Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Shillong)

Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, locally known as Polo Ground, is a football stadium in Shillong, Meghalaya, India.[1] It has most notably hosted the home matches of Shillong Lajong FC[2][3] in the I-League. The stadium has a seating capacity of 30,000 spectators.

Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
Polo Ground
Full nameJawaharlal Nehru Stadium
LocationShillong, Meghalaya, India
Coordinates25.579995°N 91.894326°E / 25.579995; 91.894326
Capacity15,000
Field size103.0 M X 67.0 M
SurfaceGrass
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. An artificial turf named Astroturf is laid down in 2012. The stadium predominantly hosted I-League and Shillong Premier League matches.[4][5] 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.[6] 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.[7] Due to this Lajong had to move to another stadium for there 2011–12 I-League matches.[8]

References
  1. "Manipur Footballer David Ngaihte Rocks For Rangdajied United". e-pao.net. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  2. Rangdajied United look to turn tide at home Archived 13 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine blog.cpdfootball.de. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  3. "Rangdajied United vs Bengaluru FC 3 – 2". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 23 April 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  4. "Football: Rangdajied FC ends Shillong Lajong unbeaten run". thenortheasttoday.com. The NorthEast Today. 5 October 2016. Archived from the original on 21 April 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  5. Digital Desk, Sentinel (5 October 2016). "Rangdajied down Lajong". thenortheasttoday.com. Guwahati: The Sentinel Assam. Archived from the original on 21 April 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  6. "English News Headlines: Latest News Today, Breaking News from India & World". Jagran English. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  7. Rahul Bali (17 August 2011). "I-League: Meghalaya Government Sanctions 5.5 Crores For Stadium Renovation – Shillong Lajong's Larsing Ming". www.goal.com. Archived from the original on 8 June 2014.
  8. "JNSC not yet ready, fans to miss live I-League action". The Shillong Times. 20 October 2011. Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2018.


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