Central Talas Stadium

The city of Talas is currently wrestling with a dual identity, split between a concrete relic of the Soviet era and a concrete vision of the future. The old ground, Stadion imeni Eshima Kutmanaliyeva, sits in the centre of the town. It has been the home of FC Talas and FC Namys-APK Talas since it opened in 1937, and its concrete tiers—recently reinforced as part of a social project—have watched the seasons turn for nearly ninety years. It holds ten thousand people, and the natural grass beneath them has seen the city’s football rise and fall in cycles that match the seasons.

Just outside the old perimeter, a new shape is rising. The Central Stadium is being built on Asanbek Otorbayev Street, a project set to replace the old facility entirely. It is a smaller beast, seating five thousand, but it is fitted with the modern bones of the game: a hybrid grass pitch, floodlights, and a VAR system. The local side FC Asia Talas will play there from 2026, when the new ground is scheduled to open. The old stadium is not yet gone, but it is being eclipsed.

The difference between the two is not just capacity, but time. The old stadium feels like a place that has been lived in, with concrete that has absorbed decades of weather and noise. The new one is a clean slate. The competition between the two will likely define the next chapter for football in Talas. The old ground has a history that cannot be erased, but the new one is being built to outlast it. The fans must choose between the past and the future, or perhaps live with both until the old one is finally demolished.