Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, locally known as Polo Ground, is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

Shillong Shillong (, ) is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India. It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in India, 330th most populous city ...

, in the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

state of

Meghalaya Meghalaya (; "the abode of clouds") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeast India. Its capital is Shillong. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the Assam: the United Khasi Hills an ...

. It has most notably hosted the home matches of

Shillong Lajong FC Shillong Lajong Football Club (founded as Lajong SC) is an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Shillong, Meghalaya. The club is currently competing in the I-League, the second tier of the Indian football league syst ...

in the

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

. 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 15,100, following major renovations. The stadium has recently been used by

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

side

Northeast United FC NorthEast United Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural sea ...

for some of their home matches during the 2024/25 season.

History

The stadium is a two tier stadium with a roof over the main stand.

Astroturf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for pitch (sports field), playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a pile (textile), short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Si ...

was installed in 2012. The stadium predominantly hosted

and Shillong Premier League matches. Before professional football was played in

, 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

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 The I-League 2 is an Indian men's professional association football, football league. It is the 3rd tier of the Indian football league system, behind the Indian Super League and the I-League. It operates as a system of promotion and relegation ...

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 was 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 the two top teams from each group played in the final r ...

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 Bhaichung Bhutia (born 15 December 1976), also spelled as Baichung Bhutia, is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Bhutia is considered as the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena. He is often ...

. 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. After receiving major upgrades and expansion, the AFC decided it would be fit to host the match between

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

in the 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers. This would mark the first time a competitive international match was played here.

Tournaments Hosted

** Shillong Premier League (sixth tier of Indian football) **

Meghalaya State League The Meghalaya State League is the top state-level football league in the Indian state of Meghalaya Meghalaya (; "the abode of clouds") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeast India. Its capital is Shillong. Megha ...

(fifth tier of Indian football) **

SSA Women's Football League The SSA Women's Football League is the second-level women's state football league in the Indian state of Meghalaya Meghalaya (; "the abode of clouds") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeast India. Its capital is S ...

(first tier of Indian football;

Northeast United NorthEast United Football Club is an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Football in India, Indian football. The club was founded on ...

selected matches) **

(second tier of Indian football) **

I-League 2 The I-League 2 is an Indian men's professional association football, football league. It is the 3rd tier of the Indian football league system, behind the Indian Super League and the I-League. It operates as a system of promotion and relegation ...

(third tier of Indian football) **

Durand Cup The Durand Cup (also called the IndianOil Durand Cup Powered by Coal India Limited for sponsorship reasons) is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Annadale, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Hosted by the ...

2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualification The 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification is the qualification process organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to determine the participating teams for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, the 19th edition of the international men's football championsh ...

(selected 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