Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, locally known as Polo Ground, is a football stadium in Shillong, in the Indian state of Meghalaya.[2] It has most notably hosted the home matches of Shillong Lajong FC[3][4] in the I-League. The stadium has a seating capacity of 30,000 spectators.
Polo Ground | |
 | |
| Full name | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium |
|---|---|
| Location | Shillong, Meghalaya, India |
| Coordinates | 25°34′48″N 91°53′40″E / 25.579995°N 91.894326°E |
| Capacity | 30,000[1] |
| Field size | 103.0 x 67.0 m |
| Surface | Grass |
| Tenants | |
| Shillong Premier League Meghalaya State League SSA Women's Football League Meghalaya football team | |
History
The stadium is a two tier stadium with a roof over the main stand. Astroturf was installed in 2012. The stadium predominantly hosted I-League and Shillong Premier League matches.[5][6] Before professional football was played in Shillong, the stadium was created for football and running use. Both sports were played at an amateur level.
In 2009 the football club known as Shillong Lajong F.C. gained promotion to the top-tier of Indian football I-League and as a result started using the Nehru Stadium as there ground. The team regularly drew 30,000 fans for the games.
After relegation the stadium was again used for Lajong games in the I-League 2nd Division for the 2011 Season Final Round. The home field advantage managed to give Lajong promotion back to the I-League and back into fully professional football.
After the 2011 I-League 2nd Division it was announced that a change needed to be done to the pitch at the Nehru Stadium. When the stadium hosted the 2011 2nd Division it drew criticism for how the pitch was very unprepared, it even drew criticism from Indian Football Captain Baichung Bhutia.[7] On 17 August 2011, it was officially announced that the Meghalaya Government had officially given ₹555,000,000 for the stadium renovation and it was commenced.[8] Due to this Lajong had to move to another stadium for there 2011–12 I-League matches.[9]
References
External links
- Stadium information Archived 6 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine