Iceland Post has issued a stamp celebrating Melavollur Stadium 100th Anniversary.
The Melavollur Stadium was a sports stadium constructed in 1911 by the Reykjavik Sports Federation in an area called Melar in the western part of Reykjavik. The first tournament which was held there was sponsored by the Iceland Youth Organization (UMFI) on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of President Jon Sigurdsson. Originally the stadium had a 400m race track, a gravel soccer field and facilities for track and field. All Reykjavik sport clubs were able to train and compete at Melavollur for many years.
In 1926 the stadium was damaged in gale force winds and a new, better equipped field was constructed in the same location. The Laugardalur Stadium opened in 1959 which meant that the Melavollur Stadium had concluded its main mission. Still, it continued to serve as a field for various sport events and was, among other things, used as a skating rink in winter.
The Melavollur Stadium was formally shut down in 1984 when the stadium floodlights were moved to the Laugdardalur which by then had been equipped with artificial grass for its soccer field.
