page_title: Åråsen Stadion
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Åråsen Stadion / History
caption_attribution_description: Åråsen stadion in Kjeller/Lillestrøm, Norway. Taken by me on March 25, 2006 and cropped/resized.
context_page_description: The Åråsen Stadion, officially written Åråsen stadion, is an all-seater football stadium located in Lillestrøm, a city east of Oslo in Skedsmo, Norway. With a capacity of 11,500 spectators, the venue is the home of the 1.divisjon side Lillestrøm SK. The stadium has four stands, of which the West Stand has luxury boxes and club seating for 700. Because of the stadium's proximity to Kjeller Airport, it has retractable floodlights. The record attendance of 13,652 dates from 2002. In addition to league, cup and UEFA Cup matches for LSK, the venue has been used for one Strømmen IF top-league match in 1986, the UEFA Women's Euro 1997, eight other Norway women's national football team matches, the 2002 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship, and seven Norway national under-21 football team matches.
  LSK started purchasing land for their own stadium in 1947, having previously played at Lillestrøm Stadion. Construction started in 1950 and Åråsen opened on 7 July 1951, having cost 150,000 Norwegian krone. The grandstand was supplemented with a second stand in 1960. On 7 April 1967, the stadium burned down, but was rebuilt by September 1968.
context_section_description: Lillestrøm SK originally used Jenseberg Stadion in Strømmen for their matches, as there was no suitable stadium in Lillestrøm. On 6 June 1920, the municipality opened Lillestrøm Stadion, where Lillestrøm SK moved their matches. In 1930, the club started working on plans for their own stadium. Led by the chairman Erling Nicolaysen, a stadium fund was established, which grew to NOK 200. However, during the Second World War, the club's funds eradicated.
  On 2 June 1947, the club's board appointed a committee to work with the stadium issue. They determined that the area Sørumsbrenna, part of a farm belonging to Knut Sørum, was the ideal location, despite it being fallow and scrub on a marsh. Holthe og Ahlsen made plans for developing the 4.5-hectare (11-acre) lot. The purchase was approved by the club's annual meeting on 29 September. Additional land was bought in 1948 and 1950, raising the area to 7.2 hectares (18 acres).
  Construction was mostly done by volunteers; the building of the stadium required 31,000 man-hours in volunteer work and cost NOK 150,000. After the land was cleared, a layer of mixed sand and earth were laid. The pitch, with the dimensions 108 by 68 meters (118 by 74 yd), was sown in mid-1950. The work also included a grandstand, changing rooms, a watering system and kiosks. The stand could accommodate 2,500 spectators, and the stadium had a total permitted capacity of 6,000 people. The inaugural match was played against Sarpsborg on 7 July 1951 in front of 3,500 spectators. A training pitch beside the stadium pitch opened in 1953. The following year, a new steel entrance was built, following in 1955 with a referees' changing room and administrative offices. In 1959, after eight years of planning, construction of an additional terrace started, which opened in 1960.
  On 7 April 1967, the grandstand caught fire and the entire structure burned down beyond repair. The buildings and stands were subsequently demolished. At the same time, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration proposed that the Fetveien road, which runs to the south of the stadium, should be moved to run through the stadium, which would have required the stadium to be moved. However, the Public Roads Administration abandoned their plans and a building permit was issued. New changing rooms, club house and terraces were completed in September 1968.
  To accommodate increasing interest for the club following good results during the early 1970s, the board approved a new grandstand on the east long side. Construction started in late 1973, with the stand covering two-thirds of the length of the pitch, and opened ahead of the 1974 season with capacity for 1,056 spectators. The club house was expanded to 200 square meters (2,200 sq ft). In 1974, the club won promotion to the First Division, and the new grandstand was extended by 352 seats. On the west side, two wooden and steel standing terraces were built. The expansion was done with help of volunteer work, with 30 to 40 people helping each weekday evening and up to 80 people helping at the weekends.
  The grandstand was moved to the north side and a new grandstand with seating for 3,700 people was opened on the east end in 1978. The new stand was the first in Norway to have plastic seats and is the oldest part of the current stadium. Construction cost NOK 2.8 million, which was largely loan-financed. Between 1980 and 1986, the area under the new grandstand was built to include new changing rooms, meeting rooms, offices and other facilities totaling 1,300 square meters (14,000 sq ft). Some of the office space was rented out.
  After five years of planning, construction of a completely renovated stadium started in February 1999. To finance the stadium, a limited company, Åråsen Stadion AS, was established, and owned by the club, rather than by the limited company which runs the elite team. Only the East Stand from 1978 was kept. In 2000, new grass was laid on the pitch, replacing the original grass from 1950. This included installation of under-soil heating and an automatic irrigation sprinkler system. The ne
caption: The two-tier West Stand, with luxury boxes in the upper tier
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