Ticket prices for Kolkata Derby announced as demands soar all over from Kolkata to Siliguri

TICKETS PRICES FOR THE second-leg Kolkata Derby of this I-League season, to be held in the Kanchenjunga Stadium of Siliguri, have been announced; and the demands are already through the roof.

The Derby, usually held in the 120,000 capacity Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, was moved to the 35,000 seater stadium in Siliguri due to the former arena being under renovation in order to host the FIFA U-17 World Cup next year.

But due to this Derby coming to play a significant role in the I-League title race, the demand for tickets is sky-high. Thousands of fans from Kolkata are planning to travel to the North Bengal city to witness the clash; and the crunch has prompted both East Bengal and Mohun Bagan to appeal to the district football association to keep 10,000 tickets each in reserve for the Kolkata-based members and supporters of these two clubs. These tickets are expected to be sold from the club tents in the Maidan in the days leading up to the match. This leaves just about 15,000 tickets for the local fans.

The tickets are priced Rs 100 and Rs 200 for general seating and Rs 400 for the VVIP box. The stadium is undergoing some quick renovation after a group of representatives from AIFF took a look at its facilities and advised them to make some improvements to various areas, including the press box and press conference room.

The Kanchenjunga Stadium has been quietly active in both cricket and football in recent years. Apart from hosting some Ranji Trophy matches, it played host to almost half the matches during the 2012 Federation Cup. In 2014 the final few matches of Santosh Trophy were held here, as were several matches of the I-League 2nd Division in 2015. It also hosted an international friendly between India and Nepal. 

But the fan interest around this fixture is expected to easily surpass all those previous games this arena has seen.