The story of football clubs is, quite often, the story of cities. It stands true even in India, where perhaps football isn’t as steeped in cosmopolitan culture and history as one is led to expect; and even in the Indian Super League (ISL), a young league, where story lines aren’t much developed as they are still being written.
In this case, the story is of the two new clubs that enter ISL Season 4 — one, a modern club envisioned in a modern city with huge success in the I-League, and the other, a club from a city with a barely acknowledged footprint in Indian sport, but a massively credited one on Indian industry.
From left: Andre Bikey of Jamshedpur FC, Conor Thomas of Atletico de Kolkata, Edurado Moya of Delhi Dynamos Dynamos FC, and Marcinno of NorthEast United FC pose with trophy in Kolkata. ISL
Photo by: Saikat Das / ISL / Sportzpics
When Jamshedpur was conceptualised in 1920, its founder Jamsetji Tata envisioned a city around the steel plant, where the workforce wouldn’t merely be living in settlements, but would inhabit a city planned with an eye on the future. Huge parts of Jamshedpur are meticulously planned and highly organised — aping, and in many ways preceding, the standard set by Chandigarh.
Jamshedpur has, over the years, been a steady and silent contributor towards the growth of Indian football. The Tata Football Academy (TFA) has been a grassroots youth development club for almost thirty years now. In 2015, 20 graduates from the academy were part of the ISL. The numbers in the I-League are regularly much higher.
Former player, Renedy Singh, recalls TFA as being one of the breeding grounds for talent in the 1990s. “In our time (Renedy joined TFA as an 11-year-old and was there for six years), TFA’s quality was undeniable,” he says. “The coaches, the facilities, even the fact that we would go to Germany every year for a month, those things were ahead of its time.”
Promising newbies
Thirty years is a long time. And in those long years, several other residential academies with a focus on youth development have mushroomed across the country. Where TFA was a beacon for Eastern India clubs in the 1990s and early 2000s, now there are many more options. SAI training centres, AIFF training centres and even clubs themselves have slowly started investing in youth teams and grassroot programmes to improve not just their game, but also their standing in the community that surrounds the game.
To that, Tata are a bit late. They have entered the ISL, India’s spotlight-heavy, firecracker-like league three seasons in. Despite their impact on the community they are based in — the locals’ respect for TFA is only outdone by their respect for the Tata Adventure Foundation, a top notch mountaineering training facility, overlooked by Bachendri Pal — the city hasn’t ever had a football team to rally behind in the senior divisions. TFA regularly played in the under-19 league (winning it in 2014, but has never had a presence at the senior-level.
All that changes of course, with Jamshedpur FC, the first team from Jharkhand, and the only team in the ISL, to own their own stadium. While the team is new, and their name is on the ISL card for the first time, their roster isn’t. A majority of their squad is made up of players who were part of the Kerala Blasters team last season.
In Steve Coppell they have a manager rooted in pragmatic, sensible, no-frills football. Coppell’s style, whether at West Brom or Kerala, has always been a simple one — play to not lose, and from there you can win. Maybe a lot of this has to do with the squads he has usually been supplied with, and at Jamshedpur, there's not much of a difference.
A huge amount of their talent has been poached — or should we say pinched — from the Blasters of last season. Midfield pivot Mehtab Hossain, striker Kervens Belfort, and the ever reliable Ishfaq Ahmed will be tasked with communicating Coppell's vision to the rest of the squad.
At first glance, Jamshedpur’s squad looks sound, and smart. In players like Anas Edathodika, Andre Bikey and Tiri, he has the hallmarks of building a good defensive structure. Pacy wing-backs like Shouvik Ghosh and Robin Gurung can only help complement that.
In a longer season, Coppell’s pragmatic, and sometimes boring, counter-attacking style could pay great dividends. Even in last season’s three-month-long spectacle, Coppell took his team to the final. In a smartly recruited squad, Jamshedpur have opted for a mix of senior players and younger squad members, almost all of who have experience of playing in India. This will count for a lot. A criticism could be that they don’t have an Indian striker on their roster, an anomaly that could hurt them later. Long seasons have a way of destroying dreams, and turning strong units into weak punching bags.
Experienced entrants
In sharp contrast to Jamshedpur FC, the second entrant into the ISL race are the thoroughbreds Bengaluru FC (BFC). Where Jamshedpur are greenhorns, Bengaluru are drenched in quality and experience.
Bengaluru’s entry into Indian football was as dramatic as it was unexpected. A football team from Bangalore, was, at the time, a laughable suggestion. And yet, here they are. Two time champions of the I-League, winners of the Federation Cup, finalists at the AFC Cup, and still aiming high.
BFC’s team has played long seasons and then some. Captain Sunil Chhetri also credits their deep AFC Cup run this year (Bengaluru were knocked out in the semifinals) and admits that it made for a good pre-season.
“Playing in Asia, is paramount. And having played a long season there, has definitely prepared us better for the ISL,” he says.
Their entry into the ISL has meant BFC have lost some of their much beloved ‘home boys’. Sandesh Jhingan, CK Vineeth and Rino Anto will be notable absentees from the Bengaluru side this season.
“Those guys are huge players man,” Chhetri says, “not just because of their quality, but also because they were at the club from the time it began. Not Jhingan, but the others. Obviously, with that sort of association, they were huge voices in the dressing room too.”
“Having said that, we are professionals and they are professionals. BFC will always have a place for them, but now we are competing for the same trophy. Our objective remains the same. And our mentality can never be questioned.”
About that, Chhetri is absolutely right. BFC will enter the ISL as fan-favourites to take the trophy home. They may not have the glitz, the glamour, or the big name swagger of their more illustrious ISL counterparts, but then this is a team that is the sum of the collective.
Where they may actually have to take stock of their losses is in the midfield. Eugenson Lyngdoh was everything Albert Roca could’ve wanted in a midfielder. A pivot, a ball-winner, a game controller and a pace-setter with an eye for the spectacular, Lyngdoh's absence will mean Chhetri will drop deeper to initiate play.
It will be an absolute pleasure to see the BFC fans in an ISL season, finally. Their voice and noise will be only matched by their fierce rivals Kerala. It is tough to make any predictions for BFC in the ISL, simply because this is not the team one has seen play over the past seasons in the I-League. The names have changed and the absences are great. But despite all that, and perhaps, because of all that, BFC will find a way to win.
One way or another, away teams will find it tough to take points at their fortress. Mumbai will be the first to find out.
Published Date: Nov 13, 2017 11:25 am | Updated Date: Nov 14, 2017 12:38 pm
