Football fans dismantle stadium for souvenirs
Swedish football fans descended upon the Råsunda stadium in northern Stockholm on Sunday to take home souvenirs before the grounds are officially demolished.
Some 5,000 eager fans turned up with screwdrivers, spades and even drills to claim a part of the Råsunda stadium for themselves after doors opened to the public at 2pm.
Fans took home chairs, fences, and even patches of grass to keep as a memento from the arena, which opened in 1937 and was home to the Swedish national team and Stockholm's AIK.
IMAGES OF THE PLUNDERING AFTER THURSDAY NIGHT’S GAME
Some also looked for more unusual pieces of the historic stadium.
"I was there early and had a goal of trying to find something odd, something extreme," one fan told the Nyheter24 news website.
"The strangest thing I could think of was a urinal."
The man, identified by the pseudonym Lennart, explained that he had a crystal clear plan for bringing the urinal home, but soon realized he'd never thought through how he might use the rather foul-smelling souvenir.
"My wife was not at all impressed," Lennart told the website, adding that one idea they had was to use the urinal as a flower planter.
"But instead my wife said I should put it up on Blocket," he said, referring to the popular Swedish buy-sell website Blocket.se.
"It's coming as is...well used. It's going to reek of piss a bit."
The last game played at the stadium was on Thursday when Napoli spoiled the evening for local fans by beating AIK 2-1.
Råsunda was the first football stadium to ever host both the men’s and women’s World Cup Finals, with the men's in 1958 and the women's in 1995.
Future games will be played at the new Friends Arena in Stockholm
While the dismantling was peaceful and supervised, some fans had already begun taking apart the stadium on Thursday night following the last game and police were called in to restore order.
The Swedish national team's last match at the arena in August also ended in disappointment, with a 3-0 loss to Brazil.
Footballing legend Pelé, who shot to fame at the age of 17 after scoring two goals in Brazil's 5-2 success over Sweden in the 1958 World Cup final, took part in a ceremony before the farewell match.
"Even though the stadium will no longer stand, the name Råsunda will never die," Pelé said at the time.
Video of Stockholm football fans plundering Råsunda for souvenirs
The Local/og
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Some 5,000 eager fans turned up with screwdrivers, spades and even drills to claim a part of the Råsunda stadium for themselves after doors opened to the public at 2pm.
Fans took home chairs, fences, and even patches of grass to keep as a memento from the arena, which opened in 1937 and was home to the Swedish national team and Stockholm's AIK.
IMAGES OF THE PLUNDERING AFTER THURSDAY NIGHT’S GAME
Some also looked for more unusual pieces of the historic stadium.
"I was there early and had a goal of trying to find something odd, something extreme," one fan told the Nyheter24 news website.
"The strangest thing I could think of was a urinal."
The man, identified by the pseudonym Lennart, explained that he had a crystal clear plan for bringing the urinal home, but soon realized he'd never thought through how he might use the rather foul-smelling souvenir.
"My wife was not at all impressed," Lennart told the website, adding that one idea they had was to use the urinal as a flower planter.
"But instead my wife said I should put it up on Blocket," he said, referring to the popular Swedish buy-sell website Blocket.se.
"It's coming as is...well used. It's going to reek of piss a bit."
The last game played at the stadium was on Thursday when Napoli spoiled the evening for local fans by beating AIK 2-1.
Råsunda was the first football stadium to ever host both the men’s and women’s World Cup Finals, with the men's in 1958 and the women's in 1995.
Future games will be played at the new Friends Arena in Stockholm
While the dismantling was peaceful and supervised, some fans had already begun taking apart the stadium on Thursday night following the last game and police were called in to restore order.
The Swedish national team's last match at the arena in August also ended in disappointment, with a 3-0 loss to Brazil.
Footballing legend Pelé, who shot to fame at the age of 17 after scoring two goals in Brazil's 5-2 success over Sweden in the 1958 World Cup final, took part in a ceremony before the farewell match.
"Even though the stadium will no longer stand, the name Råsunda will never die," Pelé said at the time.
Video of Stockholm football fans plundering Råsunda for souvenirs
The Local/og
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