Sour Stadium

Cup football has its own rules, and Sour Municipal Stadium has seen the kind of match that makes you look away. The fixture in question brought Lebanon and Syria together, a game that ended 3–0 to the visitors but is remembered for what happened off the pitch. That was the sort of evening the stadium had not expected.

It is a small place, holding 6,500 souls on its natural grass, sitting quietly in the centre of Sour. The ground has been there since 1947, which means it has watched two local clubs, Tadamon Sour and Salam Sour, play out their seasons in the same old way. It is distinct from its rival venue in Sidon, though people often mix them up. There is no dramatic history of expansion or rebuilding to recount here, just the slow passage of time and the occasional visit from a touring side.

On a quiet afternoon, when the Arab Club Championship brought Al-Ahly to town for a training session, the place felt different. The Egyptian giants were there for a match against Nejmeh. The surface looks well kept.