The EMS Stadium, located in

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

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 ...

, is a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

primarily used for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

matches. The stadium most recently was home to 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 ...

team

Gokulam Kerala FC Gokulam Kerala Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Calicut, Kerala. Founded in 2017, the club competes in the I-League, the second tier of Indian football league system. They won the 2020–21 I-League to become the ...

, as well as their

IWL IWL may refer to: *Industriewerke Ludwigsfelde *International Workers League (Fourth International) *International Wrestling League *Israeli Wrestling League *Indian Women's League *Intentional weight loss Weight loss, in the context of medi ...

women's team A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

. Built in 1977, the stadium hosts 50,000 spectators. It is named after the first

Chief Minister of Kerala The chief minister of Kerala is the chief executive of the Indian state of Kerala. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Fol ...

E. M. S. Namboodiripad Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad (13 June 1909 – 19 March 1998), popularly known as EMS, was an Indian communist politician and theorist, who served as the first Chief Minister of Kerala in 1957–1959 and then again in 1967–1969. A ...

. The stadium has played host to several important football tournaments, such as

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...

Santhosh Trophy The Santosh Trophy, officially known as Hero Senior Men's National Football Championship due to sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp, is a state football leagues in India, state-level association football, football competition contested by the L ...

, and

Sait Nagjee Football tournament The Sait Nagjee All India Football Tournament is one of the most prestigious football Tournaments held in Kozhikode, Kerala, India. The tournament was very popular from the beginning & attracted large crowd since 1952. The tournament played until ...

. Gokulam Kerala has been playing their home matches at the EMS Stadium since 2017 and has had a successful run at the stadium winning their first I-League home match against

East Bengal FC East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional multi-sport club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's football team that competes in the Indian Super League, the top fl ...

with a score of 2–1. The stadium is considered a historic and important venue for football in the region.

Renovations

The Corporation Stadium has undergone significant

renovation Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, ...

s over the years to improve its infrastructure and facilities. In 2005, the stadium underwent a renovation to host State Bank of Travancore National Football League matches. Another renovation was done in 2011 in preparation for the National Games in 2012, with the Corporation of Kozhikode and the government investing around 18 Crore for the upgrade. The new design of the stadium by RK Ramesh, includes state-of-the-art amenities such as a VVIP lounge with a seating capacity of 200, dressing rooms, media center, and other facilities. The grandstand pavilion was also upgraded for the National Games in 2012, and the stadium was fitted with improved floodlights to ensure high-quality matches. The EMS Stadium has been renovated to be an international standard stadium for both football and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

. The stadium is also equipped with modern facilities like VIP seating arrangements, food courts, and washrooms. The stadium has also installed CCTV cameras for security and safety measures. The stadium is easily accessible to public transport. The EMS Stadium is a premier sports venue in Kerala and continues to host a wide range of events, such as

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

s and

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

Images

Football

It was the home ground of Viva Kerala FC in the I-league. It was also the home ground of Gokulam Kerala, and its women's team. This stadium is famous for the football crazy fans of Kozhikode.

and

Sait Nagjee Football Tournament The Sait Nagjee All India Football Tournament is one of the most prestigious football Tournaments held in Kozhikode, Kerala, India. The tournament was very popular from the beginning & attracted large crowd since 1952. The tournament played until ...

were held at the stadium. The stadium hosted matches of

2023 Indian Super Cup The 2023 Super Cup, also known as the Hero Super Cup due to sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp, is the 3rd edition of the Super Cup and the 41st season of the national knockout competition for football clubs in India. The tournament is bein ...

Major football matches hosted

AFC Women's Championship

1980 AFC Women's Championship, where the Indian team won silver, was held here.

1987 Nehru Cup

The Kozhikode Corporation EMS stadium hosted the 1987

Nehru Cup The Nehru Cup was an international association football tournament organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), named after the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. It was launched in 1982, but was not held from 1998 to ...

, which was won by the

Soviet Union 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 national ...

. National teams of

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

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 ...

, India,

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, Soviet Union and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

participated in the tournament.

Sait Nagjee Football Tournament The Sait Nagjee All India Football Tournament is one of the most prestigious football Tournaments held in Kozhikode, Kerala, India. The tournament was very popular from the beginning & attracted large crowd since 1952. The tournament played until ...

2016 Sait Nagjee Trophy Teams

National Games

The stadium hosted football matches for the 35th National Games.

Other uses

Cricket

It also hosted the veterans of India and Pakistan cricket match in which legends like Ijaz Ahmed,

Syed Kirmani Syed Mujtaba Hussain Kirmani (; born 29 December 1949) is an Indian cricketer who played cricket for Indian cricket team, India and Karnataka as a wicket-keeper. In 2016, he was awarded the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award for Cricket in ...

and others played. In 1994, touring West Indies had taken Mumbai in a three-day encounter. West Indies were dismissed for 176 and Bombay ended the day at 53/2. The match, however, had to be called off after the opening day owing to law and order problems in the wake of a

bandh Bandh (Devanagari: बंद) (literally: shutting down) is a form of protest used by political activists in South Asian countries such as India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the s ...

Other Event

It also hosted many cultural events held at Kozhikode like malabar mahotsavam. It also hosted the inaugural performance of world tour of

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

, the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

–winning musician.

Accessibility

The Kozhikode EMS Stadium is located in the heart of the city. It lies beside the Pavamani Road between

Rajaji road Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and independence activis ...

and New Bus stand, a common stretch among many city bus routes. The Stadium Mavoor Road from the Western side allows access from

Mananchira Mananchira is a man-made freshwater pond situated in the centre of the city of Kozhikode (Calicut) in Kerala, southern India. The pond is 3.49 acres (14,120 m2) in area, is rectangular in shape and is fed by a natural spring. History Mananchira ...

and Arayadathupalam, although there is no public transport along this route. The stadium is situated at 2.5 km from the

Kozhikode railway station Kozhikode railway station also known as Calicut railway station is one of the largest railway stations in the state of Kerala, India. At in financial year 2018–19, it is the largest in terms of passenger revenue in Palakkad division. The sta ...

and railway stations respectively. The stadium is from

Calicut International Airport Calicut International Airport , also known as Kozhikode Airport or Karipur Airport, is an international airport located in Karipur, Malappuram district of Kerala, India. It serves the Malabar region of Kozhikode, Malappuram, Wayanad and Palak ...

, and from Thamarassery.

References

External links

EMS Stadium
at CrickInfo {{Coord, 11.256405, 75.785708, display=title, format=dms, type:landmark_scale:3000 1977 establishments in Kerala Buildings and structures in Kozhikode Chirag United Club Kerala Cricket grounds in Kerala Football venues in Kerala Gokulam Kerala FC Sport in Kozhikode Sports venues completed in 1977 Sports venues in Kerala 20th-century architecture in India

Renovations

Images

Football

Major football matches hosted

AFC Women's Championship

1987 Nehru Cup

Sait Nagjee Football Tournament The Sait Nagjee All India Football Tournament is one of the most prestigious football Tournaments held in Kozhikode, Kerala, India. The tournament was very popular from the beginning & attracted large crowd since 1952. The tournament played until ...

National Games

Other uses

Cricket

Other Event

Accessibility

See also

References

Further reading

External links