Mehrajuddin Wadoo hails Pune City boys for super show
FC Pune City U-18 team capped off a successful season under coach Mehrajuddin Wadoo by winning the Super Division title. The Pune outfit maintained their impressive unbeaten record in the tournament by defeating Iron Born FC Under-19 team by a comfortable 4-0 margin in the concluding Super Division match of the Rustomjee-Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA) League 2018-2019 at the Neville D’Souza ground, Bandra.
The young Pune outfit was a disciplined lot who dished a pleasing attacking brand of football to dictate terms throughout. Strikers Akhil Rawat, Mark Zothanpuia, Laldawnkima Lalngathawma and Johnson Singh scored a goal each for the champions.
Pune City finished with an all-win record to tally 15 points and grab pole position and qualify for the Elite Division.
ICL Payyade rode on the brilliance of Aaron Olaide who slammed in all the four goals to steer the team to 4-1 win against Reliance Foundation Young (Under-16) Champs in another match of the same division. Reliance pulled one back through Zidan Ningthoujam. ICL Payyade with nine points from three wins finished runners-up, while Iron Born with seven points was placed third.
The FC Pune City youngsters had also reached the finals of the U-18 I-League this season before losing to Minerva FC 2-0 in the final. Earlier, they had topped the Maharashtra zone qualifiers for U-18 I-League and qualified the All India event from the state along with Reliance Foundation Youth Champs.
FC Pune City seemingly played in the MDFA League for better competition instead of Pune District Football Association’s League. “The team (management) had decided to field U-18 FC Pune City in the MDFA League. We were based in Vashi and trained at Fr. Agnel football stadium for the U-18 I-League and MDFA League. Qualifying for the knock-outs of the U-18 I-League for the first time in team’s history and winning MDFA League was possible due to hard work put in by the boys in the last six months,” said former International footballer Wadoo who played for Mumbai City FC in the Indian Super League and Mumbai FC in the I-League here.
“The team had 30-member squad and half of the team was from Maharashtra, 13 of them from Mumbai and few of them are very talented to play in top flight. We also played practice matches with Elite Division teams like Air India and ONGC and also beat the latter once,” added the former defender.
However despite such a successful season certain uncertainty looms on the team’s participation in Elite division of MDFA next season as Pune based ISL franchise is facing financial difficulties at the moment and have reportedly released many senior Indian and foreign players.
Why FC Pune City moving their base is the last thing football in the city needs
Members of the Orange Army talked to Khel Now about the problems that might befaced if the club shift their base.
Years in the business of football, Pune has succeeded in becoming one of the top destinations for the sport in the state of Maharashtra. Before the Indian Super League(ISL) even came into existence, Pune was amongst the few cities that had multiple clubs featuring in the top tier of the country, I-League.
In 2014, Pune FC, which was a top club not just in the city but all over India, participated for the first time ever in the AFC Champions League Qualifiers against Vietnamese side Hanoi T&T. The likes of Amrinder Singh, Anas Edathodika, Arata Izumi were all part of Pune squad at that time. While the club achieved that feat, it created a lot of buzz around the city and grabbed the attention of lots of youngsters who started following the sport closely.
However, in the same year, the ISL was established and that was followed by a couple of clubs including Pune FC alongwith Kalyani Bharat, getting disbanded. A whole new entity then came into existence under the name of FC Pune City and was run by the Wadhawan Group in partnership with Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan.
The marketing policies of the newfound club and the league overall were very impactful which helped them attract lots of passionate football fans to support them. The Orange Army, Pune City’s dedicated supporters' group, since became an integral part of the club.
By that time, Pune also acquired the academy of Pune FC as youngsters like Sahil Panwarand Ashique Kuruniyan became the club’s priceless possessions. Everything was working in favour of the club and city. In their fourth season, under the tutelage of Ranko Popovic, the Stallions also qualified for the playoffs for the first time since their inception.
During the latter stages of the fifth season however, the news of the club’s financial woes came to light. This was a shocker to everyone. Yet, to provide some relief to the fans and the many aspirants of football in the city, the club's CEO Gaurav Modwel confirmed that Pune City will continue functioning in the ISL next campaign.
