ISL 2017: Mumbai City FC announce new nickname for team
Mumbai City FC, popularly known as the Blue Army, have changed their nickname as they head into the fourth season of Indian Super League. Commentators and pundits, in the previous ISL seasons, had given the name -- 'The Blue Army' to the Mumbai-based team.
This season, two new teams have been included in the competition, one of them being Bengaluru FC. They are already known as the Blues by fans and commentators alike and as a result of this conflict of nicknames, the Mumbai City FC officials decided to get a new nickname for the club. For this, they called in on their fans and gave them a chance to contribute.
A few weeks ago, the Mumbai side had announced that they would be creating a new nickname and fans would themselves get a chance to name it. Thousands of fans suggested names like Mumbaikars, Mumbai Bullets, Royals, Bombay Boys, Mumba Boys etc for the club. However, in the end, the name chosen was the 'Islanders'.
The new name was suggested by Mumbai City FC fans, Nikhil Hirve and he was awarded two season lounge tickets from the club.
Mumbai City, who were last year's semifinalists, have been unlucky for the last three seasons of Indian Super League and this time around, they have revamped the whole team and will hope that they will get their first title under their Costa Rican coach Alexandre Guimarães.
They have a strong lineup consisting of some top Indian talent and clever foreign signings. Their key Indian players include Balwant Singh, Amrinder Singh, Sehnaj Singh and Sanju Pradhan.
In Lucian Goian and Gerson Viera, they have two rock-solid defenders, while Leo Costa and Everton Santos will be key to the side's success in the middle of the park.
The Islanders play their first match of the season on November 19 against Jamshedpur FC.
Also read: ISL 2017: Kerala Blasters' Manjappada beat West Block Blues to clinch Fan Club of the Year award at Indian Sports Honours