Tammelan Stadion is a football

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 ...

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

that is currently undergoing major renovation. It is the home ground for the

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkau ...

club

Ilves Ilves (; Finnish for " Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Tampere Deck Arena. The colors of Ilves, green, yellow, and black, were taken from what was then the coat of arms of the city ...

and the

Kakkonen Kakkonen or II divisioona is the third level in the league system of Finnish football and comprises 36 Finnish football teams. The II divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1990s became known as the Kakkonen (Finnish for 'Number Two' ...

sides TPV and

Tampere United Tampere United is a Finnish football club from the city of Tampere. The club plays in Kakkonen, the third highest level of football in Finland. The club had a team in Veikkausliiga, the premier football league in Finland, until the end of the ...

. The Ilves women's team, which plays in the

Naisten liiga The Kansallinen Liiga ('National League') is the premier division of women's football in Finland. It was previously called the Jalkapallon naisten SM-sarja ('Women's Football Finnish Championship Series') during 1974 to 2006 and the Naisten Lii ...

, also uses the stadium. The new facility is expected to be available for the 2024 season.

History

The stadium's history began in 1926 when the city council made a decision to build a football field in Tammela. However, construction advanced rather slowly due to a lack of funds. The situation worsened during the depression of the late 1920s and early 1930s. The field was opened in 1931, but a stadium-like look was reached only in 1937 when the first stand was built. The stands were expanded in 1993 to a nominal capacity of 5 050 but only the main stand had numbered seats, 1 300 in all. The attendance record for the stadium was set on October 2, 1994, when 5 490 spectators watched a game between TPV and HJK.

Future

The previous stadium did not meet the requirements set by Veikkausliiga, so a replacement was necessary. The city of Tampere held an architecture competition in 2014, in which a proposal called Hattutemppu (‘hat trick’) by JKMM Arkkitehdit was chosen as the basis for the development project. The new building will comprise apartments as well as office and retail space in addition to the stadium proper. The new stadium was originally set to seat approximately 6 500 spectators and meet the UEFA Category 3 criteria. However, in December 2020, the city council decided to increase allocated funding so that the stadium would have 8 000 seats and meet the criteria for Category 4, which makes it an eligible ground for top-level football matches. The plan is to implement

shopping center A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

, parking and auxiliary facilities on the ground level of the stadium. Among other things,

Kesko sv, Kesko Abp , logo = Kesko logo.svg , logo_size = 150px , type = Julkinen osakeyhtiö , traded_as = , foundation = , location_city = Helsinki , location_country = Finland , key_people = Mikko Helander (President and CEO), Esa Ki ...

will lease retail space of almost 2,500 square meters, which will include a large

K-Supermarket sv, Kesko Abp , logo = Kesko logo.svg , logo_size = 150px , type = Julkinen osakeyhtiö , traded_as = , foundation = , location_city = Helsinki , location_country = Finland , key_people = Mikko Helander (President and CEO), Esa Kii ...

grocery store. In addition, the business premises will include a

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (,"Villa"
''Collins English Dictionary''. ; ;

restaurant.

References

Football venues in Finland Buildings and structures in Tampere Tampereen Pallo-Veikot Sports venues completed in 1931 1931 establishments in Finland {{Finland-sports-venue-stub