Karlsrofältet () is a former

football pitch A football pitch or soccer field is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is ty ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. It was the first home ground of

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or Blåvitt, is a Swedish professional Football team, football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it ...

, and was used extensively for grassroots football until the 1950s.

History

The site was originally planned to house the new Sahlgrenska University Hospital, and the municipality bought the land in 1896 for that purpose. The plans were however changed and the land was instead converted to a playground for the planned Änggården garden city. Sports clubs from around the nearby Linnéstaden district also started using the field. One such club was

founded in 1904, who played their first match—a training match between the first and second team of the club—on the field. A memorial stone was raised on the field by IFK Göteborg in 1982 bearing the text "Founded 4-10-1904, Karlsrofältet, This is where IFK started their football career" () and a list of achievements by the club, including the 1982 UEFA Cup victory. The original stone has later been replaced by a new stone with the text "Here on Karlsrofältet, IFK Göteborg played their first football match in 1904" (). The field was renovated in 1906, ensuring correct playing dimensions and regulation goalposts. It was mainly used for training and lower league games—the Gothenburg Football Association used the pitch for some league games from 1907 to 1909—, due to the lack of changing rooms and a very uneven pitch. Karlsrofältet was largely unused for matches during the First World War, but again saw increased use after the war. The short distance to the Annedal Church caused problems when Annedals IS and Haga BK organised a match played during

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

morning service in the early 1920s, which was not allowed at the time. IFK Göteborg stopped using the venue for training in 1910, but returned a final time in 1923 to play the season premiere at Karlsrofältet in front of a crowd of 4,000. Lower league matches continued to be played on the field during the 1930s and 1940s—with reduced activity during the Second World War—, but all official activity was moved from the field in the 1950s due to major traffic rerouting nearby claiming part of the ground, and in 1960 the pitch size was reduced from the previous full-size to seven-a-side measurements, due to further traffic projects in the area.

Citations

References

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External links

IFK Göteborg official website – IFK Göteborgs arenor genom åren
{{IFK Göteborg Football venues in Gothenburg IFK Göteborg 1890s establishments in Sweden Sports venues completed in the 1890s 19th-century establishments in Gothenburg and Bohus County