Parken Stadium, also known simply as Parken and as Telia Parken (2014–2020), is a football stadium in the

Indre Østerbro Indre Østerbro (lit. English language, English, "Inner Østerbro"), is one of the 15 administrative, statistical, and tax city districts ("bydele") comprising the municipality of Copenhagen, Denmark. It lies on the eastern edge of the municip ...

(''Inner Østerbro'') district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from 1990 to 1992. The stadium, which features a retractable roof, currently has a capacity of 38,065 for football games, and is the home of FC Copenhagen and the

Denmark national football team The Denmark men's national football team ( da, Danmarks herre-fodboldlandshold or ''herrelandsholdet'') represents Denmark in men's international football competitions. It is controlled by the Danish Football Association (DBU), the governing bo ...

. The capacity for concerts exceeds the capacity for matches – the stadium can hold as many as 50,000 people with an end-stage setup and 55,000 with a centre-stage setup. Parken was announced as one of 12 host venues of the UEFA Euro 2020 and it hosted three group stage matches, as well as a round of 16 match.

Geranium ''Geranium'' is a genus of 422 species of annual, biennial, and perennial plants that are commonly known as geraniums or cranesbills. They are found throughout the temperate regions of the world and the mountains of the tropics, but mostly in ...

, a three Michelin star restaurant, is located on the eighth floor of the stadium.

History

Parken was built on the site of former Denmark national stadium, Idrætsparken, from 1990 to 1992. The last national team match in Idrætsparken was a 0–2

Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having qualifi ...

qualification loss to Yugoslavia on 14 November 1990, and on 9 September 1992, Parken was opened with a 1–2 defeat in a friendly game against Germany. The stadium was rebuilt by investors

Baltica Finans A/S Baltica is a paleocontinent that formed in the Paleoproterozoic and now constitutes northwestern Eurasia, or Europe north of the Trans-European Suture Zone and west of the Ural Mountains. The thick core of Baltica, the East European Craton, is mo ...

in turn of the guarantee from the

Danish Football Association 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 t ...

, that all national matches would be played at Parken for 15 years. The re-construction, tore down and re-built three of the original four stands, cost 640 million Danish kroner. In 1998, Baltica Finans sold the stadium to F.C. Copenhagen for 138 million DKK, and the club now owns both the stadium and the adjacent office buildings in the company of

Parken Sport & Entertainment Parken Sport & Entertainment A/S (short: PS&E) is a Danish company located at Parken Stadium in the Østerbro area of Copenhagen. The company was founded on 1. April 1991 to run the football club F.C. Copenhagen (in Danish: F.C. København or just ...

. Parken was included in UEFA's list of 4-star stadiums in the autumn of 1993, making Parken eligible for hosting the finals of the

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 ...

(then named UEFA Cup) as well as the now defunct Cup Winners' Cup. Being a 4-star stadium, Parken can not apply for the biggest European club game, the UEFA Champions League final, as that demands 50,000 seats. On 2 June 2007, Parken was the venue for the

UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier fan attack A fan attack occurred at the Euro 2008 qualifying Group F match between the national football teams of Sweden and Denmark, at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen on 2 June 2007. A Danish supporter ran onto the pitch and attacked referee Herbert Fan ...

. On 1 May 2014 a new stadium covering Wi-Fi solution, powered by Telia was published. The deal provides free high speed Wi-Fi for all spectators at any event at the stadium. The agreement includes a 7 year long naming sponsorship, and on 17 July 2014, the stadium name was changed to Telia Parken.Parken får nyt navn
''F.C. Copenhagen'' On 26 August 2020, it was announced that the stadiums name would be reverted to the original name, Parken, five days later on 31 August.

Notable matches

Euro 2020

Parken is one of the stadiums that hosted matches for the UEFA Euro 2020. Three Group B matches and a Round of 16 were played there.

Concert venue

Also used as a concert venue, Parken hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2001. As a direct consequence of this, and to make Parken a more useful venue in general, a retractable roof was applied to the existing structure in 2000 and 2001. Musicians such as

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

, Justin Bieber, The Black Eyed Peas,

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...

, David Bowie,

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

, Coldplay,

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

, Celine Dion,

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson,

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Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

, Lady Gaga,

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

, Paul McCartney,

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

, Mew,

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...

, Muse, One Direction,

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...

, Pharrell, Pink,

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

, Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., The Rolling Stones,

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

, Take That, Tiësto, Tina Turner, U2,

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...

, and Robbie Williams have performed at Parken. In 2017,

Volbeat Volbeat are a Danish rock band formed in Copenhagen in 2001. They play a fusion of rock and roll, heavy metal, and rockabilly. Their current line-up consists of vocalist and guitarist Michael Poulsen, guitarist Rob Caggiano, drummer Jon Lars ...

became the first Danish band to sell out the venue; their ''Let's Boogie'' DVD is of this concert. The biggest concert ever held in Parken was a performance by Michael Jackson on 14 August 1997, during his '' HIStory'' tour, with 60,000 tickets sold; a second show was held on the 29th, in which Jackson was thrown a surprise birthday party after the performance of "

You Are Not Alone "You Are Not Alone" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson from his ninth studio album, '' HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I'' (1995). It was released on August 15, 1995, as the second single from the album. An R&B ballad, "You ...

Notes

External links