A long road to a pitch-perfect game

Dubai: The Mohammad Bin Rashid football tournament games and the AC Milan match against the UAE made it necessary for Dubai clubs to extend the capacity of stadiums which became smaller to seat the huge crowds attending soccer matches featuring world-class teams like AC Milan, Inter Milan and Ajax Amsterdam.

The stadiums of the four Dubai clubs, Al Nasr, Al Ahli, Al Wasl and Al Shabab were built 30 years ago on instructions from the late Shaikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the then Ruler of Dubai. It was a gift from him to the Dubai youth so that they could play in modern stadiums, instead of playing on the sand without grandstands or terraces for spectators to sit on it. Each stadium capacity was 15,000, which at the time was sufficient for the population.

The only problem posed by the construction of the stadiums was the difficulty of planting grass due to water supply problems. Instead of grass, artificial turf was laid. The players suffered from it badly, however, with many players getting serious knee injuries. Grass was installed in 1982.

The Al Maktoum stadium at Al Nasr club was the first stadium to be built in Dubai. On May 25, 1978, Shaikh Rashid inaugurated the stadium.

Liverpool, the European champions at the time, played against Al Nasr in the opening match, which the Reds won 5-0 in front of a 15,000 capacity.

Al Ahli stadium opened on January 15, 1979 with Ipswich Town, winners of the English FA Cup, playing in the opening match. They beat Al Ahli 1-0.

Al Wasl and Al Shabab stadiums also opened that year.

There are now many grass grounds for youth teams, while Al Nasr also has the Humaid Al Tayer stadium with a 5,000 capacity.