Read in the newspapers today that emboldemed by the success of BFC, AIFF is floating tenders for two more corporate teams on same terms as BFC. Tatas and Eagles are interested. AIFF is trying to rope in the unsuccessful bidders of ISL.
Is is real or just a PR stunt from AIFF? Can anyone shed more light into this?
@DX So you rather have corporate or religous named clubs? Really? Ya this is India but where is the proof that it works? IPL and HIL are our two most successful leagues in India and look at the direction they go. Bengaluru FC is our most recent success in Indian football and look at them.
Perhaps some Tata Steele Works FC can garner some fans depending on how they do but please don't believe fans are idiots who will support automatically if you win, they will also support if they feel a connection to the club and if you are a brand new club then naming yourself after the city or state you are in is a good start. Won't automatically do it but it is a good start.
Also what the hell are you talking about with the EPL? Hell, my team is not even named after a city. You are right in that we can not copy them but that is only because those clubs are over 50-100 years old. People grew with them. Here we are talking about making clubs from scratch in an already unpopular league. Difference!
The entire argument that i was making is that, Fans here find it more acceptable to have team names after cities. You are talking more of recent history my friend, Indian football is different. In India till the 90's football clubs were named after institutions and had a religious following too in there locality.
You can take a look at all the old clubs and their history such as ICF, Indian Bank etc, Am sure my Kolkata mates have examples of thier own.
They had huge derbies between them, Its only after the EPL generation took over that people started comparing our methods against them. We cannot brush away decades old methods of the way our football was working just bcos EPL had that way.
@ChelseaIndia. Mate In india Football Clubs in general belong to the owners and not to the fans, Look above at my examples, Old institutional clubs had rich following till the mid 90's and lost out due to EPL coverage. Btw Hull city's majority fans accept the fact that they can name the club as Hull Tigers because it can be marketed better, Its the Owner who wants to change it not the fans.
@DX Ahhhh, in that case I slightly agree but in some cases I don't. Personally, I don't know if it is because I have spoilt myself in terms of the football I watch/follow or what but I don't view the "history of Indian football" with much contentment as others might. Really, the only thing from the old history that I sorta like is the East Bengal-Mohun Bagan rivalry which brings in fans but when I think about it I am reminded of what Australia used to have with their derbies and violence. Of course they were much worse than EB-MB but the point still stands.
Perhaps the EPL generation is on to something here. The old traditions of Indian football have been tried and they failed to be honest. Here we are now, languishing at the basement of football so it is not as if they have helped us much. It is like what I saw with the Africans, they may be good and provide results but they don't improve us as a whole.
Look at two guys like Cornell Glenn and Ranti Martins. Both players are really good and provide goals for their clubs but where they differ is the profile and what the can provide off the pitch. Glenn can provide leadership to the younger players, his experience in better leagues and internationally can be utilized to help improve the club, Ranti Martins does not have that. All he has is a record in Indian football, not something I would look back on in 20 years and be prideful about.
And now look at two teams, Bengaluru FC and Salgaocar. Both teams are very good, have announced initiatives to develop youth, and apparently market their side to fans. Difference? Bengaluru FC created a connection to their fans and city. They marketed themselves well which bought in the fans. They were smart in how they ran themselves and that to success. Salgaocar, well, as far as I hear not much is done. I saw a picture of their "store" and it was a little table at Fatorda Stadium or Tilak (forget where).
That is the difference I am seeing here and personally I would like to see it continue. No more of the same old African/Brazilians we saw here in India and no more institutial/company named clubs. We made a massive step when we got rid of Air India and ONGC and clubs made sure to have at least 1 player who had some pedigree but we need to move even more forward IMO if we are to be successful, esspecially with the new AFC rules.
Regarding TATA FC or Jamshedpur FC , I think it would be TATA FC and it should be and there won't be any problems for locals to connect with it if it's situated here in Jamshedpur. Even our railway station is named after that (TATAnagar ).And fyi Jamshedpur is named after the founder of Tata , Jamshedji . The way i-league under 19 is promoted here by TATA Steel (Hoardings, Print Ads, regular coverage in print media, Ads in FM) it seems they are quite interested in the Football Club.
Tata FC is absolutely fine; Tata Jaguars FC would be fabulous! But it has to be in Jamshedpur/ Tatanagar, not in Mumbai like Tata Sports Club earlier ...
Now you are going in the wrong direction @kid grow up. When the whole city won't have any problem you are having a problem. Jamshedpur guys won't connect with Jaguars much. Lack of proper airport might a problem for the time being but they can always use the Sonari airport, if they want to hold international matches and all.
Both Keenan and JRD stadium needs a revamp plus floodlights and if they own a football club they might just revamp it. With Ranchi getting a cricket stadium, Jamshedpur stadiums can be used solely for Football and since both the stadiums are built by Tata's , they can easily give their own flavour to the stadiums.
Comments
Is is real or just a PR stunt from AIFF? Can anyone shed more light into this?
The way i-league under 19 is promoted here by TATA Steel (Hoardings, Print Ads, regular coverage in print media, Ads in FM) it seems they are quite interested in the Football Club.
Lots of stuff revealed here about why Bangalore, youth developments, stadium plans etc. Very nice stuff and makes me optimistic about the I-League.
Lack of proper airport might a problem for the time being but they can always use the Sonari airport, if they want to hold international matches and all.
Both Keenan and JRD stadium needs a revamp plus floodlights and if they own a football club they might just revamp it. With Ranchi getting a cricket stadium, Jamshedpur stadiums can be used solely for Football and since both the stadiums are built by Tata's , they can easily give their own flavour to the stadiums.