Wednesday, September 04, 2024
Who Plays Where In Liga 2
BEKASI CITY (Purnawarman, Purwakarta)
DEJAN FC (Persikas, Subang)
PERSIKABO (Pakansari, Cibinong)
PERSIKOTA (Benteng Reborn, Tangerang)
PERSIRAJA (Harapan Bangsa, Aceh)
PSKC (Si Jalak Harupat, Bandung)
PSMS (Baharuddin Siregar, Deli Serdang)
PSPS (Kaharudin Nasution, Pekanbaru)
SRIWIJAYA FC (Jakabaring, Palembang)
GROUP B
ADHYAKSA FC (Sriwedari, Solo)
BHAYANGKARA FC (Tri Sanja, Tegal)
NUSANTARA UNITED (Kebo Giro, Boyolali)
PERSEKAT (Tri Sanja, Tegal)
PERSIJAP (Moch. Soebroto, Magelang)
PERSIKAS (Persikas, Subang)
PERSIKU (Wergu Wetan, Kudus)
PERSIPA (Joyokusumo, Pati)
PSIM (Mandala Krida, Jogjakarta)
GROUP C
DELTRAS (Soepriadi, Blitar)
GRESIK UNITED (Tuban Sport Centre, Tuban)
PERSELA (Tuban Sport Centre, Tuban)
PERSEWAR (Mandala, Jayapura)
PERSIBO (Letjen H. Soedirman, Bojonegoro)
PERSIPAL (Gawalise, Palu)
PERSIPURA (Mandala, Jayapura)
RANS FC (Untung Suropati, Pasuruan)
In many countries around the world it's quite easy to look at the fixtures, then turn up in that town and follow the crowds. Indonesia of course doesn't work that way. Home grounds change willy nilly, often with little notice and no logic. To be fair, Indonesia does try to anticipate; pre-season the Liga announces which grounds teams have selected as their homebase(s) and a couple of days ago they released the information for Liga 2 - which starts this weekend!
A number of the more established or historic clubs are among those looking forward to a nomadic season. PSMS for example won't be playing in Medan but Deli Serdang which is an hour or so south. Given how fickle fans can be that can be too far!
At least the likes of Persikota, Persikabo, Sriwijaya, PSPS and Persiraja will be playing on familiar territory in Group A.
Moving to Group B and of the six 'proper' teams there, five have the luxury of playing in their proper home. For some reason, Persijap will be sharing Moch Soebroto in Magelang with rivals PSIS. Cop backed Bhayangkara won Liga 1 as recently as 2017 playing in Jakarta but they have always struggled for fans beyond their uniformed base and this season the newly relegated side will be hoping the good folk of Tegal will come out to support them. Newly promoted Adhyaksa Farmel were initially from South Tangerang but this coming season they will be playing in Solo at Sriwedari Stadium, the first ground I ever visited in Indonesia if not for a game.
In Group C another 'new' club, RANS Nusantara will begin life in Liga 2 playing in Pasuruan in East Java - a far cry from when they were called Cilegon United and played in, um, Cilegon in front of real live fans. But for me, the biggest WTF refers to three well established sides, Deltras (Sidoarjo), Gresik United (Gresik) and Persela (Lamongan) have their own decent fan bases but the new season will see them playing in Blitar and Tuban respectively. Gresik has two decent stadiums, why the rubber duck do they need to travel west along the Pantura to Tuban?
This pattern follows Liga 1 where a number of grounds are being renovated, no matter how new they are. The problem is the clubs of course don't own their own grounds, they usually come under the remit of the local council and no doubt there is little to no communication between the two, and the LIB, when it comes to scheduling any repairs. Bad for the fans who can't see their team and bad for the clubs who lose gate money.
And a logistical nightmare for any casual fan who just fancies a game at the weekend!
# posted by Me @ 4:32 PM 
