Stadium Perak or Perak Stadium is a renowned stadium located in Ipoh, District Kinta, Perak, Malaysia. The stadium has a handsome seating capacity of 42,500, making it the fifth largest football stadium in Malaysia.
The Perak Stadium is a part of a large sports complex called DBI Sports Complex. This complex house almost all the sports facilities that are used by the sports representatives of Perak like Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium (Hockey), Velodrome Rakyat (Cycling).
The stadium is the home ground of the Perak FA. It was widely criticised for the problematic flood light system until 2013, when the light towers were upgraded to the international football standard.
History
One interesting fact about the stadium is that before it was built, the site was actually used as a prison. It took almost one year for the construction of the stadium to complete and it was inaugurated in the year 1965.
At the time of the establishment, the capacity was just 10,000. As a result of the renovations in the years 1975 and 1993, the seating capacity of the stadium was increased upto 42,500. The stadium was also upgraded for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in the year 1997.
Major Matches
Over the years, the stadium has hosted quite a few major matches involving different Malaysian clubs. One of them was Selangor FA vs Penang FA, 1997 (Malaysia FA Cup Final). It was the first time that the Penang Fa had made it to the final of Malaysia FA Cup. However, they ended up losing the match to Selangor.
Controversies
One of the biggest controversies involving this stadium took place recently. In the 2017 Malaysian Cup semi-final between Perak and Johor Darur Ta’zim, one of the JDT fans was sent to hospital because he was suffering from wounds from lit fireworks, courtesy of a group of Perak fans.
Following this event, Football Association of Malaysia has punished Perak with a two-match stadium ban. Now, they will be forced to play the opening games of 2018 season behind closed doors.
Recent Matches
On October 27, 2016, PKNP FC was defeated by MIFA FC by an aggregate of 3-1 in the second final at this stadium. PKNP FC was forced to play with only ten players as their captain was sent off the field.
