Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Shillong)
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Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium locally known as Polo Ground is a football stadium in
Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the 330th most populous city in India with a ...
,
Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and J ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. It is used mainly for football and has most notably hosted the home matches of
Shillong Lajong FC Shillong Lajong FC (founded as Lajong SC) is an Indian professional football club based in Shillong, Meghalaya, that competes in the Shillong Premier League. The club was established in 1983 with the prime objective of improving the declining ...
in the
I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...
. The stadium has a
seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
of 30,000 spectators.


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 is generally hosted
I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...
matches. Before professional football was played in
Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the 330th most populous city in India with a ...
, 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 The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...
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 I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind Indian ...
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 The 2011 I-League 2nd Division is the fourth season of the second division of the I-League, the Indian professional football league. A total of 21 teams were divided into three groups and top two teams from each group played in final round, th ...
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. 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. Due to this Lajong had to move to another stadium for there
2011–12 I-League The 2011–12 I-League was the fifth season of the I-League. The season began in October 2011 and ended in May 2012. Salgaocar are the defending champions, having won their maiden title in the previous season. The current edition has a tota ...
matches.


References


External links


Stadium information
Football venues in Meghalaya Shillong Sports venues in Meghalaya Shillong Lajong FC Year of establishment missing {{India-sports-venue-stub