Intense, bad blood and bragging rights: Indian football's fiercest derbies
"My greatest challenge is not what's happening at the moment, my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their f****** perch. And you can print that." Sir Alex Ferguson said this in 2002 on Manchester United’s never-ending rivalry with Liverpool.
10 summers later, United had leapfrogged The Reds to become the most successful club in England. Debated, heated and globally followed, this derby is one of the world’s most charismatic.
Derbies have a different flavour – they are indescribable. Football becomes more than a sport, and jersey colors start flowing in veins, replacing the red of blood. Potshots, fervent banter, and unapologetic attacks add to the excitement of such matches. TV TRP records break on such matches, countries come to a stand-still and football becomes the centre of the Earthly Universe.
If you’re a football fan, you have a rival.
Football has been growing in India, but we have our share of interesting and intense rivalries on-and-off the pitch. Let’s take a look at some of India’s finest footballing rivalries.
#5 Mohammedan Sporting FC vs Mohun Bagan FC
London has Arsenal, Chelsea, and Spurs, who fight out very exciting derbies. Arsenal and Chelsea have been the better than Spurs and there’s a similar story brewing in India’s footballing capital, Kolkata. With East Bengal and Mohun Bagan being the top 2, Mohammedan Sporting FC has played the role of spoilsport in the recent past.
Historically richer than East Bengal FC, Mohammedan Sporting and its rivalry with India’s most successful club goes back a long way. Having been founded in 1891, Mohammedan had more than just football in its mind. With a pan-India Nationalistic support going towards the Green-and-maroons, Mohammedan Sporting had communal support from the Muslims, who formed a major part of India.
The rivalry between these two teams is said to be one of the most hard-fought games in the history of Indian football. Football researchers reveal that Mohammedan Sporting has lost a lot of its fanbase since partition in 1947, but still has a lot of backing from various parts of the country. Mohun Bagan, on the other hand, has always had a dedicated support base, which seems immovable.
The teams have had their fair share of success and failures, but when they face-off on the field, fireworks are bound to happen. Both call the shots on being more important in India’s freedom struggle, and thus, they keep fighting for proving the supremacy over the other. Both the clubs have numerous records to their name and form the triumvirate of ‘Big 3’ of Indian football, along-with East Bengal FC.