was a multi-purpose stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was initially used as the stadium of Denmark national football team and Kjøbenhavns Boldklub. It was replaced by t ...

. This solution was not deemed satisfactory for neither club, fans nor sponsors, who wanted to remain rooted in the local community. Therefore, the board under leadership of

Per Bjerregaard Per Anders Bjerregaard (; born 23 January 1946) is a Danish educated physician (cand.med.) and former footballer, executive director and chairman of Danish football club Brøndby IF. Career Born in Randers, Bjerregaard moved to Copenhagen where ...

, decided to plan an expansion of Brøndby Stadium.Barnak 2007, pp. 139-140 The first step was taken in 1990, when the stand opposite the grandstand was covered and expanded with eight rows, holding 3,500 seated spectators, as well as terracing holding 10,500 standing spectators in total. In the same year the grandstand was expanded with a lounge for sponsors in which a panoramic window allowed for a view of the entire pitch. While Brøndby Municipality had financed the new covered stand, Brøndby IF funded the construction of the sponsors lounge. Despite improved spectator facilities, the stadium did still not live up to UEFA requirements, and the club wished to erect permanent terracing behind both goals. As this would mean that the running track around the pitch had to be demolished, and that Brøndby Atletik would have to be compensated with a new running track elsewhere, the municipality chose to turn down Brøndby IF's application to further expand the stadium.Barnak 2007, pp. 139-140 This made the club consider moving to another city where it would be able to host international games, prompting the municipality to offer Brøndby IF to acquire the stadium and thus raise money to construct an athletics stadium. The club board, spearheaded by Bjerregaard, was, however, only interested in purchasing the area behind the two goals. Brøndby IF had meanwhile offered to pay for construction costs of the end stands themselves, but in order to do so the pitch had to be expanded both in width and length. In 1991, the municipal council decided that Brøndby IF should have the sole right to use the stadium.Barnak 2007, pp. 140-141 Thus, a green light was finally given to turn Brøndby Stadium into a

football-specific stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi-p ...

. In December 1991, the contractor began removing the running track, and in the spring of 1992, the expanded Brøndby Stadium has reached completion: four covered stands with a total capacity of almost 21,000 spectators. This included the infamous terraced "South Side"-end ( da, Sydsiden) – then known as ''

Faxe Faxe or Fakse is a town on the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. It is located in Faxe Municipality in Region Zealand. The town is most known for the Faxe Brewery, Royal Unibrew, a relatively large brewery producing a range of beer and soft ...

Tribunen'' for sponsorship reasons – which was inaugurated on 29 March 1992. With the 1,335 seats on the main grandstand and another 3,000 new seats on the lower side of the opposite stand, the stadium could hold more than 6,000 seated spectators.Barnak 2007, p. 141

1999–2000 expansion

Despite several expansions and improvements over the years, Brøndby Stadium could still not achieve acceptable capacity for international matches, and the club was therefore forced to rent

in Indre Østerbro – home of the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

as well as archrivals

FC Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

– for major matches under

. This resulted in losses; both on a financial level, but also in terms of prestige, and because of this the board continued to work on plans of further expanding the stadium. The first step was commencing negotiations with

Brøndby Municipality Brøndby Kommune (), a municipality ( da, kommune) in the former Copenhagen County (now Region Hovedstaden), is on the east coast of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and has a total p ...

in order to secure the total acquisition of the stadium, and as a result of the proceedings,

A/S purchased Brøndby Stadium for DKK 23.5 million in May 1998. From this, DKK 16 million was to be deducted for the two end stands and the sponsors lounge, which the club itself had financed, resulting in a final amount of DKK 7.3 million.Barnak 2007, p. 180 The acquisition officially took place on 1 January 1999, after which the largest expansion of Brøndby Stadium could commence; a connected upper stand supported by a total of 32 concrete staircase towers, and a new roof carried by a total of 32 m tall iron structures, each 25 m apart. These would – together with the existing lower stands – ensure that the stadium could bring the total spectator capacity to more than 30,000 for

European games The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic Games, Olympic tradition contested by sportsperson, athletes from European nations and several European Olympic Committees#Notes, transcontinental countries. The Games were ...

