The Gammliavallen Stadium

The Gammliavallen, which was inaugurated in 1925, is now much more than just a football ground; it is a multisport complex that hosts not only football matches, but also swimming and athletics meetings. It is, however, the Umea IK men and women’s football teams that pull in the supporters. A men’s game between Umea and IFK Goteborg, in 1996, drew a crowd of 12,127 - the highest ever attendance at the stadium. One noteworthy fact about the ground is the pitch. Grass was laid in 2003, when it was used for the first leg of the Women’s UEFA Cup final. However, later the same year, the local council decided to replace it with artificial turf. This was deemed necessary because of the cold northern Swedish climate, and led to UEFA decreeing that Umea could only host European games at the Gammliavallen if opponents agreed to play there. FIFA finally gave the Gammliavallen a ‘one-star’ rating in 2007, which was ratified by UEFA for a three-year period and means that Umea IK are able use their home ground in competition finals.