Just a year after starting their team with promise aplenty, U Mumba have put their football plans on hold. The Ronnie Screwvala-owned USports fielded a team in the Mumbai District Football Association Elite Division last season, and despite doing well (they lost in the semifinal), they've chosen not to field a team for this season, which began on Monday.
USports CEO Supratik Sen told that the reason they started a football team in the first place was so that they could compete at the highest-possible level in India.
The All India Football Federation had earlier this year given U Mumba a verbal go-ahead to hold trials for an I-League team but later told them not to, stating they were still trying to resolve the problem between the Indian Super League (ISL) and the ILeague.
"Look, we had plans of playing in the I-League this season. That's we started a club in Mumbai just to get an experience of running a football club. We tried our best to get a team in the I-League but they weren't accepting new entries. There's not a lot of clarity on many things in Indian football so we decided to put our plans on hold until there's a definitive future," Sen said.
For a direct entry in the MDFA Elite Division, U Mumba had to pay Rs 11 lakhs. While Sen refuses to give the exact figure, he says they've spent close to Rs 50 lakh in running their team (including age-group teams) last season. "At the end of the day, we have to see what is sustainable. We can't be spending so much money and getting nothing in return. As I've said before, we want to play in the top-most league of the country. Right now it's the ISL and they're not open to new entries currently," Sen said, without ruling out that they could bid for an ISL team in the future.
"We'll cross the bridge when we get to it. As of now, we have nothing planned. All we want to do is play in the top league", he said.
I think U Mumbai has lost hope after there entry was Blocked by FSDL, they very much know Reliance will do anything to prevent any competition with there club Mumbai city fc
such clubs should first field their side in 2nd division. then try to qualify on merit. So many bogus clubs like this one came thru short cut and perished in one year. They are struggling to even pay the entry fees of Mumbai League - and talking about ISL>
Umumba had a set of footballers training in Germany , selected under a scholarship programme in association with Tata trusts....
No idea where those players are now.. one Akash mishra has come back and playing in u19.... Guess no european club wanted to take them, coz tat was the plan of umumba initially....
Hero ISL Children’s League to start from November; registrations underway
07 Nov, 2019 ISL Media Team
The much-awaited Hero ISL Children's League, announced by Mrs. Nita Ambani, Founding Chairperson of Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), at the Hero ISL owner's meet back in August is all set to break ground this month and the registrations are now live.
The Hero ISL Children's League, aimed at strengthening the football grassroots development in the country, will encompass the Under-6, Under-8, Under-10 and Under-12 age groups.
In the first year, the Children’s League will commence in three states, i.e. West Bengal (Kolkata, Hooghly, Howrah), Arunachal Pradesh (Itanagar) and Meghalaya (Shillong), with each district hosting one or more leagues. The long-term goal of the project is to reach 40,000 children under the 6, 8, 10 and 12-year age groups across 12 states over the next three years
@SiV thanks for bringing this up mate!! What on earth happened to Umumba's German training plan for the handpicked talents?? They also had tie up with a German Top tier club! Mahesh Gawli was one of the coaches too training the lads in Germany!
Comments
No idea where those players are now.. one Akash mishra has come back and playing in u19.... Guess no european club wanted to take them, coz tat was the plan of umumba initially....
Hero ISL Children’s League to start from November; registrations underway
The much-awaited Hero ISL Children's League, announced by Mrs. Nita Ambani, Founding Chairperson of Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), at the Hero ISL owner's meet back in August is all set to break ground this month and the registrations are now live.
The Hero ISL Children's League, aimed at strengthening the football grassroots development in the country, will encompass the Under-6, Under-8, Under-10 and Under-12 age groups.
In the first year, the Children’s League will commence in three states, i.e. West Bengal (Kolkata, Hooghly, Howrah), Arunachal Pradesh (Itanagar) and Meghalaya (Shillong), with each district hosting one or more leagues. The long-term goal of the project is to reach 40,000 children under the 6, 8, 10 and 12-year age groups across 12 states over the next three years
What on earth happened to Umumba's German training plan for the handpicked talents?? They also had tie up with a German Top tier club! Mahesh Gawli was one of the coaches too training the lads in Germany!