and 33,000 to

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matches. The total costs for the expansion were DKK 270 million, 40 million more than original estimates due to costs spiralling. In addition to the new upper stand section, the main grandstand was expanded with a superstructure. Not least, the sponsor and lounge areas were expanded considerably, and a new three-storey annex providing administrative offices, press facilities, commercial kitchen and lounge areas able to host more than 3,000 was erected facing the parking lot.Barnak 2007, p. 181 On the ground floor additional facilities, including a lobby, a gym for the players and a fanshop, were constructed. Brøndby_Stadion

The connected upper stands meant that the corners of the stadium became partly enclosed, and toilet stalls as well as food and drink outlets were placed in the spaces between the lower and upper stands. The new upper stands included 13,600 new seats, increasing the total capacity to 31,500 spectators. For international matches, capacity was limited to 26,500 spectators as they demand all-seated crowds. The entire redevelopment progressed while the club still played its home games at the stadium, and the original changing rooms under the main grandstand, originating from 1978, were retained. The stadium officially reopened with a ceremony on 22 October 2000, followed by an

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

between the

team from 1989 and

Skagen IK Skagen () is Denmark's northernmost town, on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula in the far north of Jutland, part of Frederikshavn Municipality in Nordjylland, north of Frederikshavn and northeast of Aalborg. The Port of Skagen i ...

; a rematch mirroring a 1986–87 Danish Cup game, where Skagen from the Danish fifth tier knocked out Brøndby after a penalty-shootout, in what has been described as "the biggest sensation in Danish Cup history". The first competitive game after the rebuild occurred on 22 October 2000 with a 4–2 league win over

Akademisk Boldklub Akademisk Boldklub Gladsaxe (or AB) is a Danish professional football club from Gladsaxe north of Copenhagen, currently playing at the 3rd highest level of Danish domestic football in the Danish 2nd Division group 1. The club was established on F ...

in front of 28,416 spectators. The stadium reached total completion in 2001. The redevelopment also made Brøndby Stadium a part of the Nordic countries' bid for hosting the

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

, which was eventually awarded to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

–

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Additions and improvements

Because the total costs of the 1999–2000 expansion exceeded the originally planned budget by DKK 30–40 million, some major and minor additions and improvements to audience facilities were postponed and subsequently carried out over time. First of foremost, the club could not afford new turnstiles, and a planned, highly modern entrance system was only installed in 2003, just as the scoreboards initially did not meet the requirements of the

Danish Football Union The Danish Football Union ( da, Dansk Boldspil-Union; DBU) is the governing body of football in Denmark. It is the organization of the Danish football clubs and runs the professional Danish football leagues and the men's and women's national te ...

. The original substitutes' benches in the

technical area A technical area in association football is an area which a manager, other coaching personnel, and substitutes are allowed to occupy during a match. The technical area includes the dugout, bench and a marked zone adjacent to the pitch. Histor ...

likewise had to be utilised for some years before being permanently replaced by benches below pitch-level in 2005. The new blue seats planned for the lower stands would initially have to wait; firstly, the old, worn-out seats were retained on the two original long-side stands, which in the first years following the rebuild appeared as gray, red, yellow and light blue seats. Secondly, seats were expected to be fitted to the extended section of the old grandstand and the lower section of the northern end stand. However, an extra "row 34" was added relatively quickly all the way around the top of the stands, in front of the glass partitions. As new dark blue seats were installed on the aforementioned areas in 2003, a total seating capacity reached 23,400. This increased total stadium capacity to 29,000, while the stadium could hold crowds of 26,144 for international matches. This was due to the fact that for international fixtures, the South Side-end terracing could be converted into approximately 2,600 seats. Despite many delayed improvements to the stadium, the redevelopment in 2000 already had already secured improved facilities for wheelchair users, as a wheelchair lift had been installed at the southern end of the East Stand. In 2006–2007, the East Stand (today known as ''GSV Stand'' ( da, GSV-tribunen) for sponsorship reasons) was further expanded at the back with a lounge for sponsors, classrooms for Brøndby Gymnasium ( general upper secondary education), a public gym, a production kitchen and the sports bar "''1964''". In addition, spectator conditions were improved upon with six new multi-stalls and three new staircases beneath the East Stand. Two large

