I love how you posted this here and not the Bharat FC thread where @nameWTHeld has said he thought the team would be gone before we got 100 posts on that thread... there are 62 currently. Are you two working with each other? #GaffertapeConspiracy
But seriously, I am hoping they decide to fold. I expect it will be one of those "We do not currently see the financial benefits to an I-League team so we will instead focus on our grassroots and youth teams and come back better than ever in the near future" bullshit. And I do not believe they really did the Bengaluru FC copy/paste. I mean, that is probably what they were going for but it was horridly executed. What Bengaluru FC did can be replicated in other areas across India. Obviously you can't go full on copy/paste or expect the exact same results but you can observe what made them what they are, from the first-team, to the youth, to the sponsorships/fans etc. and go from there.
I mean, look at what Bengaluru FC did first... Bengaluru FC... the name. It's brilliant!!! They created a wonderful brand and image. Meanwhile, what did Kalyani do? Kalyani Bharat FC? What the fucking fuck shit is that! You ain't gaining fans with that shitastic name! Their uniforms were also bland and tasteless. The appointment of Watkiss was also rubbish compared to Westwood, who obviously wants to do what is best with Bengaluru FC and who was a younger manager seemingly eager to impress (Can't wait to see if Thompson is that at Salgaocar). And the signing of the old-school with Stanley Rozario was also pretty daft honestly. It's like signing on fucking Subrata Bhattacharya or Subhash Bhowmick to the role!
They may have tried to copy and paste Bengaluru FC but looking deep down I think they lost the plot along the way. Bengaluru FC IS something that ISL teams should look at.
Bengaluru FC is not the first club to have name of city. Pune FC, Mumbai FC have done it before. In the 90s, F C Kochin was hugely popular. It was also called Professional club. F C Kochi used to attract crowd upto 80 thousand when they used to play in Cochin say 15 years back.
Pune FC hardly get any supporters, what can Kalyani Bharat achieve? Wrong city.
I will keep referencing that Blackburn Rovers game in the pouring rain till the cows come home. Also, not as if Pune FC were ever that far from Bengaluru FC numbers, the Balewadi Stadium has over 20,000 in capacity. 3,000-5,000 a game will look small there, specially when people are spread out.
And it is not just there name. Its the overall brand behind the team that has made them successful. The logo is beautiful, the kits look professional, even the training kits. The marketing has been spot on, their signings have been great, the way they treat their fans... and of course, performance on the field. You can also look at the Bangalore Football Stadium and how having the 7,000 fans that went to every game condensed to a few areas really brought about an amazing "party like" atmosphere which probably convinced some people to come back.
Pune will be one of those cities where you will need to work a bit harder in order to get more fans into the games. You also have to be better with what parts you open up to create a good atmosphere and create a brand which the people can get behind. Pune FC had those aspects for a while but I don't feel it was enough quite honestly and it did not help that the Balewadi Stadium is not even in the city proper and is not a football-built stadium.
The demise of Kochi FC really makes me sad. The club established itself, made Kochi a formidable football centre and then died (I think because of financial mismanagement).
Pune FC is a mystery. While they ticked all the right boxes (like Bengaluru FC) on paper, they did not click beyond a limit. I think fans got distraught for lack of some major silverware.
Mumbai FC I think suffers from a policy hold-back due to the cash crunch faced by Zee Group post-ICL. Otherwise, they were moving fine.
KBFC just gives me the laughs. They are everything a club shouldn't be doing.
These guys are rubbish, not one of their showrooms as any of their ileague merchandise (even though they are kitting argubably the 3 most popular brands)...all I can see in their showrooms are colourful chaddis
I mean the sae guys Kunal Agarwal & Mandar Tamhane who were there at the inception of Bengalore FC also tried to show off their "expertise" by thinking they could do the same at their home town Pune with KBFC
As for the Ashley Westwood versus Stuart Watkiss..... they kind of got lucky... the 1st choice for BFC was the current Cambridge manager a certain Richard Money.... incidently Arthur Papas also told me that he turned down BFC for Dempo , as he wanted to win things in 2years & then move on to bigger things...
Stanley Rozario scouting knowledge isn't a shadow on Pradyum Reddy , and that any fool can see that...you don't have to be an IFN expert
The kit , stadium etc were all big mistakes by KBFC , but the biggest difference is the marketing & social media impact BFC made... their media manager is the best in India , and it is all too evident..
DSK in my opinion are going about setting up a Pune based club in a much more organic way than PFC or KBFC , and in the long run , I feel they will be the best of the Pune bunch...
FC Kochi was such a great idea, shame they had no business plan ,, and such spending was unfeasible...
Aizawl Fc will be a great addition to the League this year...can't wait for the opening games, the fans are already bursting at the seams with excitement
Comments
Pune FC hardly get any supporters, what can Kalyani Bharat achieve? Wrong city.
Pune FC is a mystery. While they ticked all the right boxes (like Bengaluru FC) on paper, they did not click beyond a limit. I think fans got distraught for lack of some major silverware.
Mumbai FC I think suffers from a policy hold-back due to the cash crunch faced by Zee Group post-ICL. Otherwise, they were moving fine.
KBFC just gives me the laughs. They are everything a club shouldn't be doing.