“There is a possibility of the club being branded under a different name and the location could move from Pune to another city, depending on how things pan out,” he asserted.
This naturally brings football in the city under threat. After all, football in the city has seen a lot of development at the grassroots level thanks to the academy of Pune City. But now that talks for the club to shift its base are in progress, where does it leave football in the city?
While explaining the impact that the move will have on the city’s football, Ameet Deosthale from the Orange Army stated, “The footballing culture in the city was gathering momentum since the inception of the club. The fans for the game have increased over the years, but I think that Pune is still in the nascent stage of developing a fully-fledged footballing culture even after 5-6 years of the league.”
“The fans would lose out on their team which they thought as akin to their family, whereas the prospective talented players in the city would have to do without the club’s well-established training infrastructure which would surely create a void.”
Another member of the Orange Army Nitin Jadhav said, “The club’s academy has created some great players like Dhanpal Ganesh, Kuruniyan, Gaurav Bora, Panwar and thus we know that Pune is making a huge impact on national football.”
“If the club does happen to move outside the state, I don’t think life will be the same for anyone who loves and cares for football in the city.”
“I would be completely heartbroken if this happens, as Pune deserves more football,” pointed out Ranveer Singh Rathod, while Abhishek Phadke claimed, “FC Pune City is a club meant to be in Pune city.”
Deosthale, who has been a fan of Pune City since its inception, went on to state that fans will stay loyal to the club despite the move, but the confidence of the home ground and their sense of belonging might be lost in transit.
In a way, the reactions of the fans sum up the impact that football in the city will be subjected to. Yet, to their disappointment, the club remains vulnerable to financial snags.
In the end, it all comes down to a simple question. Will the club’s shift prove to be detrimental to the footballing scenario in the city, the answer to which is unfortunately ‘Yes.’
Comments
not a good start but hopefully we will improve
ISL 2018-19: Mehrajuddin Wadoo joins FC Pune City as U-18 coach
Mehrajuddin Wadoo hails Pune City boys for super show
FC Pune City U-18 team capped off a successful season under coach Mehrajuddin Wadoo by winning the Super Division title. The Pune outfit maintained their impressive unbeaten record in the tournament by defeating Iron Born FC Under-19 team by a comfortable 4-0 margin in the concluding Super Division match of the Rustomjee-Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA) League 2018-2019 at the Neville D’Souza ground, Bandra.
The young Pune outfit was a disciplined lot who dished a pleasing attacking brand of football to dictate terms throughout. Strikers Akhil Rawat, Mark Zothanpuia, Laldawnkima Lalngathawma and Johnson Singh scored a goal each for the champions.
Pune City finished with an all-win record to tally 15 points and grab pole position and qualify for the Elite Division.
ICL Payyade rode on the brilliance of Aaron Olaide who slammed in all the four goals to steer the team to 4-1 win against Reliance Foundation Young (Under-16) Champs in another match of the same division. Reliance pulled one back through Zidan Ningthoujam. ICL Payyade with nine points from three wins finished runners-up, while Iron Born with seven points was placed third.
The FC Pune City youngsters had also reached the finals of the U-18 I-League this season before losing to Minerva FC 2-0 in the final. Earlier, they had topped the Maharashtra zone qualifiers for U-18 I-League and qualified the All India event from the state along with Reliance Foundation Youth Champs.
FC Pune City seemingly played in the MDFA League for better competition instead of Pune District Football Association’s League. “The team (management) had decided to field U-18 FC Pune City in the MDFA League. We were based in Vashi and trained at Fr. Agnel football stadium for the U-18 I-League and MDFA League. Qualifying for the knock-outs of the U-18 I-League for the first time in team’s history and winning MDFA League was possible due to hard work put in by the boys in the last six months,” said former International footballer Wadoo who played for Mumbai City FC in the Indian Super League and Mumbai FC in the I-League here.
“The team had 30-member squad and half of the team was from Maharashtra, 13 of them from Mumbai and few of them are very talented to play in top flight. We also played practice matches with Elite Division teams like Air India and ONGC and also beat the latter once,” added the former defender.