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...

screens were also installed during this period. The total cost of the project ran up to DKK 90 million. In 2008, major sponsor Jesper "Kasi-Jesper" Nielsen of KasiGroup financed a decoration of the Brøndby Stadium facade; yellow, illuminated letters with the stadium name affixed between the roof and the top row of seating at three of the stands. In addition, each

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

was adorned with four large images that showed

players and fans in different situations. During the winter break in of the 2017–18 season, the hole on the South Side-end was closed which meant that an additional 75 seats and extra capacity for 150 standing spectators on terracing were added to the stadium. The rebuild was financed by the club's fans, through the official fanclub '' Brøndby Support'' and various unofficial fan groups, and through a so-called "fan fund" which arose as a result of season tickets and merchandise sales, among other things. In total, the renovation costs amounted to DKK 450,000, of which the fan fund accounted for DKK 270,000. In the summer of 2018, new 256 LED floodlights were installed, produced in China.

Structure and facilities

The Brøndby Stadium pitch is surrounded by four covered stands, officially known as Sydsiden (South), GSV-tribunen (East), J. Jensen-tribunen (North) and Carlsberg-tribunen (West). Three stands are all-seaters (except the away section on the North End) while the South End is terracing. Each stand has two tiers. Sydsiden Brøndby Stadium 2016

Sydsiden (South End)

Sydsiden, literally "South Side" in English, was inaugurated as the new South Stand on 29 March 1992 in a match against

Lyngby Boldklub Lyngby Boldklub () is a Danish professional football club founded in 1921. It is based at Lyngby Stadion in Kongens Lyngby, Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, a northern suburb of Copenhagen. From 1994 to 2001 the club was known as Lyngby FC. The club ...

, due to a rise in interest for Brøndby IF. The lower part of the stand has a standing capacity of 5,600 spectators. Initially, spectators would sit on the terraces, but younger fans would begin encouraging all fans on Sydsiden to stand up, because they thought that it was easier to sing while standing, which would evolve into the mantra "sing or piss off" ( da, syng eller skrid). This would mark the beginning of a hard-core fan-culture formation on Sydsiden, which has remained ever since, and it is known as the stand in Denmark with the most dedicated and loudest fans when Brøndby plays its home games. Until 6 March 2011, Sydsiden was known by its sponsor name, "Faxe Tribunen", a subsidiary of

Royal Unibrew Royal Unibrew is a brewing and beverage company headquartered in Faxe, Denmark. Its brands include Ceres, Faxe, Albani, Thor, Karlens and Royal. Royal Unibrew also has a strong presence in the Baltic region, where it owns Vilniaus Tauras, Kalna ...

. This had to change as there was a conflict of interest as Carlsberg moved in as new sponsors. Sydsiden was chosen by a panel representing a broad section of the active fan base at Brøndby Stadium, as fans had called the stand this before. Halfway through the 2017–18 season, the hole in the middle of the stand was partly closed, after continuous requests by fans. A permanent fanzone was inaugurated outside Sydsiden in 2018 for spectators and fans before, during and after the games. The fanzone is the first of its kind in Scandinavia, and consists of stands for live concerts, bars, foodstands and toilet facilities. Sydsiden popularised the " Fenerbahçe greeting" in Denmark, imported through the transfer of

Brian Steen Nielsen Brian Steen Nielsen (born 28 December 1968) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Most notably, he made 66 appearances for the Denmark national team between 1990 and 2002, scoring three goals. After h ...

to the Turkish club. A cooperation between goalkeeper

Mogens Krogh Mogens Krogh (; born 31 October 1963) is a Danish former professional football player who was most recently manager of Næstved BK. In his playing career, Krogh was the first choice goalkeeper of Ikast fS between 1981 and 1991 and of Brøndby f ...

and Brøndby Support effectually made the greeting get foothold in Denmark.

North End

The North Stand, now known as "J. Jensen-tribunen" for sponsorship reasons, was originally known as "

OBS! Obs is a chain of 31 hypermarkets throughout Norway managed by Coop Norge and owned by local cooperatives. The chain director is Lars Midttun. History The first hypermarket opened in Trondheim in 1968 under the name DOMUS Stormarked. Prior t ...

