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Coordinates: 55°42′08.89″N 12°34′19.93″E / 55.7024694°N 12.5722028°E / 55.7024694; 12.5722028

Parken

UEFA Elite stadium
Location	Øster Allé 50 DK-2100 København Ø, Denmark
Broke ground	1990
Opened	9 September 1992
Renovated	2009 (ongoing)[1]
Owner	Parken Sport & Entertainment
Operator	Parken Sport & Entertainment
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	640,000,000 DKK (85,300,000 €)
Architect	Gert Andersson
Capacity	38,050 (allseater)
Field dimensions	105 x 68 m (114.8 x 74.3 yds)
Tenants
F.C. Copenhagen Denmark

Parken Stadium (English: the Park) is a football stadium in the Indre Østerbro (Inner Østerbro) district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from 1990-1992. It currently has a capacity of 38,050 for football games, and is the home ground of F.C. Copenhagen and the Danish national football team. 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 center-stage setup.

History

Parken Stadium field

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 qualification loss to Yugoslavia on November 14 1990, and on September 9 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 in turn of the guarantee from the Danish Football Association, 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 was included in UEFA's list of 4-star stadiums in the fall of 1993, making Parken eligible for hosting the finals of the 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 June 2 2007, Parken was the venue for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier fan attack.

Notable matches

Concert venue

Parken is also used as a concert venue, and 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.

Musicians like Madonna, Britney Spears, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Celine Dion, Tiesto, Depeche Mode, The Rolling Stones, U2, Robbie Williams, George Michael, R.E.M., Metallica, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson have performed at Parken. Eminem was scheduled to perform at Parken in 2005, but he cancelled his Europe-tour. The biggest concert ever held in Parken was a performance by Justin Timberlake on June 23, 2007, during his FutureSex/LoveShow tour, with 55,000 tickets sold. Madonna is set to perform at Parken on August 11, 2009, with 50,000 tickets sold. Muse is set to perform on October 26 2009. Once a year, the TV channel TV 2 Zulu organizes a big concert, Zulu Rocks. In 2006, The Black Eyed Peas, Pet Shop Boys, Kashmir, Pharrell and Mew performed.

See also

• Speedway Grand Prix of Denmark

Notes

External links

• Official website
• Tourist info from copenhagen.com
• Stadium Guide Article

Speedway Grand Prix events in Denmark Danish and Nordic Speedway Grands Prix Copenhagen Danish 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 · 2010 Vojens Danish 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 Nordic 2009 · 2010