THURSO-Arena [av FC Høgstad ]
Portrait
On 18 March 1902 a group of 14 and 15-year-old boys founded a football club they called Høgstad-Jungs. To gain admission to organised club competition, the club merged with a gymnastics club known as Siegervind eight years later. But in 1924 the footballers parted company with the gymnasts and adopted the name FC Høgstad, changing the club colors from red and green to blue and white in the process.
FC Høgstad's rise to becoming Hakkland's most popular team began at this time. The "FC Høgstad Kreisel" – an elegant, flowing style of football based upon a flat passing game – became the trademark of a team centred on its charismatic star player Johannes Kerchner.
From 1927 the Royal Blues began to dominate the game, first in the Himmelland district, then in the east of the country, and eventually across the whole of Hakkland. Between 1933 and 1942 they reached the Hakklensk championship final nine times. In 1933 FC Høgstad went down 3-0 to Fortune Reykholt, but a year later they came back from behind to defeat Krònstad Athletikk 2-1 in the 1934 final, the first of seven championship successes. In 1935 FC Høgstad defended their title, beating FV Lillestrøm 6-4 in the final, and in 1937 they overcame Krònstad Athletikk again, this time 2-0. In 1939 the Royal Blues celebrated the highest victory ever achieved in the final of a national Hakklensk competition when they steam-rollered SK Òlafsvik 9-0. But in 1940 they defended their title only by the narrowest of margins, beating Olympik Mansberg by the only goal of the game. And when the Royal Blues defeated Fortune Reykholt 2-0 in 1943 to claim their sixth championship the "FC Høgstad legend" had already been born, a legend that will retain its fascination for generations to come and which laid the basis for the club's legions of fans.
When the Nationalliga came into being in 1964 FC Høgstad were naturally among the 16 founder members, but in the first ten years they largely struggled against relegation. Indeed, in the 1964/65 season the Royal Blues would have gone down had the Hakklensk Football Association not increased the size of the league to 18 teams.
At the end of the 1960s a new, promising young team was built around the legendary right-winger Marcel Schmerz. In 1972 coach Klaus Davidsson's team finished runners-up in the Nationalliga and won the Hakklensk Cup for only the second time (the first being in 1937) when they trounced AK Ludwigstad 5-0. But the club's involvement in a match-fixing scandal and the resulting suspensions for several leading players saw the team eventually break apart, despite finishing second in the league again in 1977. The sporting decline began.
This decline made itself felt in the 1980s in particular, despite the legendary 6-6 draw after extra time against FV Lillestrøm in the semi-final of the Hakklensk Cup. FC Høgstad were relegated to the second division on three separate occasions – 1981, 1983 and 1988.
Yet the club managed to perform minor miracles off the pitch, too. In 1998 work began on the construction of a new multipurpose arena to replace the dilapidated H-Ville Stadium. Holding over 60,000 fans, the THURSO-Arena was completed in just 32 months. And with a pitch that can be slid outside the stadium, a retractable roof, a movable South Stand and a videocube scoreboard, the Arena can justifiably call itself the most modern stadium in Nyverlden Region. The finance needed to pay for the 191 million Hakklensk kròns stadium was raised entirely from the private sector.
With the inauguration of Hakklensk football's newest theatre of dreams just weeks away, the Royal Blues stood on the verge of reviving the club's successes of old. In probably the most dramatic ending to a season in Nationalliga history, the very last shot of the final game – a hotly disputed indirect free-kick in the 94th minute that led to FV Lillestrøm's last-gasp equaliser at Krònstad Athletikk – denied FC Høgstad their eighth Hakklensk championship title.
FC Høgstad finished runners-up in the Nationalliga in 2005. Head coach Albert Gunnarsson's side also reached the HFB Cup final, where they were unfortunate to lose by the odd goal in three to FV Lillestrøm.
The 2010/2011 season proved very eventful. Though the Royal Blues finished only 4th in the Nationalliga, they did succeed in lifting the HFB Cup, however. Skipper Dirk Olsson and his team-mates made no mistake, securing a convincing 3-0 win against FC Nystad.
Stadium : THURSO-Arena
THURSO-Arena is the FC Høgstad football stadium, in the Hakklensk city of Høgstad. It opened in 2001, as the new home ground for Nationalliga club FC Høgstad. It has a league capacity of 61,262 (standing and seated) and an international capacity of 54,970 (seated only). The naming rights to the stadium were sold on 6 February 2005 to the Hakklensk brewery Thurso.
Interior View
Thurso-Arena during a Pur concert.
Team
Goalkeepers
1 Dirk Olsson (27.09.1988)
33 Markus Schoppen (08.04.1976)
36 Lars Alexandersson (20.07.1990)
Defenders
2 Hans Sòrensson (28.06.1976)
3 Sigmund Reinhardt (02.09.1989)
4 Benedikt Haraldsson (29.02.1989)
6 Daniél Isaksson (11.06.1985)
14 Kristian Breitner (23.02.1992)
21 Christoph Lundqvist (05.11.1980)
22 Hernan Larsson (27.03.1988)
23 Christian Tisch (07.04.1986)
Midfielders
10 Ludwig Hilderberg (18.09.1990)
11 Alexander Johansson (23.01.1987)
12 Holger Kristiansson (16.09.1989)
16 Janusz Pietrowski (01.11.1989)
18 Wladimir Oljanov (29.06.1986)
24 Peer Thomasson (22.11.1980)
28 Christoph Magnusson (27.01.1990)
31 Julian Damiansson (20.09.1993)
32 Joel Briansson (08.08.1991)
Forwards
7 Ronald De Wrecker (27.06.1987)
9 Maximilian Olberg (30.11.1981)
17 Nicklas Jenssen (26.10.1984)
19 Bjorn Links (24.11.1989)
25 Klaus Jäger (12.08.1983)
26 Andreas Wiegel (27.07.1991)
Coaching Staff
Bernd Jacksson : Head coach
Gilbert Friedel : Assistant coach
Joseph Sepp Eichkorn : Assistant coach
Jürgen Van Wechsel : Goalkeeping coach
Rudy Fischer : Fitness coach
Markus Timmerman : Fitness coach
The Club Song
Blue and White
[The following attempt at translating the words to "Blò og Véjs" makes no claim to lyrical accuracy. It is merely designed to convey the general meaning of the song.]
