Östers IF

Ground: Myresjöhus Arena

Visits: 1

Date: 3rd September 2012

Match: Öster - Värnamo 1-1 (Superettan)

Attendance: 12 173

In September 2012 Östers IF moved from Värendsvallen to the newly built Myresjöhus Arena. Myresjöhus Arena was built on the site of Gamla Värendsvallen (next to Värendsvallen) and has a capacity of 12 200. With Värendsvallen being old and out-dated there had been talks about a new ground for several years but when Sweden were awarded the 2013 Women European Championships things started to happen in Växjö and in March 2011 buildings works could start. 18 months later the new stadium was ready.

The first match was to be the derby against Värnamo and in early June I was contacted by Henrik from Vetlanda who asked me if I was coming to the opening match. He said tickets were running-out and I phoned the club to find out more. I was told more than 10 000 tickets had been sold! I quickly bought two tickets though and was looking forward to a sold-out opening match. The match was played on a Monday evening and straight after work I made the 90 minute journey to Växjö. As I arrived there were already plenty of fans outside the ground and this was clearly a very big day for Östers IF. Being built by Myresjöhus the ground has a lot of wooden structures and looks quite nice from the outside. I was inside the ground 90 minutes before kick-off and was quite impressed with the ground. It feels new and fresh and a bit different. There is a gap between the roof and the stands though and on windy day in April the ground might be a bit cold. Anyway, Öster could at 19.20 finally kick-off at Myresjöhus Arena and as leaders of Superettan they started well but they couldn´t find the net. In the second half Värnamo had some decent chances but the match was not of the highest quality. Öster then finally scored and the atmosphere was for a while worthy of an opening match. Värnamo equalised though and the first match at Myresjöhus Arena finished 1-1, a fair result if you ask me. Öster will most likely play in Allsvenskan next year and with this new ground the future for the club looks very bright.

Pictures from Värendsvallen can be found at: Värendsvallen.

During the winter months Öster play at Tipshallen

south stand, rear