Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Margao)

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium

Fatorda Stadium The Fortress Estádio Fatorda
Location	Don Bosco Road, Margao, Goa
Coordinates	15°17′21″N73°57′44″E / 15.28917°N 73.96222°E / 15.28917; 73.96222
Owner	Sports Authority of Goa
Capacity	19,000
Field size	105 m × 68 m (344 ft × 223 ft)
Surface	Grass
Construction
Opened	1989
Renovated	2017
Tenants
India national football team (1989–present) Goa football team Goa women's football team Churchill Brothers (selected matches) FC Goa (2014–present) Dempo SC (selected matches) Salgaocar FC (selected matches) Vasco SC (selected matches) Sporting Clube de Goa (selected matches) [1]

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (also known as Fatorda Stadium) ^[2] is a multi-purpose stadium in Margao, Goa, India. ^[3] The venue has been used to host both international football as well as International cricket matches.

It is Goa's only international stadium and has a seating capacity of 19000 with additional 1000 in reserve. It has hosted 9 One Day Internationals (ODIs) in cricket and hosted various football tournaments, including multiple Indian Super League finals, I-League, I-League 2, AFC Cup, ^[4] and AFC Champions League. The venue was established in 1989 and is owned and operated by the Sports Authority of Goa. It is currently the home stadium of FC Goa. In the 2020–21 Indian Super League, it was used as one of the centralized home grounds because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

History

Beginning

Exterior of the stadium

Fatorda stadium was built in a record six months by the then Sports Minister Monte (D') Cruz. It was opened in 1989 as a football-only stadium but in less than a year was redeveloped to include cricket. On 25 October 1989 the first cricket ODI was played between Australia and Sri Lanka in Nehru Cup.

Football clubs using the stadium

The stadium during a 2007–08 I-League match between Salgaocar FC and Dempo.

In 2006, before the 2007–08 I-League, all four Goan clubs (Dempo S.C., Churchill Brothers S.C., Salgaocar S.C., and Sporting Clube de Goa) announced that The Fatorda would be used as the home for all four teams' I-League matches. In the next season of I-League, Vasco S.C. too used the stadium as home ground. The Indian Super League club FC Goa have been tenants of the stadium since 2014.

Facilities

In 2014 it was upgraded according to the latest FIFA specifications. It is designed with a 20,000 seating capacity. The stadium complex provides two levels of fan seating arrangement along with a VIP area. Facilities include arena lighting, natural turf, broadcast room, TV studio, player dressing rooms, match delegates area, doping control rooms, medical rooms for players and spectators, VIP lounge, corporate boxes, media tribune and media working stations, press conference area, mixed zone area, CCTV cameras, a swimming pool, multipurpose gymnasium and parking facilities. It is regarded as one of the most well maintained football grounds in the Indian subcontinent. ^[5]

On 1 October 2022, it was announced that India's First Hybrid Pitch will be installed in this Stadium ahead of FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2022. ^[6]

A panoramic view of the stadium

List of centuries

Key

• * denotes that the batsman was not out.
• Inns. denotes the number of the innings in the match.
• Balls denotes the number of balls faced in an innings.
• NR denotes that the number of balls was not recorded.
• Parentheses next to the player's score denotes his century number at Edgbaston.
• The column title Date refers to the date the match started.
• The column title Result refers to the player's team result.

One Day Internationals

No.	Score	Player	Team	Balls	Inns.	Opposing team	Date	Result
1	101	V. V. S. Laxman	India	107	1	Australia	6 April 2001	Lost [7]
2	103	Yuvraj Singh	India	76	1	England	3 April 2006	Won [8]

International cricket five-wicket hauls

Key

Symbol	Meaning
†	The bowler was man of the match
‡	10 or more wickets taken in the match
§	One of two five-wicket hauls by the bowler in the match
Date	Day the Test started or ODI was held
Inn	Innings in which five-wicket haul was taken
Overs	Number of overs bowled
Runs	Number of runs conceded
Wkts	Number of wickets taken
Econ	Runs conceded per over
Batsmen	Batsmen whose wickets were taken
Result	Result of the match

ODIs

Five-wicket hauls in ODI matches at Fatorda Stadium

No.	Bowler	Date	Team	Opposing team	Inn	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ	Batsmen	Result
1	Matthew Hart	26 October 1994	New Zealand	West Indies	1	10	22	5	2.20	Brian Lara Carl Hooper Phil Simmons Jimmy Adams Courtney Walsh	No result [9]
2	Zaheer Khan	14 February 2007	India	Sri Lanka	1	10	42	5	4.20	Sanath Jayasuriya Upul Tharanga Kumar Sangakkara Farveez Maharoof Malinga Bandara	India won [10]

Football

South side of the Stadium

This venue has long been a mainstay of Indian football, having played host to many international games, including India's qualifiers for both the FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup. ^[11] The stadium has also been used as a home venue for the Goan clubs in AIFF competitions: Churchill Brothers S.C., Dempo S.C., FC Goa, Salgaocar S.C., Sporting Clube de Goa and Vasco S.C. ^[12]

It hosted the semifinals and final of the football event during the 2014 Lusofonia Games.

