Friends Arena (Stockholm)

Friends Arena, also known as Nationalarenan, is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium in Stockholm, Sweden. Located next to the lake Råstasjön in Solna, just north of the City Centre, it is the biggest stadium in Scandinavia. Since its opening, the venue has served as Sweden’s national stadium for men’s football, hence its name.

The main tenants of the stadium are Sweden’s men’s national football team and Allsvenskan football club AIK; both relocated from their previous home at the Råsunda Stadium. The venue has a total capacity of 65,000 at concerts and 50,000 seated at football matches, but the stadium can be scaled down to provide for smaller events with approximately 20,000 guests.

General information

Official website: https://www.friendsarena.se/

Arena capacity: 54,329 spectators

Address: Råsta Strandväg 1, 169 56 Solna, Sweden

GPS coordinates for the navigator: 59°22′21″N 18°00′00″E

Year of construction: 2009–2012

Construction cost: 2.8 billion SEK (€300 million)

Field: 105 x 68

Seating plan of Friends Arena

The Friends Arena is built in a ‘bowl’ style of continuous seating that is quite popular with modern European stadia. It is in contrast to the more traditional style of stadium that has four separate and distinct stands on each side of the pitch. There are essentially three levels to the arena with the lower and upper tier separated on three of the sides by hospitality seating. On the fourth side is an extra row of standard seating.

When choosing a place in the stadium, use the Friends Arena scheme above.

Where to buy tickets?

AIK Fotboll Ticket Prices

It is also often quite tricky to narrow down the prices you’ll find for foreign team’s matches. Unless they are particularly popular with an English audience, like Real Madrid or Barcelona for example, you’ll struggle to get information about how much tickets cost and so on.

When it comes to AIK Fotboll what we can tell you is that there are several different areas within the ground for different sections of the supporter base. As well as the normal main stands there are also unreserved areas where pricing is slightly cheaper. There are two different family sections and there’s also an area exclusively for eleven to sixteen-year-olds. Finally, there is also a selection of Premium tickets available for those that enjoy a more hospitable match going experience.

How to get Aik Fotboll Tickets

For AIK Fotboll the situation is a little bit easier. Your first port of call should definitely be the club’s official website, which is easy to navigate if you can speak Swedish. You can also call the club’s ticket office or drop into the stadium itself. Finally, there is a club shop located at Dalvägen 30 in Stockholm and tickets are available for purchase from there, too.

Sweden Ticket Prices

Writing about ticket prices for national sides is always tricky. That’s because the people responsible for deciding the prices change from game to game. If it’s an international friendly then you’ll normally find that the country’s own Football Association comes up with pricing for tickets. If it’s a World Cup qualifier or a European Championship game then you might find that the prices have been influenced by FIFA and UEFA accordingly.

You’ll also find that ticket prices change depending on where in the ground you’d like to sit and how old you are. To give you something of an example, when Sweden took on Belarus in a World Cup Qualifying game the ticket prices ranged from 200 Kr. to 500 Kr. This does not include any specific hospitality prices that may also have been available.

How to get Sweden Tickets

Again, much like with the pricing the decision of who is in charge of selling the tickets depends very much on who is organizing the match. You might need to turn to UEFA or FIFA, though most commonly you’ll be able to get hold of a ticket for a Sweden match from the Swedish Football Association.

How to get there?

Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and is therefore reasonably easy to reach, with plentiful options available to you. Here are some ways you might want to get there and to the ground itself.

Commuter train

Take commuter and get off at Solna station. The travel time is 7 minutes from Stockholm City and 4 minutes from Stockholm Odenplan. Take the north exit from the train station and the Arena is a 10-minute walk.

After an event you get to Solna station via Evenemangsgatan, or across Signalbron bridge, via Kolonnvägen on the other side of the railway. If you are heading north walk to commuter train station Ulriksdal via Signalbron bridge (at Quality Hotel Friends) and Kolonnvägen.

For big events, transport provider SL puts on extra trains for before and after the event.

Metro

Take the blue line, number 11 metro and get off at metro station Solna centrum or Näckrosen. Travel time is around 10 minutes from T-centralen metro station.

The walk from Näckrosen station (1.4km) takes round 15 minutes, while Solna centrum station (1.7km) is a 20-minute walk.

SL is responsible for the number of metro trains running in connection with events.

The tram also serves Solna centrum and the south entrance to commuter train station Solna station.

Bus

Get off at bus stop ‘Arenan’ or commuter train station Solna station.

Plan your trip with SL Travel Planner and enter Friends Arena as your destination for the easiest way to get to the Arena by bus.

SL is responsible for the running of buses in connection with events.

Car

Public transport is the most convenient and greenest way of getting to and from the Arena.

Taxi

Allow yourself plenty of time to get to the Arena if you are taking a taxi. At big events, many people are trying to get to and from the same place, at the same time, and there can be traffic jams in the vicinity of the Arena.

There are usually plenty of taxis at the taxi rank at Evenemangsgatan, below the Mall of Scandinavia. You cannot book these taxis in advance. The taxi rank is run by Parkman.

A taxi from Stockholm Central to the ground will cost you about 190 Kr. and will take about fifteen minutes to complete its journey.

Parking near Friends Arena

There’s no official parking near the stadium and limited car parking spaces around it. You can try, but your best bet might be public transport if you don’t know where you’re going.

