I agree with the basic premises of the article. Football has faded away from the collective imagination of the average Bengali. What I observed is that, it is not fashionable to discuss football publicly in Kolkata, except for the Derby day. Middle class Bengali children are not taking to football. The sport is still living in the lower strata of the society and in the rural Muslim and Adivasis. This socio-economic condition is the reason why emerging players cannot manage their lives and fade away. Also, the lack of organised mentoring has resulted in young players having low technical abilities.
It's a shame that more Spanish players play in the Big Two than local Bengalis. This in the long run is going to create a disconnect between the sport and the public.
I agree with your point's, but if you think carefully about the headline it was designed by Bangladeshi media to be provoking and to start a separatist movement in WB, they want to show Bengali players are oppressed in India football, just to start hate in a average Bengal so one day WB breaks away from India and joins Bangladesh, they have already started ethnic delusion of WB by pushing millions of illegal Bangladeshis into WB, they are sleeper cells when they are activated they will ask for "Freedom" for WB if not they will start terrorism just like Kashmir.
@Deb_Ban: Just like to add one point to your insightful observation. I would say that it is not fashionable to discuss Indian footballamong the middle and upper-middle class Bengali society but a certain strain within Bengali society religiously follows the fortunes of say, a Manchester City or a Real Madrid or Barcelona, though I am not at all sure whether the do it due to their zeal for football or because of their adoration of the so-called "metrosexuality" of the Beckhams and Rooneys and the Cristiano Ronaldos. East Bengal and Mohun Bagan are simply not "cool" to the Gen X, who because of their ready access to the internet and cable TV, are usually more interested in following the Premier League or the La Liga (if they are interested in football at all)!
Football has always been and always will be a sport of the lower strata of society! Posh English kids dont play football, they play cricket! But Bengal needs a footballing hero and Chhetri isnt a jamai, his chutiya FIL Loga is hated by half of Bengal's football fans! Chhetri isnt a Bengali, isnt from Bengal and doesnt play here, we dont have a connection with him and will never have!
Do you consider the middle class as the "lower strata of society"? As far as I know, the Bengali middle class of the yesteryear, in the 50s, 60s and 70s were much more into football than today's generation. Of course, they did not have ready access to international football that we have today. India's lifting the World Cup in 1983 and the concomitant cricket craze also diminished the interest in football to a certain extent.
"Posh English kids dont play football, they play cricket!"--Is this in response to my post? Nowhere have I tried to make a comparison between the footballing cultures of India and England, so I don't see the relevance of this statement. The only point that I was trying to make (in response to @Deb_Ban's statement that "Bengali kids are not taking to football") is that today's generation are more interested in EPL and La Liga than in the fortunes of an East Bengal or Mohun Bagan.
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The so called sports journalists of Kolkata probably isn't even aware of it.
That way Punjab has suprisinsurp a lot of national players.
"Posh English kids dont play football, they play cricket!"--Is this in response to my post? Nowhere have I tried to make a comparison between the footballing cultures of India and England, so I don't see the relevance of this statement. The only point that I was trying to make (in response to @Deb_Ban's statement that "Bengali kids are not taking to football") is that today's generation are more interested in EPL and La Liga than in the fortunes of an East Bengal or Mohun Bagan.