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Historic Merdeka Stadium an admittedly attractive potential home ground for Selangor
Selangor FC CEO Johan Kamal Hamidon addresses rumours of the Red Giants' purported renewed interest in one of their former home grounds.
The question of home ground has been one of Selangor FC's sore points. The multi-purpose, state government-owned Shah Alam Stadium, which has been turning into more of a liability than an asset in recent years, has required repairs again, shutting the Red Giants out of it for at least the two coming seasons.
READ: It's time for Selangor to start letting go of cavernous, cumbersome Shah Alam Stadium
Towards the end of the 2020 season they were forced to share the UiTM Stadium as their home ground, while they plan to share the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) Stadium with Petaling Jaya City FC beginning next year.
However, rumours surfaced recently of their interest in one of their former home grounds; the Merdeka Stadium. The historic stadium, which was built in 1956 in preparation for Malaysia's independence from Great Britain in the following year, has not been used for professional football since 2015.
The ground that is situated in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's financial capital city and Selangor's former state capital, was last used as the Red Giants' home ground back in 1994.
In a telephone call with Goal last Saturday, club CEO Johan Kamal Hamidon conceded that the Merdeka Stadium is an attractive location.
MBPJ Stadium. Photo from Getty
"To be honest, we've thought about it (using Merdeka Stadium as home ground). Although it is in Kuala Lumpur, it would not a problem for us. It is a more central location so it would be more accessible to our fans such as those from Kajang and Gombak. It's right next to an MRT station, so it'd be convenient for the fans, location-wise.
"But it will ultimately require too much work I presume. The truth is we haven't looked into it in detail," he explained.
At the end of the day, sticking with their MBPJ Stadium plan is still the most feasible option for the club currently, summarised Johan.
"This plan (MBPJ Stadium) is going ahead. We may use it for longer than one season, as long as the Shah Alam Stadium is not ready."
