Molde idrettspark, until 1998 known as Molde stadion, is a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

located in Molde,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. It serves as the home ground for the

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 ...

team IL Molde-Olymp and the football clubs

SK Træff Sportsklubben Træff is a Norwegian sports club from Molde, Møre og Romsdal. It currently has sections for association football and team handball. The men's football team currently plays in the Norwegian Second Division, the third tier of t ...

and reserve and development teams of

Molde FK Molde Fotballklubb () is a professional football club based in Molde, Norway, that competes in Eliteserien, the top flight of Norwegian football. Founded on 19 June 1911, the club was originally known as International and changed its name t ...

. Prior to the 1998 opening of

Aker Stadion The Aker Stadion (known as Molde Stadion for UEFA competitions and prior to sponsorship) is an all-seater football stadium located at Reknes in Molde, Norway, and is the home of Eliteserien club Molde. The stadium has a current capacity of 1 ...

it also served as the home ground for Molde FK's

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotio ...

team. The stadium opened on 28 August 1955 and had an approximate capacity for 15,000 spectators. The current seated capacity is 1,400.

History

Until 1955, Molde FK had been playing their games at Rivalbanen. Molde Stadion opened on 28 August 1955 with a second tier league match between Molde FK and Kristiansund FK. Arne Hemnes scored the first goal, the only goal of the game, thus the home team won 1–0. Approximately 2,500 spectators attended the opening game. Molde played in the top division, the Main League in 1958, after which the stadium was not used for top-level football again until Molde was promoted to the 1974 1. divisjon. That year saw an expansion of the terraces. The seated stand was built by the club in the mid-1980s. However, the costs were too much for the club to bear and was a contributing factor to the club's near bankruptcy in 1991. The record attendance of 14,793 dates from 10 October 1987, the 1987 league title decisive match against

Moss FK Moss Fotballklubb is a Norwegian football club, founded on 28 August 1906. They play in the 2. divisjon, the third highest division in the Norwegian football league system. They played in the Norwegian top flight between 1937-1939, 1953-1954, ...

which Molde lost 0–2. Molde's first team moved to the new Molde Stadion (now Aker Stadion) in 1998. Molde FK played a total of 227 top division matches at Molde Idrettspark.Fagerli and Lunde (1999): 355

References

;Bibliography * ;Other {{Eliteserien venues Molde FK Football venues in Norway Eliteserien venues Sports venues in Molde 1955 establishments in Norway Sports venues completed in 1955