# Sundby Idrætspark

Sundby Idrætspark is a sports complex, that consists of a combined association football and athletics stadium (referred to as Sundby Stadium), three sports halls, tennis courts (clay and synthetic), and a swimming hall (referred to as Sundby Bad), located in the district of Amager Vest, Copenhagen. As of May 2019, the stadium's total capacity of approximately 7,200 spectators, with 2,500 seatings at the main grand stand stretching along one side of the pitch, makes the exhibition field among the 25th largest football stadiums in Denmark. Since the establishment of the facilities in 1922, it has been expanded over the years.
It is the home ground of the association football clubs BK Fremad Amager, B 1908 and Sundby BK, hosting the first senior women's team of Sundby BK in the seasons 2021–22 and 2022–23, and have previously hosted BK Standard (1923–1946) and the professional superstructure FC Amager (2008–2009). Other tenants include the athletic club IF Gullfoss, the volleyball club Amager VK, the floorball club Hafnia FC, the tennis club Sundby TK, the badminton club Sundby KFUM BC, and the handball club Amager SK.
The first international rugby match in Denmark was played between on 19 November 1950 at the stadium of Sundby Idrætspark. The grass fields of the sports complex hosted the preliminary rounds of the 2015 World Archery Championships.

## History

Following industrialization in the early 20th century, a new approach to urban planning emerged. This movement focused on providing light and air in housing developments, ensuring that workers – the emerging social class – could enjoy green spaces and engage in outdoor activities close to their homes. The land located in the triangular area between Irlandsvej, Englandsvej, and Sundbyvestervej was originally part of the outlying farm known as Bastiansminde — the farm buildings located in the south-western corner were later demolished. As part of the urban development of Sundby, the Municipality of Copenhagen acquired the area in 1923 to create both a park and recreational facilities, which eventually led to the establishment of the nearly three-hectare large Sundbyvester Park (commonly known as Englandsparken, or Irlandsparken) and Sundby Idrætspark covering over 150,000 m², of which approximately 7,000 m² is building area. The sports complex was established initially in the years 1923 and 1924 by the City of Copenhagen and transferred to the independent institute Københavns Idrætspark in 1925 for management and development.
The stadium, referred to as Sundby Stadium, was inaugurated on 10 September 1922 with an association football match between the two then best ranking Amager-based teams, BK Fremad Amager and B 1908 in front of a sizeable crowd — a silver trophy donated by wholesaler O. P. Jansen for the occasion was won by B 1908. At the inauguration in September 1922, the sport's facility, with the entrance located at Englandsvej, consisted of 5 football fields, with one of these fields being specifically fenced and designated for tournament matches. The first match was played at one of the smaller fields rather than the main field, because it was not ready for use. An actual exhibition field was inaugurated with an association football match on 26 April 1925 between a representative team for island of Amager and B 1903. The sports complex now consisted of an exhibition field and four football fields.
Sundby Idrætspark would soon house a stadium with a wooden grandstand, sports hall (the first being known as Sundbyhallen, for badminton), and tennis fields, that would become covered. The oldest sports hall (hall 1), next to the exhibition field, was designed by architects Arthur Wittmaack and Vilhelm Hvalsøe. At the corner of Irlandsvej and Sundbyvestervej a school was built, Højdevangens Skole, designed by architect Kai Gottlob. Sundbyhallen was used the German during the occupation of Denmark in World War II, and got devastated by sabotage and fire on 20 June 1943, and was again destroyed by fire on 23 April 1956, but this time the ignition of a combustible wall cladding was likely caused by a fault in the electrical installation. An outdoor swimming pool was initially constructed next to the school, which eventually evolved into the facility known as Sundby Bad after buildings were added. The facility was officially inaugurated in 1966. In 1990, the third hall (hall 3) was constructed.
The dismantling of the old wooden grandstand was begun in August 1974 to make way for a new grandstand at a cost of DKK 4,200,000. In 1994, a minor renovation and improvement of spectator facilities were carried out at a cost of DKK 300,000 .
A budget of DKK 10 million was designated for the stadium's renovation, which was started in 2014 and successfully completed in 2016. The grand stand is reported to have 1,958 seatings. Between June and August 2018, the track of the exhibition venue was converted to Finnish-made MRTX Ultra artificial turf with built-in heating and watering, replacing the origional natural grass. Between August and December of 2018, four 40-meter floodlight masts of 1,000 lux were installed at the exhibition field, enabling the broadcasting of televised evening matches from the Danish Superliga — additionally one 24-meter mast and one 20-meter mast delivers a 250 lux LED lighting system meant for training sessions. In the Danish Women's 2nd Division match of the 2024–25 season, on 21 September 2024 Sundby BK Women faced F.C. Copenhagen Women in front of 1,451 spectators, setting a new record for the largest crowd attendance at a women's club football game at the stadium.
B.93's last league match of the 2021–22 season on 11 June 2022 against Hillerød Fodbold was played at Sundby Idrætspark due to an overbooking error. B.93 started playing their home matches temporarily at Sundby Idrætspark beginning from 22 November 2024 due to the renovation of Østerbro Stadium — the first match being against Hobro IK in the 17th round of the Danish 1st Division. Hence, during the last part of the 2024–25, the main exhibition field would host league home matches for teams across the second tier (B.93), third tier (BK Fremad Amager), fourth tier (Sundby BK), and fifth tier (B 1908).

## Facilities

The grand stand houses dressing rooms and press facilities. On the opposite side of the main stand there is a wooden terrace nicknamed as the Sunny Side. There are also a couple of smaller terraces at one end of the ground.

## Footnotes

* 1 2 Englandsvej was called Kirkevej until 1901. When the Sundby districts were incorporated into the Copenhagen Municipality in 1902, many street names had to be changed because identical names already existed within the municipality. Sundbyvestervej was previously known as Møllevej until 1928, while the westernmost part of the road was called Rembrandts Allé until 1929.