Brazilian team celebrating with the BRICS U-17 Cup trophy at the Fatorda Stadium in 2016.

The matches of 2016 BRICS U-17 Football Cup, ^[13] the first edition of the tournament, were played at the stadium and Brazilian U-17 team won the trophy.

It was chosen one of the six stadiums to host the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup matches in India. ^[14]

It has hosted the finals of Indian Super League twice in 2015 and 2020. In 2021, the stadium hosted the Group E matches of the AFC Champions League, in which FC Goa competed. ^{[15] [16]}

Cricket

See also: List of international cricket centuries on Indian cricket grounds

Although the stadium was originally built to be a football venue, over the past few years^{[ when? ]} it has been increasingly used to host international cricket matches. Since hosting its first ever international in 1989 between Australia and Sri Lanka, it has played host to seven further One Day Internationals, the most recent being between India and Sri Lanka in 2007. ^[17] The allocation of cricket matches to the stadium has often upset the Goan football community as it renders them unable to use the venue for hosting football. ^[18]

Lusofonia Games

The Stadium was renovated for the 2014 Lusofonia Games, which was conducted in Goa. ^{[19] [20] [21]} The opening and closing ceremonies of these Games were held at this venue. ^[21] Football matches of the Lusofonia Games were also held here. ^[21]

See also

• List of football stadiums in India

References

1. "Sporting Clube de Goa – Sporting Clube de Goa Indian Football Club – Sporting Clube de Goa Football Club India". iloveindia.com. I Love India. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
2. "FIFA inspected the Duler Stadium to give GFA the permission for laying the artificial turf..." kolkatafootball.com. 11 June 2012. Archived from the original on 22 June 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
3. India (Goa State) — Stadiums RSSSF. Retrieved 14 August 2021
4. Mergulhao, Marcus (4 May 2011). "Dempo chase a win against Al Tilal in AFC Cup". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Margao: The Times of India. Archived from the original on 12 July 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
5. "Indian Super League Stadiums - A Walkthrough (Part-2) > Fatorda Stadium & JL Nehru Stadium, Kochi. Indian Super League Football". Archived from the original on 11 October 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
6. Mergulhao, Marcus (1 October 2022). "Fatorda gets India's first hybrid pitch, type used by all Premier League clubs". The Times of India. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
7. "5th ODI: India v Australia at Margao, Apr 6, 2001. Cricket Scorecard". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
8. "3rd ODI: India v England at Margao, Apr 3, 2006. Cricket Scorecard". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
9. "Full Scorecard of West Indies vs New Zealand 2nd Match 1994/95 - Score Report".
10. "Full Scorecard of Sri Lanka vs India 3rd ODI 2006/07 - Score Report".
11. "2010 FIFA World Cup Asia Group Playoffs Match Report". FIFA. Archived from the original on 18 November 2007. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
12. "1st Division I-League Venues". Indian Football. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
13. Mishra, Aniket (29 September 2015). "Inaugural BRICS Cup to take place in India in 2016". SportsKeeda. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
14. "FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 Goa Matches, schedule & match timings". 4 October 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
15. "Edu Bedia scores FC Goa's first AFC Champions League goal". sportstar.thehindu.com. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
16. "Persepolis 2-1 FC Goa: Edu Bedia scores historic goal in Gaurs defeat". Goal.com. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
17. "Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, Margao / Records / One-Day Internationals". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 19 January 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
18. "I-League clubs oppose pitch work at Fatorda". Navhind Times. Retrieved 10 January 2010.^{[ dead link ‍]}
19. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 February 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
20. "Renovation work in full swing at Nehru Stadium. iGoa". Archived from the original on 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
21. "Race against time at Fatorda". Archived from the original on 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.

Further reading

• "Dempo sports club vs Mumbai FC — Fatorda Stadium overview". i-league.com. I-League. 5 April 2014. Archived from the original on 5 April 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.

External links

• Fatorda Stadium – ESPNcricinfo