However despite such a successful season certain uncertainty looms on the team’s participation in Elite division of MDFA next season as Pune based ISL franchise is facing financial difficulties at the moment and have reportedly released many senior Indian and foreign players.
even likes of Laldawnkima , Piyush joshi , johnson mathews have been clinical
I wont be surprised if majority of these players make it to main team or loaned out like earlier batch
Akhil Rawat-CM
Ishan Dey-FW
Laldawnkima -FW/ winger
Piyush joshi- FW
johnson mathews- I am not sure entirely , have seen him playing as AM and winger too
Why FC Pune City moving their base is the last thing football in the city needs
Members of the Orange Army talked to Khel Now about the problems that might be faced if the club shift their base.
Years in the business of football, Pune has succeeded in becoming one of the top destinations for the sport in the state of Maharashtra. Before the Indian Super League(ISL) even came into existence, Pune was amongst the few cities that had multiple clubs featuring in the top tier of the country, I-League.
In 2014, Pune FC, which was a top club not just in the city but all over India, participated for the first time ever in the AFC Champions League Qualifiers against Vietnamese side Hanoi T&T. The likes of Amrinder Singh, Anas Edathodika, Arata Izumi were all part of Pune squad at that time. While the club achieved that feat, it created a lot of buzz around the city and grabbed the attention of lots of youngsters who started following the sport closely.
However, in the same year, the ISL was established and that was followed by a couple of clubs including Pune FC alongwith Kalyani Bharat, getting disbanded. A whole new entity then came into existence under the name of FC Pune City and was run by the Wadhawan Group in partnership with Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan.
The marketing policies of the newfound club and the league overall were very impactful which helped them attract lots of passionate football fans to support them. The Orange Army, Pune City’s dedicated supporters' group, since became an integral part of the club.
By that time, Pune also acquired the academy of Pune FC as youngsters like Sahil Panwarand Ashique Kuruniyan became the club’s priceless possessions. Everything was working in favour of the club and city. In their fourth season, under the tutelage of Ranko Popovic, the Stallions also qualified for the playoffs for the first time since their inception.
During the latter stages of the fifth season however, the news of the club’s financial woes came to light. This was a shocker to everyone. Yet, to provide some relief to the fans and the many aspirants of football in the city, the club's CEO Gaurav Modwel confirmed that Pune City will continue functioning in the ISL next campaign.
“There is a possibility of the club being branded under a different name and the location could move from Pune to another city, depending on how things pan out,” he asserted.
This naturally brings football in the city under threat. After all, football in the city has seen a lot of development at the grassroots level thanks to the academy of Pune City. But now that talks for the club to shift its base are in progress, where does it leave football in the city?
While explaining the impact that the move will have on the city’s football, Ameet Deosthale from the Orange Army stated, “The footballing culture in the city was gathering momentum since the inception of the club. The fans for the game have increased over the years, but I think that Pune is still in the nascent stage of developing a fully-fledged footballing culture even after 5-6 years of the league.”
“The fans would lose out on their team which they thought as akin to their family, whereas the prospective talented players in the city would have to do without the club’s well-established training infrastructure which would surely create a void.”
Another member of the Orange Army Nitin Jadhav said, “The club’s academy has created some great players like Dhanpal Ganesh, Kuruniyan, Gaurav Bora, Panwar and thus we know that Pune is making a huge impact on national football.”
“If the club does happen to move outside the state, I don’t think life will be the same for anyone who loves and cares for football in the city.”
“I would be completely heartbroken if this happens, as Pune deserves more football,” pointed out Ranveer Singh Rathod, while Abhishek Phadke claimed, “FC Pune City is a club meant to be in Pune city.”
Deosthale, who has been a fan of Pune City since its inception, went on to state that fans will stay loyal to the club despite the move, but the confidence of the home ground and their sense of belonging might be lost in transit.
In a way, the reactions of the fans sum up the impact that football in the city will be subjected to. Yet, to their disappointment, the club remains vulnerable to financial snags.
In the end, it all comes down to a simple question. Will the club’s shift prove to be detrimental to the footballing scenario in the city, the answer to which is unfortunately ‘Yes.’