SlottsskogsvallenGround: Slottsskogsvallen Visits: 1 Date: 21st August 2022 Match: Västra Frölunda - Ullared 2-0 (Division 2 Västra Götaland) Attendance: 140 A few years ago I was on holiday with my girlfriend in Götebotg/Gothenburg and on our way to the Botanical Garden we passed Slottsskogsvallen. The ground is situated in southern Gothenburg and is one of the most beautiful grounds in Sweden. I remember thinking how sad it is that I will never be able to visit Slottskogsvallen for a game of football. Slottskogsvallen was inaugurated in 1923 and in June of that year Sweden played Austria at the new ground. Over the years several world records in athletics were broken at the ground and the ground is nowadays used for athletics only. The record attendance is from a speedway event in 1956 though when 14,770 showed up. Slottskogsvallen has not hosted a game of football since 2006 but suddenly Västra Frölunda IF announced they would play their remaining four home games of the season at Slottsskogsvallen. Ruddalens IP, their home since 1985, is to be redeveloped and for groundhoppers in Sweden this was of course big news. First up was Västra Frölunda v Ullared and I decided to change my plans for the weekend and go to Gothenburg on Sunday afternoon. From Kristianstad it is 3 hours by car to Slottsskogsvallen and arriving 1h 45 min ahead of kick-off I was at the ground earlier than usual. There was pole vault practice going on and the gates were open so I used the opportunity to sneak in. The main stand looks as it did in 1923 when the ground was inaugurated and is absolutely stunning. There are plenty of pillars obstructing the view and the pitch is quite far from the stand but still one of my best ever grounds visits in Sweden. The Swedish groundhopping community is not that big but as kick-off approached several familiar faces could be seen entering Slottsskogsvallen. The total attendance was around 130 and 10 of those belonged to the extended groundhopping community. On the pitch Västra Frölunda dominated and deservedly won 2-0. Ullared are fighting to avoid relegation and Västra Frölunda are now five points from a promotion spot. It felt special to finally tick off Slottsskogsvallen and for the other home games I am convinced there will be several foreign groundhoppers in the crowd. ![]() West Stand West Stand West Stand West Stand A closer look... North End East Stand East Stand Tower South Stand South and West Stands View from the tunnel Players and officials entering Kick-off View of play View of play West Stand Penalty, Västra Frölunda (scored) Pano |