If you opt to bring your car we advise you to park well away from the Arena and walk, or use public transport for the rest of the way. Especially at big events, you can park at a commuter train station and take the train or bus the rest of the way.

The Mall of Scandinavia has 3,700 parking spaces in its parking lot, but it fills up very quickly when the mall is busy and on days when we host events.

For more information on parking spaces visit arenastaden.se.

Friends Arena Hotels

As the capital of Sweden it’s reasonably fair to say that Stockholm is used to welcoming visitors. There are a number of hotels that you might want to stay at, of which these are our favourites.

Park Inn by Radisson Solna — £65+

Hotellgatan 11, Solna, 17125

This member of the Park Inn chain of hotels is located about a mile from the ground and boasts two restaurants and the same number of bars. There’s free Wi-Fi and a buffet breakfast included in the price of your stay and a fitness centre, a conference centre and a terraced area.

Quality Hotel Friends — £85+

Råsta Strandväg 1, Solna, 169 56

The Quality hotel is practically located at the stadium itself, so you can’t go too far wrong if you’re looking for somewhere to stay before watching a match. It has three restaurants and offers free Wi-Fi, a buffet breakfast, a fitness centre, a business centre and a conference space.

Story Hotel Signalfabriken — £95+

Sundbybergs Torg 1, Sundbyberg, 172 67

This 4-star hotel offers a buffet breakfast as part of your room package as well as free Wi-Fi. There’s a restaurant and a lounge and there are less than 100 rooms, so you know you’ll get a reasonably personalised experience. It’s about half an hour away from Friends Arena on foot.

Pubs & Bars Near Friends Arena

The Swedish love a drink as much as the next nationality, with the Scandinavian country suffering from a bit of nippy weather from time to time meaning they need to have a drink to keep warm… Here are some places you might like to visit.

Carlsberg Bar

Råsta Strandväg, 169 56, Solna

Carlsberg might not be Swedish but it is one of Scandinavia’s most famous alcoholic exports. Little wonder, therefore, that there’s a bar in its name located within the stadium itself. It’s called Bistro 1847 when it’s not been turned into the bar, so you’ll be able to get some decent food and drink there before the match.

The Flying Horse

Odengatan 44, 113 51, Stockholm

The Flying Horse is not far from the centre of Stockholm, so you’ll want to have a drink here before making your way out to the ground. It’s a traditional style pub that boasts more than 100 beers and about 120 whiskeys. Not somewhere to pop in just for a quick pint! They show sport on big screens, though, so if there’s a match you fancy watching then this is the place to be.

The Dubliner

Holländargatan 1, 111 36, Stockholm

There are times when it feels like a stadium guide in a foreign country wouldn’t be complete unless it contained a reference to an Irish bar. They are homes from home and a great place to go, with The Dubliner being no exception. Obviously it’s an Irish-themed bar, though it has a Swedish twist. The food is great, they show live sport and you can catch some live music there, too. What more do you want?

Facilities

Having only opened in 2012 it’s reasonably fair to say that the Friends Arena is one of the best and most well equipped stadiums in Sweden. The views are excellent from all over the place and you can get food and drink from the concourses before and during football matches and concerts.

The stadium has a retractable roof, enabling events to take place during the winter season and to host indoor entertainment shows. The facade of the arena can be lit up in 17 million different color schemes. For example, the stadium is lit up in blue and yellow when Sweden’s national team is playing matches.

Friends Arena is an UEFA Category 4 stadium, and the natural turf pitch measures 105 x 68 metres. In the middle of the stadium roof, a 240 square metres big media cube is placed where the attendance can follow what is happening. In addition, 647 LED-screens are installed throughout the facility to enhance the guest experience.

Hospitality

Three-quarters of the stadium has a hospitality level in between the top and lower tiers. The hospitality packages are run by Lagardère Sports, an international company that specializes in such things. There are numerous restaurants throughout the arena as well as Skyboxes for those who enjoy a more private experience.

If you’re interesting in finding out about the hospitality lounges that are present at Friends Arena then we can give you some information. Perhaps the West Lounge will pique your interest, with a three-course meal served at your table from an open kitchen. Or maybe the more relaxed environment of the East Lounge is more your thing. Either way you’re in for a brilliant evening.

Private hire

There are rooms and spaces for events of virtually any size. Obviously football matches are played in the arena on a regular basis, but do you know it is used for equestrian events? It’s also the location for concerts by bands and musicians. You’ll probably be most interested in the conferences and business meetings that take place there, however, and the stadium certainly has the facilities to welcome whatever event you’d like to host.

History

Initially there were plans to build a new national stadium close to the indoor venue Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, but on 1 April 2006 the Swedish Football Association (SvFF) made the decision to build the new stadium in Solna. It was calculated to cost around 1.9 billion kronor (202 million euro) to complete.

The estimated cost before construction had begun was 2.3 billion kronor. It replaced Råsunda Stadium, Sweden’s former national arena for football. Råsunda was torn down and replaced by some 700 flats and office buildings, making it the first stadium that hosted a FIFA World Cup to ever have been torn down.

While the arena was originally to be known as Swedbank Arena, Swedbank announced in 2012 that it would donate its naming rights to Friends, a nonprofit organization against school bullying of which Swedbank is a sponsor. Consequently, the stadium was renamed Friends Arena.