HISTORY

Football-Hope of salvation

By Poonam Talwar Sayal

Football has long been one of the most popular street sports of India. Most kids dabble with football in one form or the other during their growing up years, be it with an actual football, a tennis ball, a stone, an empty tin or simply a scrunched up piece of foil! However despite this apparent innate leaning towards the sport, football has not been able to make a significant mark on our national sports scene.

‘Bend it like Beckham’ an inspiring movie on women’s football has been an all season favourite, so much so that it inspired my daughters to take on football as a sport. Now Durand Cup and football clubs are regular meal time discussion topics. And so the end of the JCT Football Club, a great football legend had us delving into the depths of ‘football-ing’ in India, its glorious birth and tragic decline!

The history of football in India can be traced back to the preindependent period, when the British introduced the game to the sub-continent. Kolkata (previously Calcutta) became the hub of Indian football and initial matches were played between army teams. The first football game was organized in 1854 between the ‘Calcutta Club of Civilians’ and the ‘Gentlemen of Barrackpore’!

The sport soon found its way into civilian society and ‘Calcutta FC’, the first football club of India was founded in 1872. Soon many football clubs mushroomed in Kolkata and nearby areas including the famous Mohun Bagan Athletic Club (later named as the National Club of India), which came into existence in 1889. Even today, Kolkata is considered to be the home of Indian football and its existence as an organised sport is almost entirely shouldered by the north eastern states of West Bengal, Sikkim, Manipur, Meghalaya and Mizoram. The Indian Football Association (IFA) was created in 1893 and five years later, in 1898 the Durand Cup, which is the oldest

football tournament in India (third oldest in the world) was started in Shimla. It was named after the then foreign secretary of India - Sir Mortimer Durand, who inaugurated it. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) administers the game in India. It is associated with the Asian Football Confederation and the worldwide body FIFA and was responsible for establishing the National Football League, which was the first semi-professional football league of the country. Later the I-League was founded after the disbanding of the National Football League.

The I-League tournament is contested between 14 clubs each season and the bottom two clubs are replaced by two teams which are promoted from the I-League 2nd Division. The popular football tournaments held in India are the Federation Cup, the Durand Cup, the Indian Super Cup, Santosh Trophy and the IFA Shield. India stands at a shocking 147 in the FIFA rankings today. Indian football has not shown any spectacular performances in the past few years, instead two major clubs have folded up due to lack of funds and depressing results. Mahindra United a strong team withdrew from the I-League last year while recently the Punjab based JCT Club ended its association with the sport causing widespread heartbreaks.

The JCT club pulled out of the I-League after the team was relegated to the 2nd division following a dismal performance. Several fans were upset and felt concerned about the upcoming and aspiring players in the northern part of the country who will now have no club to join. It means lesser opportunities for the local talent. The standard of Indian football definitely needs a drastic boost. Sponsors, media and the sports authorities need to work out a way to improve the facilities offered for the game and help in enhancing the training and development of players which can hold their own in the world arena. A fan very aptly wonders how “a population of 1 billion can’t produce 11 good footballers”.

This is the thought in my mind as I see my daughters chasing the ball all around my garden, intent only on manoeuvring the ball into my jasmine bush, which is their temporary goal post, oblivious to the mud accumulating as they slip on the wet grass spoiling a pair of decent shorts!

Watching them I think it is time to wake up and focus our energies to encourage such immense pool of raw talent from all parts of our country and work towards improving this exhilarating sport and I am sure one day we will have 11 Bhaichung Bhutias on the Indian team, bringing much awaited laurels to Indian football.

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