Sailen Manna Stadium
Photo: Jeroje at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
- Capacity
- 15,000
- Year opened
- —
- Club
- —
- Country
- India
Overview
About the stadium
The Sailen Manna Stadium, also known as the Howrah Municipal Corporation Stadium, is a multi-use football ground at Howrah Maidan in Howrah, West Bengal, just across the Hooghly River from Kolkata. Owned by the Howrah Municipal Corporation and laid out on natural grass, it sits at the heart of one of India's most football-obsessed regions, where the game is woven into everyday life.
A ground for the Bengal game
The venue carries a listed capacity of around 15,000 spectators, modest by the standards of the giant arenas nearby but well suited to grassroots and club football. It is named after Sailen Manna (1924-2012), the celebrated left-back and India captain regarded as one of the finest defenders the country ever produced.
- Location: Howrah Maidan, Howrah, West Bengal
- Capacity: approximately 15,000
- Surface: natural grass
- Primary use: association football, also rugby
Clubs such as Howrah Hooghly Warriors FC and the Howrah Rugby Crows make use of the pitch, keeping it busy through the local sporting calendar.
History
Journey through time
The stadium's identity is inseparable from the man it honours. Sailen Manna played nineteen consecutive seasons for Mohun Bagan between 1942 and 1960 and captained India from 1950 to 1955, leading the side to gold at the 1951 Asian Games.
Named for a legend
Manna captained India at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and had earlier featured at the 1948 London Games, where Indian players famously took the field barefoot. In 1953 England's Football Association named him among the ten best captains in the world, and in 2000 he was honoured as Indian football's Footballer of the Millennium; he received the Padma Shri in 1971.
- Named after: Sailen Manna, India captain and Mohun Bagan defender
- Notable event: hosted matches during the AFC Youth Championship 2006
- Owner: Howrah Municipal Corporation
Giving his name to a ground in his home district of Howrah ties the stadium directly to the golden age of Indian football and to Bengal's enduring place at the centre of the national game.
Atmosphere
Matchday
Football in Bengal is less a pastime than a shared faith, and grounds like the Sailen Manna Stadium carry that passion at the community level. While the great Kolkata derbies between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal fill far larger arenas, neighbourhood venues such as this one nurture the local clubs and young players who feed that culture.
Where Bengal football breathes
With roughly 15,000 places, the stadium offers an intimate, close-to-the-pitch experience where spectators sit near the action and every tackle and goal is felt directly.
- Setting: Howrah Maidan, a busy urban open space
- Atmosphere: grassroots and club football, intimate scale
- Wider context: part of the Kolkata-Howrah football heartland
The surrounding Maidan is a hub of everyday sporting life, where matches, practice and informal play continue almost without pause, reflecting the deep football tradition that has made this region one of the spiritual homes of the game in India.
Practical info
Visiting the stadium
The Sailen Manna Stadium is exceptionally easy to reach, thanks to its position in central Howrah, one of the best-connected transport nodes in eastern India. Visitors heading to Kolkata for the wider football scene can fold a trip here into a day exploring both banks of the Hooghly.
Getting there
The ground lies close to Howrah railway station, one of India's busiest rail terminals, and to the Howrah Maidan metro station on the Kolkata Metro Green Line, which runs under the river to connect Howrah with central Kolkata.
- By metro: alight at Howrah Maidan (Green Line)
- By rail: Howrah Junction is a short distance away
- From Kolkata: cross the iconic Howrah Bridge over the Hooghly
- Nearby: Howrah Maidan and the riverfront ghats
Combine a visit with Kolkata's footballing landmarks and the historic Howrah Bridge for a fuller sense of the region's sporting and cultural character.
Map
Where to find the stadium
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Plan your visit
Howrah, India
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