Salt Lake Stadium, officially Stadium of the Indian Youth (in Bengali যুব ভারতী ক্রীড়াঙ্গন, Yuva Bharati Krirangan), is a multi-use stadium in Salt Lake City, Kolkata, India.
The stadium has the second largest capacity in the world & largest in Indian Sub-Continent. It is currently used for football matches and athletics. The stadium was built in 1984 and holds 120,000[1] in a three-tier configuration.
It is situated approximately 7 km from the heart of the city. It is elliptical in shape. The roof is made of strong tubes and aluminum sheets and concrete. There are two electronic score boards and control rooms. The lighting is uniformly distributed to facilitate nocturnal sports. There are special arrangements for TV broadcasting.
The total covered area of 76.40 acres, Salt Lake Stadium was inaugurated in January, 1984. The salient features of the stadium are unique Synthetic track for athletic meet, electronic scoreboard, main football arena measuring 105M x 70M, elevators for dignitaries along with VIP/VVIP enclosure, peripheral floodlighting arrangement from the roof-top, A.C. VIP rest room and Conference Hall. Other features of the stadium are also commentary boxes for A.I.R. and T.V. along with several platforms for T.V. Cameras, Press Boxes, dormitories and A.C. rooms, player's changing rooms, practice grounds for football, cricket and khokho, volleyball field and an ultra-medium gymnasium. The Stadium has its own water arrangements and standby diesel generation sets.
The excellent arrangement of floodlight which illumines the stadium has 624 bulbs of 2 k.wt. each and two electronic scoreboards consists 36,000 bulbs of 25 watt each. The four underground reservoirs have unique fire-fighting arrangements with a capacity of 10,000 gallons. The architectural and structural design of the stadium had been done by the Joint Consultants viz., M/S. Ballardie, Thompson & Matthews Pvt. Ltd. and M/S. H.K. Sen & Associates- both from Kolkata, West Bengal. The track was prepared by Reckortan Tartan Track, Germany. The electronic scoreboards were supplied by Electro Impex of Hungary.
As its inauguration in January, 1984 with the Jawaharlal Nehru International Gold Cup Soccer Tournament, the Salt Lake Stadium has hosted several important international tournaments or matches such as The Pre-World Cup Tournament in 1985, Super-Soccers in 1986, 1989, 1991 and 1994, 3rd S.A.F. games in 1987, U.S.S.R. Festival in 1988, Charminar Challenger Trophy in 1992, Jawaharlal Nehru International Gold Cup in 1995.
This Stadium also hosts different kind of cultural programs [Dance, Music Concerts etc.].
Football (Soccer)
Football is the main sport in this stadium.
The Salt Lake stadium hosts the home games of local clubs East Bengal FC, Mohun Bagan AC and Mohammedan SC, three of the big clubs in Indian football. The traditional Kolkata derbies between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan AC take place in this stadium accompanied by much fanfare, feverish emotions (and on a few occasions, outbreaks of violence). Most of these matches are attended by capacity crowds of vociferous, partisan supporters of both teams (traditionally East Bengal Fans celebrates their win by eating Hilsa fish and Mohun Bagan fans celebrate wins by eating prawns).
Many of the home games of the India national football team are also played in Salt Lake, as are many important games in major stages of national tournaments as well as cricket.
Athletics
The stadium also hosts important athletic events. It has hosted the SAF Games in 1987and various national athletics events in India.