-tribunen". The lower section of the stand was constructed in 1992 as terracing, and has among fans been known as "Pølseenden" ( da, the sausage end) due to its former major sponsor, sausage producer Steff-Houlberg. Fans from the away team are assigned a section on this stand, usually in the eastern part of the North Stand, separated from Brøndby's home fans. Brøndby_Stadion_july_2016

West Stand

The West Stand, known as " Carlsberg-tribunen", was originally named "

Frisko Unilever plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Fast-moving consumer goods, consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cr ...

-tribunen" and later also " SAS-tribunen" and "

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

-tribunen". The original part of the stand was completed in 1979 as the first stand of the stadium, and it has been preserved through the large expansion in 1999–2000. It can also accommodate a some fans in executive boxes and hospitality suites, and is the ground's main grandstand.

East Stand

The East Stand, now known as "GSV-tribunen" for sponsorship reasons, was formerly called "LOXAM-tribunen", "

Codan Codan Limited is a manufacturer and supplier of communications, metal detection, and mining technology, headquartered in Adelaide, South Australia with revenue of A$348.0 million (2020). Codan Limited is the communications business unit a ...

-tribunen, and "DNE-tribunen". The lower section of the stand was constructed in 1982 and 1990. The East Stand was originally without a roof, and consisted of terraces. Today, it is the largest stand of Brøndby Stadium with a total of 34 rows of seats. In 2006, a larger extension was established behind the stand from the facade, consisting of sponsor facilities, a sports bar and classrooms for Brøndby Gymnasium. The classrooms were inaugurated on 8 January 2007. In April 2018, a new family lounge was opened behind the East Stand with both physical and

Esports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

facilities.

Pitch and surroundings

Pitch 2

The east side of the stadium is also the site of ''Bane 2'' ("Pitch 2"), which is used as the club's training facility, some

s, youth matches and the home ground of the women's team for matches in

Elitedivisionen The Danish Women's League ( da, Danmarksturneringens Kvindeliga, Kvinde-DM Liga or Kvindeligaen) is a semi-professional top-flight league for women's football in Denmark. It is organised by the Danish Football Association (DBU) as part of the ...

The pitch

After the original pitch was put into service in 1965, it turned out that had not been drained properly and as a result the municipality had to ban all use of the pitch until the summer. Due to insufficient training grounds in the early years of

, the grass on the pitch quickly became worn, and in 1971 so many holes had appeared that it needed to be relaid. Brøndbystadionbynight

When all four stands had been erected in 1992, the pitch could be expanded and reshaped, which happened in 1996. On the same occasion,

heat pipe A heat pipe is a heat-transfer device that employs phase transition to transfer heat between two solid interfaces. At the hot interface of a heat pipe, a volatile liquid in contact with a thermally conductive solid surface turns into a vapor ...

s and a new, specialised irrigation system were laid under the new grass playing surface. In addition to the improved pitch, new floodlights were installed on the roof of the west and east stands, in order for the lighting to meet the international requirements. Lights at Brøndby Stadium

The current pitch measures 105 metres (115 yd) long by 68 metres (74 yd) wide. There has been some controversy on the pitch throughout the years. In 2015, the grass playing surface had not been replaced since 1997, and was four times as old as the four-year-old green turf at

Blue Water Arena The Esbjerg Stadium ( da, Esbjerg Stadion), known as the Blue Water Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium located within Esbjerg Idrætspark in Esbjerg, Denmark. It is the home ground of Esbjerg fB and has a capacity of 16,942, of w ...