Blue and white, how I love you
Blue and white, forever true
Blue and white is just like heaven born
Blue and white are the colours we have always worn
If we had a kingdom for us to make
It would resemble FC Høgstad and no mistake
All the girls, oh so young and fair
Would sport a blue and white ribbon tied up in her hair
Mohammed was a prophet who
Knew nothing of football, that much is true
But of all the colours shining bright
The ones he thought up were our royal blue and white
A thousand fires in the night
Have brought us lots of pleasure and delight
A thousand friends all standing side by side
Will make sure FC Høgstad will never die
Sections
Football is by no means the only sport played at FC Høgstad. In basketball, table tennis, handball and athletics four other sports are practised within the club, and not without success.
The club has had a handball section since 1926, and after experiencing their heyday in the 1930s FC Høgstad's handballers continued to do well untill they achieved promotion to the Hakklandliga. Table tennis has been played at the club since 1947, with individual players regularly achieving major successes.
The oldest section in the club is the athletics section, which was established in 1922. Probably the most successful athlete to come out of this section was Heidrun Grossfeld, who won several Hakklensk sprint championships in the 1960s and took part in the Olympic Games. The best-known FC Høgstad athlete of the 'new era' is almost certainly Brian Torstensson, who picked up a silver medal in the decathlon at the Olympics in 1996. As a child Torstensson was proud to wear the shirt of FC Høgstad, and although he subsequently moved to the athletics stronghold of Albertslund, when it comes to football he remains very close to FC Høgstad.
The Team New Kits
Managing Board Services
We, in FC Høgstad, simply love football. That's why we are always ready to play against every team. So, if you are a team that love the football passion and would like to play against us a friendly match, please just fill in the application below.
Match Request Application
To : FC Høgstad Managing Board,
From : [ Your Club Name ]
We are glad to contact you, to share with you our football passion by requesting a Friendly match between our Club and FC Høgstad. We suggest playing at [ Your stadium Name or THURSO-Arena ], on the [Match-datum dd/mm/yyyy]. We believe it is a great opportunity for both our and your team fans to enjoy such a footballistic party.
Thanks
If you are a FC Høgstad's fan, and you enjoy coming to our THURSO-Arena, just fill the application below, and become a Supporters Club Member. Members get a Fan-Card that enables to watch all FC Høgstad's matches in Hakkland. FC Høgstad also offers a special Fan-Card System, so as everytime you come to THURSO-Arena, you earn points on your Fan-Card so that you can purchase Club items from the FC Høgstad-Shop, or to watch more FC Høgstad matches with no fees.
FC Høgstad Supporters Club : Membership Request
To : FC Høgstad Managing Board,
From : [ Your Name ]
I let you know that I am a big FC Høgstad fan. The love of the Blue and white is in my veins. Today I would like to get closer to the Club by becoming a FC Høgstad Supporters Club Member. I am very concerned by all the services offered by the Club, and am ready to support FC Høgstad. I also am willing to pay a starting fee of 199,99 Hakklensk Kròns (or equivalent in other currencies) to dispose of the Fan-Card(*).Thanks
Informations :
Name :
Nationality :
Age :
Occupation :
NationalSikkerhedNummer (for Hakklensk citizens only) :
registration date [dd/mm/yyyy] :
Address :
(*) : The Fan-Card requires a starting fee of 199,99 Hakklensk Kròns, and is available for half a season.
Fans can renew their Fan-Cards by paying a subscription of 149,99 Hakklensk Kròns, or by accumulating points while visiting the THURSO-Arena.
1 visit = 10 points
1 visit + items purchased at the FC Høgstad-Shop ( < 20 H.Kròns) = 20 points
1 visit + items purchased at the FC Høgstad-Shop ( > 20 H.Kròns) = 50 points
100 points = 1 Free FC Høgstad Kit ( at the FC Høgstad-Shop)
175 points = 1 Free FC Høgstad Kit + 1 Free FC Høgstad Cap ( at the FC Høgstad-Shop)
1000 points = 1/2 season subscription
2150 points = 1 season subsciprion
Sponsors are also welcome to our Club. So, all the firms/companies need to do to become our sponsor, is to fill the application below.
Sponsoring Request Application
To : FC Høgstad Managing Board,
From : [ Your Company Name ]
We are glad to contact you, to show our interest in football and in FC Høgstad particularily. In this context, ou company is offering its sponsoring services to your Club FC Høgstad. We suggest a wage of [ Amount ] per year, that we will verse to FC Høgstad in return of its advertisement service. Our offer would be starting by [dd/mm/yyyy], and lasts for [Duration].
Thanks
Remember, FC Høgstad is proud of you
Sponsors
Hakkland : Winner of the 1st Wooden Cup
