Söderstadion, Sweden (1966–2015)
Hammarby IF Fotboll
The Söderstadion was the home stadium of Hammarby IF for most of its history, between 1966 and 2015. It is the club’s second official stadium, which previously hosted its matches at Johanneshovs IP from 1928 to 1964.
The Söderstadion’s construction project came together in a context of development in the Johanneshov region, with Hammarby IF understanding that their stadium at the time, Johanneshovs IP, was already old and obsolete. It was then decided that the new stadium would be built on the same site as the previous Johanneshovs IP, with a more modern architecture and infrastructure. In 1964, Johanneshovs IP was demolished, and soon after, construction began on the Söderstadion. Construction took 2 years, and on 20 November 1966 the stadium opened with a 6x2 victory for the Swedish national team in a friendly match against the Stockholm City Team.
Over the next few decades, Söderstadion helped Hammarby IF consolidate as an important club on the national scene and hosted the club’s greatest triumphs, such as winning the Swedish Championship, Allsvenskan in 2001, which to this day remains the only national title of the club.
In 2009, Hammarby realized that the Söderstadion was already old by the standards of football at the time. With this, the club saw the opportunity to enter as one of the partners in the construction of the Tele2 Arena, a multipurpose stadium that was to be built in a location a few meters from the old stadium. Hammarby opted to sell the Söderstadion to help finance the works, and the Tele2 Arena was completed in 2013.
On June 23, 2013, Hammarby played their last match at the Söderstadion with a 1x1 draw against Ängelholms FF, in front of an audience of 13,201 people, in a match valid for the 13th round of the Swedish Championship’s second division. In mid-2015, the Söderstadion was demolished, putting an end to the 49-year history.
