Bengaluru FC - paving the way for Indian Football
Bengaluru FC in action
In January 2012 , I went to watch a live football match in the Bangalore Football Ground, the then home of H.A.L, Bangalore. It was an I-league match against Salgaocar FC. Now, the Salgaocar football team used to lease my college football ground in BITS – Pilani, Goa, so I had a natural affinity towards them.
So with a thousand hopes and aspirations (of course vaulted through years of watching Premier League and other European leagues) I made my way into the stadium. Needless to say I wasn’t impressed. A VVIP seat cost me 60 bucks and was occupied by around 100 more viewers. The rest of the stands were empty. There was no atmosphere whatsoever to speak of. The match that followed was an even more morbid affair ending at 1-0 through a goal headed from a corner.
It was a very very dull afternoon. I decided that I should not let the love for the game die just because of the dross served out to me by the Indian League and hence I retreated into being a passive football fan with a penchant for live matches broadcasted late in the night on Indian Sports Channels.
That was until Bengaluru F.C. joined the I-League. Its not a story of rags to riches, or David vs Goliath, but one that must be told. Bengaluru F.C. has changed the way football has been perceived not only in the entire city of Bengaluru but also in the nation as a whole. With the influx of some much needed cash by the JSW group who now own the club, the team was stengthened by aquisitions such as Sunil Chhetri (Indian Team Captain), John Johnson(England), Sean Rooney(Australia) and Robin Singh (Indian Team striker).
Its quite ironic how we often make accusations at European Leagues for allowing cash-rich owners to take over a club and turn it into a mad-man’s anarchic passtime (Chelsea, Cardiff City, Monaco etc a case in point) because in this case we have seen at close quarters, the effect money can have on the game.
This season in October 2013 I decided to give Bengaluru F.C. a go with East Bengal in town. I took a ticket in a shaded stand worth 250 bucks and I was pleasantly surprised. There were road side processions by Bengaluru F.C. fans, chants and slogans being shouted out at the top of their voices, a traffic jam outside the stadium, opposition fans being taunted and humiliated and in some cases even threatened. It all seemed very football-esque.
The match was a breath-taking affair (much better than earlier). It ended 0-2 in favor of East Bengal but the local fans made it certain that the away fans do not leave the stadium without some jeering.
There is much to like about Bengaluru F.C. It has a well motivated group of players who have been backed by some financial fire-power. They have a young progressive British coach in Ashley Westwood, who is a Manchester United academy graduate and has several years of experience of top-level football. They have a dedicated set of fans who appreciate what their team represents and do not falter in their support even in rough times. Hell, they even have their own anthem. Agreed its a rip off from the original “When the reds(blue) go marching on” , but well its catchy and its omnipresent among the fans.
And to top it all, Bengaluru F.C. sit atop the I-League table at the time when this article was written. Its pretty early days to say this, but for Indian Football its definitely a step in the right direction. It gives the Indian Football Fans a hope that there are good times ahead and we do not need to entirely depend on Europe to satisfy our thirst for quality live football. This is Football. This is how it needs to be played and celebrated. Because for most its just a game, but for others its a way of life.