ISL: Home stadiums of the eight franchises in the Indian Super League
The inaugural season of the Indian Super League turned out to be a great success last year and the ISL is coming back soon with the second edition which is set to commence from 3 October. It has been a long wait for all the football fanatics all over India who are all ready to root for their respective teams once again. The PR and marketing have once again created a great buzz ahead of the new season with an interesting promo video. Last season the Indian spectators had the privilege of witnessing footballing legends step on Indian soil. This new edition of ISL is going to get even better as we will be seeing new foreign players like Roberto Carlos, Marchena, Riise and Malouda.Although the infrastructure at stadiums is still lacking and not up to international standards, the supporters nonetheless filled up the stadiums and continued to contribute to a lively atmosphere in their home matches. Teams like Atletico de Kolkata and Kerala Blasters FC benefited immensely from their vociferous home crowd support.Extensive repairs and refurbishment have been done for this exciting competition and here’s a look at all eight venues for the second edition of the Indian Super League.
#1 Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Chennai) - Chennaiyin FC
The Chennai-based ISL franchise headed by Abhishek Bachchan and coached by Italian veteran defender Marco Materazzi had played all of their league home matches at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai in the first edition of Indian Super League. Nicknamed as the Marina Arena, the stadium has been the side’s home ground with a seating capacity of 40,000.
It’s a multi-purpose stadium that hosts football and athletic competitions. Located at Sydenham's Road, the JN stadium had turned out to be a fortress for the ISL franchise but it received a lot criticism from the away teams last season as the pitch was deemed to be too hard to play on.
Chennaiyin FC came in as a late replacement for the withdrawn Bengaluru franchise in the first edition of ISL but surprised everyone by progressing to the semi-finals of the competition. Unfortunately, they lost out against Kerala Blasters after topping the table.
Despite their upsetting exit in the semi-final, the Chennai-based franchise have upgraded their star-studded squad this summer. The team’s Brazillian ace-man Elano is set to have his second spell with the franchise and he will spearhead the team’s attack with former Atletico de Kolkata striker Fikru.