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Svangaskard – The Traditional National Stadium of the Faroe Islands

During my trip to the Faroe Islands in December 2023, KI Klaksvik made me see my first match at the Torsvollur National Stadium. While that stadium in the heart of the capital Torshavn, the first approved soccer national stadium has been the Svangaskard (or, precisely, Svangaskarð) Stadium in Toftir. The Faroese national team played their all of their home matches in there from 1992 to 1999, I visited the site during my trip.

 

Svangaskard – Location & Transport

The stadium is located in the very North of Toftir, which is one of the Southernmost cities of the islands of Eysturoy. Nowadays, using the Eysturoyartunnilin toll tunnel, Torsvollur and Svangaskard are just a 17km drive apart. However, before the opening of the tunnel (or: without paying tolls nowadays), it has been a 65km / one hour drive between the two locations. There are two stadiums at Svangaskard, the smaller stadium can also be used for athletics and is also used by a nearby school. Both stadiums are located on a hill you have a lovely view over Skalafjordur (Skala Fjord) from there.

There is the possibility to reach Toftir by bus. Bus line 440 conects the city with Skalabotnur, from where you can transfer to Torshavn, Klaskvik and other destinations. Bus 440 is operating rather frequently, about once an hour. In general, it is very preferable in my point of view to drive around the islands by rental car. The directions to the stadium are well posted.

 

Views of Svangaskard

Svangaskard has been built with a capacity of 6,000 people. Nowadays, the pitch is back to artificial turf, the typical surface of Faroese soccer fields. However, in the early 1990’s, it was a natural grass stadium in order to comply with FIFA regulations. Until today, the last men’s senior national team match held there was a 2-0 victory vs. Estonia on 7th June 2011. However, the stadium is still frequently used nowadays – it is the home ground of B68 Toftir, who are also competing in the Betri Deildin, the premier division of the Faroe Islands.

Nowadays. the stadium is typically not operating at its full capacity any more. Nonetheless, even in early December, the artificial turf ground is a real beauty. You see the lovely stands on both sights, which are still very well maintained. There are stands on all four sides and a scoreboard / screen at the West end of the stadium. This part of the stadium is likely also the most picturesque when you are not that much into soccer: the ranks behind the goal on that side are solely a standing area – therefor, if you walk to the very highest row, you have an amazing view. In December, sunrise and sunset are really close to each other in this part of the world – I really loved to explore that ground.

 

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