The KMC Football Stadium, also known as the CDGK Stadium, is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

stadium in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

, with a capacity of 15,000. It belongs to the Karachi Municipal Corporation. It is one of the oldest stadiums in the country, and has hosted over 100 international football matches for

, along with teams from

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, China,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, Japan,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

touring the stadium.

History

Early years

The stadium was built before the partition of British Raj, as a piece of barren land surrounded by a 12 ft wall. In 1956, in a match featuring Keamari Union against Baloch XI, the pavilion collapsed with close to 100 people getting injured. The then commissioner of Karachi, Ghulam Ahmed Madni visited the ground after the tragedy, being instructed by the president of Pakistan Ayub Khan, to start the renovation work in 1962. Ayub Khan with the KMC football team

The stadium also had their own club called KMC football team, which was formed in the same decade in which the venue was established.

1968–2000

In 1968, the stadium hosted its first tournament, which featured teams from former

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...

. During the 1960s, many foreign teams toured Karachi for friendly matches, including China in 1963,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

in 1964, FC Neftyanik from the USSR in November 1964, along with some youth teams from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. The area possessed a unique footballing identity which was born in the slums of

Orangi Orangi ( sd, اورنگي, ur, ) is a municipality approximately in an area that forms much of the northwestern part of Karachi, Pakistan. When grouped with the neighboring municipality of Baldia Town, the Orangi-Baldia population is estimat ...

Landhi Landhi ( ur, ) is a residential neighbourhood and an industrial municipality in the eastern part of Karachi, Pakistan. It is bordered by the Faisal Cantonment and Shah Faisal Colony to the north across the Malir River, Bin Qasim Port to the s ...

, Korangi,

Malir Malir Town ( sd, ملير ٽائون, ur, ) lies in the northern part of the city that was named after the Malir River. History Administrative status 2000 The federal government under introduced local government reforms in the year 2 ...

and

Lyari Lyari (Urdu: ; sd, لیاري) is a historic locality in Karachi, Pakistan. It is the most densely-populated part of Karachi, and is one of its earliest settled areas.Sarwat Viqar (2014) Constructing Lyari: place, governance and identity in a Kar ...

, dominated by players from the

Sheedi The Siddi (), also known as the Sheedi, Sidi, or Siddhi, or Habshi are an ethnic group inhabiting India and Pakistan. They are primarily descended from the Bantu peoples of the Zanj coast in Southeast Africa and Ethiopia, most whom arrived t ...

and Makrani communities.

2001–Present

The venue hosted the 2009 national league's football final, with 15,000 people in attendance.

Karachi United Karachi United Football Club is a Pakistani professional football club based in Clifton, Karachi. Karachi United competed in the Karachi Football League, one of the top leagues of Karachi. It currently competes in the Pakistan Premier League, ...

, the first Pakistani football club with almost 100,000 followers on Facebook, use the stadium for some games. FC Karachi also use the stadium for some of their home games. KMC is one of the two venues for the 2021 National Women Football Championship.

External links

Stadium picture

References