After playing an away match at both Tele2 arena and Friends arena in a short time, IFK Gothenburg’s Gustav Svensson states that it is clear that the quality of the Allsvenskan stadiums’ plans in Sweden’s capital needs to be reviewed.
Large dark spots were visible on the pitch at Friends Arena, whose surface was soft and uneven. However, after the match ended 2-2, few wanted to blame the effort on the substandard grass.
Svensson was not impressed by the quality of the grass and stated: ‘It is clear that it is under all criticism that the national arena should have such bad grass. Although I think it was better than what was initially thought it would be, it is still under all criticism that it should look like that.’
Just over ten years ago, Råsunda was demolished and AIK moved to the then newly built concert and multi-sport arena Friends arena. In roughly the same vein, Tele2 arena became the new home for Hammarby and Djurgården which also featured artificial grass.
The reason why the pitch at Friends was completely unrolled in this case was last week’s two Beyoncé concerts at the same venue. A few weeks ago, IFK Göteborg also visited Tele2 arena and got to experience another heavily criticized pitch.
What is it like to come to Stockholm when it is this quality that counts? Svensson replied: ‘The focus is probably on other things in Stockholm. No clue. We have an arena in Gothenburg (Gamla Ullevi) where we play three teams plus the women’s national team. This year I think it was quite okay. We do a better job there than what is done here in Stockholm anyway.’
