Molde FK - Stadium

Stadium

Main article: Aker Stadion See also: Molde Idrettspark

Molde's current stadium is the Aker Stadion, formerly known as "Molde Stadion", located at Reknes, by the seashore of central Molde. The NOK 212 million cost was mostly paid for by investor Kjell Inge Røkke, after whom the ground has been nicknamed "Røkkeløkka". The official name of the new stadium was Molde Stadion until 3 May 2006, when the stadium name changed to Aker Stadion following a sponsorship deal with Røkke's company Aker. The stadium was inaugurated on 18 April 1998, when the stadium was officially opened by Prime Minister and Molde-fan Kjell Magne Bondevik. In the opening match, Molde beat Lillestrøm 4–0 in their first home game of the season, attracting 13,010 spectators. Tommy Berntsen scored the first goal on Aker Stadion with an own goal, while Daniel Berg Hestad was the first Molde-player to score a goal on the new stadium. The all-time spectator record was set on 26 September, when Molde hosted Rosenborg in front of 13,308 people. When Molde qualified for the 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League group stage the stadium was converted to an all-seater, with seats being installed on the lower sections of the short end stands. This reduced the attendance capacity permanently, because the club chose to not remove the seats afterwards. Today the capacity of Aker Stadion is 11,800.

Before moving to Aker Stadion in the beginning of the 1998 season, Molde had been playing their home games at Molde Idrettspark (at the time called Molde stadion, and Gamle Molde stadion since 1998), a municipal-owned multi-use venue, since 1955. Gamle Molde stadion was inaugurated on 28 August 1955, when Kristiansund was beaten by 1-0. About 2,500 spectators attended the inaugural match. The first top-tier league match was played here on 28 July 1957, when Molde managed a 1-1 draw against Sandefjord in the first round of 1957–58 Norwegian Main League. When Molde earned a promotion to the 1974 Norwegian First Division, the main stand got expanded. The unsurpassed record attendance at Gamle Molde stadion was 14,615 in a match against Moss in 1987 Today Molde Idrettspark is used by Træff and Molde 2.

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