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport town and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban population of 71,698 (1 January 2022)

, which at that point made it the second oldest pitch in the

. During the fall of 2014, players and coaches began criticising the playing surface at Brøndby Stadium for its misarable state, which had meant that Brøndby's style of play had to be changed from a focus on technique to a more physical game. The explanation for the pitch's poor condition was allegedly its age and that

had been responsible for maintaining the pitches in and surrounding Brøndby Stadium until the end of 2013. According to Per Rud, however, blame was not to be placed by the municipality, and he stated that there was a difference between operating pitches of regular amateur clubs and professional clubs. At the end of 2014, the club decided to improve the pitch in three phases, where the first phase was to fill the grass playing surface with

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, created during volcano, volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used t ...

and setting up

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...

tents to improve growth. The second phase was improving the pitch drainage, in order to guide the water away. The third and final phase was a complete relaying of the pitch. However, the last phase would only happen in 2016, where both the grass surface and the soil under the pitch were changed. In March 2015, it was revealed that the pitch would still be renovated in the summer of 2015, where access to the drainage and heating pipes were dug, in order for the pitch to drain properly in the future. According to then chairman, Jesper Jørgensen, a grass surface would be installed. On 13 April 2015, Brøndby IF announced that the coming home game would be played on a new grass pitch at Brøndby Stadium, and not as earlier planned after the 2014–15 season. A solution at the cost of DKK 1–2 million with

turf Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls. In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricult ...

from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

was chosen, which would constitute a temporary pitch before a major renovation was to be completed in October. In 2016,

GrassMaster GrassMaster is a hybrid grass sports playing field surface composed of natural grass combined with artificial fibres. The method was developed and patented by Desso Sports from the Netherlands in 1993. This hybrid grass system is now marketed and ...

hybrid grass was installed which would become a permanent solution the pitch. The new pitch became popular, and the Superliga-

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

voted the pitch as the best of the league on 30 May 2017.

Transportation

;Rail

The stadium is accessible via a number of

S-train The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban-suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble c ...

stations. The nearest S-train stations, at around 2.5 and 2.7 km away, respectively, are

Glostrup Glostrup is a Danish town in Region Hovedstaden, forming one of the western suburbs of Copenhagen. It is the administrative seat of Glostrup Municipality, with an estimated population of 22,357 . During the 20th century Glostrup developed from ...

and

Brøndbyøster Brøndbyøster () is a Danish town in the Brøndby Municipality, in the Region Hovedstaden. Notable people * Alex Ambrose (born 1978 in Brøndbyøster) stage name Alex, is a Danish singer, songwriter and actor B line (green) from

Farum station Farum station is the terminus of the Hareskovbanen radial of the S-train network around Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located about 1 km east of the old village ''Farum'', but is the center of the modern Farum, which has grown up around the stat ...

. *

. Distance: 2.5 km. *

Brøndby Strand Brøndby Strand (in English: 'Well Town' Beach) is a suburb in Brøndby Municipality, approximately south-west of central Copenhagen, Denmark Overview Brøndby Strand contains a large housing project, in which 8,000 of the suburb's 11,000 inhabit ...

. Distance: 3.6 km. ;Road Patrons may park their cars in one of the largest free parking facilities of all Danish stadiums, holding 2,500 cars. In addition, 1,000 places are available south of the Holbæk motorway and an additional 700 places north of the Brøndby Rådhus. ;Bus The following bus lines service Brøndby Stadium: From/to Glostrup: * 22 Brøndby Rådhus * 166 Gildhøj Centeret or

Brøndbyhallen Brøndbyhallen is an indoor arena located in Brøndby, Denmark, near Copenhagen. The arena holds 4,500 people. List of significant tournaments hosted While primarily used for team handball and concerts, it also hosted: *1978 World Men's Han ...

* 500S Gildhøj Centeret or Brøndbyhallen From/to Brøndby Strand: * 13 Brøndbyhallen or Brøndby Rådhus * 166 Brøndbyhallen * 500S Brøndby Hallen From/to Brøndbyøster: * 13 Brøndby Rådhus, Gildhøj Centret or Brøndbyhallen * 22 Brøndby Rådhus From/to Ørestad: * 500S Brøndbyhallen or Gildhøj Centret

Matches

Brøndby Stadium has been used seven times as home ground for the Danish national team. Furthermore, it has been the venue of four youth national matches and a Denmark League XI match:

References

Citations

Sources

* * * *

External links

Brøndby Stadium
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brondby Stadion Brøndby IF Football venues in Denmark Buildings and structures in Brøndby Municipality 1965 establishments in Denmark Sports venues completed in 1965