Taunggyi Stadium

The stadium sits flat and open on National Highway NH-4, the kind of site that usually belongs to a depot. The road runs right up to the perimeter wall, so the noise of traffic comes through the same way the wind does.

Shan United F.C. took the place over after the club changed its name, and the results changed with them. They have not lost since the team started playing here, which means the early matches against teams from Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan and Laos were not close affairs. The way they attack—giving up the ball and hitting them on the break—suits a pitch that is wide and fast. A player who loses his footing on a damp surface loses the chance, and the surface stays dry because the air moves through the open sides.

There is no old wall to look at, no history carved into the concourse. The building work that happened around 1994 and 1995 has already been taken down to make room for the swimming pool and youth centre that are supposed to arrive later. The table goes out of the window in these games, but the local players behave as if the table is still there, because they know the ground better than anyone else. The cup ties against Filipino opposition were played here when the schedule allowed, and the wheels came off when the visitors ran out of ideas in the second half. The capacity is not large, so a full house looks full, even though the lower tier is mostly empty in warm weather. Things came to a head when the municipality tried to keep the old shops on the perimeter; the government decided to clear them anyway. The grass is natural, the lines are straight, and the only thing that separates this place from a warehouse is the shape of the roof.