Ground: Intility Arena

Visits: 1

Date: 10th April 2022

Match: Vålerenga - Haugesund  2-2  (Tippeligaen)

Attendance: 6 680

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The match I was looking forward to the most on this tour was Vålerenga v Haugesund at Intility Arena. Having been to Grorud v Fredrikstad at 15.00 I was pleased to be outside the Intility Arena at 17.35. There were less people than I anticipated and no queue at my entrance gate. Being a bit hungry I purchased a pizza slice before finding my seat in the main stand. In 2009 I visited Oslo for the first time in my life and back then Vålerenga played at Ullevål Stadion. Since World War II Vålerenga has played at Bislett and Ullevål but in September 2017 they could finally move to a home of their own, the newly built Intility Arena. The ground has a capacity of around 16,500 and is a proper home for a club like Vålerenga. The end stand to my right is where the most loyal and vocal home fans are situated and that guaranteed a nice experience for me.

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The beautiful hymn/song about the fire at Vålerenga kjerke (1979) is played before every home match and it must be one of the best songs being played inside a football ground. A nice tifo was also presented by the Vålerenga fans and they then gave the team a good support throughout the match. Vålerenga had a cracking start to this game and after only five minutes they were 2-0 up. Haugesund pulled a goal back before half-time though, 2-1 after the 1st half. The 2nd half was not as entertaining as the first 45 minutes and Vålerenga´s first home match in 2022 ended 2-1

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In 2009 almost 10,000 visited Ullevål for Vålerenga v Odd. This evening the attendance was just over 6,000 which was both surprising and a bit disappointing. Hopefully more fans will turn up later on in the season and give Vålerenga the support they deserve. I still had a great day out though and once back at my hotel I could relax in the bar.

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South Stand, rear​

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Intility Arena​

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North Stand, rear

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Map​

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Players and officials entering​

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Hymn​

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Kick-off​

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Haugesund fans​

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View of play​

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East Stand​

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View of play​

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South Stand​

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TIFO

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​Vålerenga fans​

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Pano​