Vivekananda Stadium, in Khardah, will open doors with a Mohun Bagan-East Bengal friendly match on April 7. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

A Mohun Bagan-East Bengal match on April 7 will kick off the journey for Vivekananda Stadium in Khardah.

Former chief minister Jyoti Basu will formally inaugurate the ground, on the city’s northern fringes, a day before. Apart from district-level matches, the 10,000-seat stadium could also host Indian Football Association matches, officials said.

“While East Bengal has confirmed its participation in writing, Mohun Bagan has assured us verbally. We hope to get a written confirmation from the club in a day or two,” said Brajagopal Saha of Khardah Municipality, which has built the stadium.

IFA secretary Utpal Ganguly said there is a possibility of holding IFA matches at Vivekananda Stadium. “But we have not decided about it yet. It’s still too early.”

Khardah has produced football greats like Sushanta Ghosh, Parimal Dey, Ranjit Mukherjee, Chinmoy Chatterjee and Kabir Bose.

Former side-back Chatterjee, who represented India and played for the top three Maidan clubs in the 1970s, felt the stadium would renew Khardah’s interest in football.

“Vivekananda Stadium is our long-cherished dream. It’s great that local youths will now be able to watch good football nearer home. Also, unlike us, they will able to practise on a lush green field,” he said.

Chatterjee’s first club was Rahara Sangha, as was Ranjit Mukherjee’s. The two had bagged Maidan’s best footballer and highest scorer awards in 1977. But the 98-year-old Rahara Sangha still does not have a ground of its own.

“We have been given the green light to play our home matches in the North 24-Parganas first division league in the new stadium. We hope we will also be allowed to practise here a couple of days every week,” said club president Kalidas Mukherjee.

Saha said the municipality had received Rs 1 crore from the state sports and youth affairs department for constructing the stadium, but the budget had overshot. “The costs mounted as we widened the adjoining roads and installed lights. We have asked for an additional Rs 1.36 crore from the government to meet the expenses.”

The land for the stadium was been donated by the Ghoshs of Rahara.