The Aker Stadion (known as Molde Stadion for UEFA competitions and prior to sponsorship) is an all-seater football stadium located at Reknes in Molde, Norway, and is the home of Eliteserien club Molde. The stadium has a current capacity of 11,249 spectators.
The building was designed by architect Kjell Kosberg. It cost , most of which was paid for by club-owner Kjell Inge Røkke—after whom the ground has been nicknamed "Røkkeløkka". The main construction work took place 1997, and the stadium was inaugurated on 18 April 1998 in a league game against Lillestrøm, replacing Molde idrettspark as Molde's home ground. The stadium was nominated for the FIABCI Prix D' Excellence and awarded the City Prize in 1999. The record attendance of 13,308 was set in a league match against Rosenborg in 1998. The same year, the arena hosted its first international match, where Norway beat Saudi Arabia 6–0. The following year, when Molde reached the UEFA Champions League, the stadium was converted to an all-seater, reducing its capacity. Since May 2006, the stadium name has been sponsored by Røkke's company Aker. The grass pitch was replaced with artificial turf in 2014.
History
Since 1955, Molde had been playing their home games at Molde idrettspark (at the time called Molde stadion), a municipal-owned multi-use venue. A new stadium was proposed to be located at the waterfront at Reknes. There were many local protests, including complaints about the size of the structure. Construction of the land fillings and preparation of the construction site started in March 1997, before final approval had been granted by the municipality.
The stadium was inaugurated on 18 April 1998, when the stadium was officially opened by Prime Minister and Molde-fan Kjell Magne Bondevik. In the opening match, Molde beat Lillestrøm 4–0 in their first home game of the season, attracting 13,010 spectators. During the season, this was the match in the country with the most spectators not hosted at Rosenborg's home ground Lerkendal. On 27 May, the arena hosted its first international match, with Norway beating Saudi Arabia 6–0 in a 1998 World Cup friendly. On 11 August, CSKA Sofia visited Molde for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup, for which Molde failed to qualify. The all-time spectator record was set on 26 September, when Molde hosted Rosenborg BK in front of 13,308 people.
During the fall of 1999, Molde played two qualification games for UEFA Champions League at the stadium. Following the aggregated victories over CSKA Moscow and Mallorca, Molde qualified for the group stage, where they played Real Madrid, Porto and Olympiacos. Following entry into Champions League, the stadium was converted to an all-seater, with seats being installed on the lower sections of the short end stands. The reduced the attendance capacity permanently, because the club chose to not remove the seats afterwards.
In 2006, an agreement was made where Røkke's company Aker became the stadium name sponsor, with the stadium being renamed Aker stadion. The same season, the club was relegated to the First Division, where the team played in 2007. Despite the relegation, average attendance increased, and Molde won the league. Since 2008, the team has again played in the top flight.
Molde later entered the UEFA Cup four times (renamed to Europa League in 2010), in 2000–01, 2003–04 and 2006–07, 2010–11, playing a total of eight home games, before they in 2012 again played qualification for the Champions League and Ventspils and Basel visited Aker Stadion. Molde were eliminated by Basel, but managed to qualify for the Europa League group stage and played against Heerenveen, Stuttgart, Steaua Bucuresti and Copenhagen at Aker Stadion. In 2015–16, Ajax, Fenerbahçe and Celtic visited Molde during the Europa League group stage, after they've beaten Standard Liège in the Play-off and before Sevilla came to Aker Stadion in the Round of 32 in February 2016. On 19 November 2013, Aker Stadion hosted its second international match, a friendly Norway were defeated 1–0 by Scotland.