Mahammedan Sporting wins I-league and goes to top level ISL.
What does this mean for Indian football? One shouldn't read much in the fortunes of a single club, but I think it is a defeat for the concept for ISL. Because, after partially opening up ISL, we find three clubs from one football zone Kolkata. I am sure, if Goan clubs were not so pessimistic in outlook, the top tier would have been teeming with Goan clubs as well like before. Then there are the Kerala clubs and clubs from NE.
Now what does it tell?
In capital letters: football is thriving in the traditional pockets, in spite of so much efforts by FSDL to 'spread' the game. Their Pune experiment has failed, Delhi and Hyderabad almost so. So has their attempts to club the whole North -East into one. Lots of clubs, and more importantly, players, are coming out of the NE. All these mean FSDL couldn't popularize the game beyond the traditional pockets. On the other hand, their 'one city, one club' policy has killed Goan football for one (how many Goan players in the national team?). Kolkata football would also have died if only ATK were to represent the city. One was basically restricting the multiple channels of growth in the name of sustainability.
Luckily promotion were started, and more than one channels opened. With cloud-based clubs relegating (Hyderabad would go down this year if relegation were allowed), ISL would more and more look like I-league.
One allegation against the I-league clubs is that of quality. I think it truly represent the quality of a 130 ranked country. India only deserve a league as good as it's players are. The main league should always remain organic and open. We should start working from this line, not whitewashing it with a unjustified amount of money, in the process making the league unviable. And certainly not with a bunch of synthetic clubs with unlimited money and no tie with the roots. And of course not by a handfull of administrators who think only they understand Indian football.
hmm. i realize the situation which would like NFL/I league during late 90s and early 2000s. so how abut restricting clubs from the same city/state to max 3 or 4. in this way several new non legacy clubs with no local community support can shift their base to other unrepresented state and make a community there and get to play from that city.
One recent example I want to give is about SC Bengaluru who got promoted to I league. Now I don't think Bengaluru needs 2 clubs. They can shift to Mysuru and create local community support and create a rivalry with Bengaluru FC.
hmm. i realize the situation which would like NFL/I league during late 90s and early 2000s. so how abut restricting clubs from the same city/state to max 3 or 4. in this way several new non legacy clubs with no local community support can shift their base to other unrepresented state and make a community there and get to play from that city.
One recent example I want to give is about SC Bengaluru who got promoted to I league. Now I don't think Bengaluru needs 2 clubs. They can shift to Mysuru and create local community support and create a rivalry with Bengaluru FC.
Yep and at this stage it is easier to change and grow. Odisha has been a great move we all need to acknowledge. I am sure there are so many other cities we can leverage. Clubs should have a long term vision and move in that direction to unlock new zones where passion is there.
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One recent example I want to give is about SC Bengaluru who got promoted to I league. Now I don't think Bengaluru needs 2 clubs. They can shift to Mysuru and create local community support and create a rivalry with Bengaluru FC.
I saw some youtube videos of Kohlapur football. I would call it Malappuram equivalent of Maharasthra.