@Deb_Ban Well that is where I would disagree. Based on what I have read from @Gaffertape in the past I doubt Pune FC would do something. Thus why this is the suggestion thread and it is nice and healthy to discuss these things. However, in reality, if Pune is really what we hear about them from insiders then I doubt much will change.
You are right in that Bengaluru FC have created a fantastic football culture which is something Pune never did. And it is not as if there is no following already in the city because the Blackburn Rovers vs. Pune game a couple seasons ago managed to have a packed Balewadi Stadium. So it is possible but do they want it?
I also agree with what you said about the AIFF and how they should pre-select cities. Football is a sport where the big markets will eventually overshadow the small markets. Look at how in England the top teams come from cities like London, Liverpool, and Manchester while in Spain they come from Barcelona and Madrid, Munich and Dortmund in Germany, Turin, Milan, and Nalpes in Italy, Paris, Marselle in France. Even outside of Asia with Osaka, Guangzhou, Sydney, Melbourne, New York, LA, and Mexico City being focal points in their countries.
That is why I think the future for Indian football is the big markets. Places like Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Jaipur, Lucknow, Nagpur etc are the future. Of course smaller markets will define us like Shillong but smaller places like Sikkim will probably never have an I-League team again. We need corporates who see the potential in the I-League and Indian football and invest in a team in a big city and make it popular like what is happening in Bangalore. Of course we can not expect the same results each time but the same amount of effort should be mandatory.
If we think about it, the whole thing boils down to: i) Having a football culture (which the foreign coaches/ experts harp on and we take offence), ii) understanding football as business (which we don't WANT to accept probably due to our socialist past: you know, 'profit' is a dirty word, we prefer 'social responsibility').
If we accept these two aspects, then it becomes easier for the clubs to to locate/ relocate in big cities, concentrate on gate sales & merchandise, and generally market the club. If we do not, then we fall back on CSR and be in the 150's in ranking.
Okay, next topic then... re-branding/re-launching of the national league. I was doing some random research on US soccer in the 1990s for no reason but bordem and I saw that in the early 1990s, the USSF were required to start a league if they wanted the World Cup. So they made a panel to decide who shall win the rights to being D1 in the US... Major League Soccer, American Professional Soccer League, or League One America. Obviously MLS won the rights there while the APSL has since divided into the NASL and USL Pro, the 2nd and 3rd tiers while League One America never launched.
But League One America caught my eye... that name... it was so much better than the name "Major League Soccer" and 100 times better than the APSL. But they did not win because they wanted to do some stupid things like more points for scoring outside the box, another goal after the first goal, wierd kits etc... almost a T20 Pepsi league we had here for a year but outdoor.
Anyway, I dont want to talk about that... I want to talk about Indian football and the national league. The I-League was formed to bring professionalism to Indian football and while it has slightly done that it is far from that goal and now with the current system in place it seems a little impossible.
So what to do... well I say we launch a brand new league but not under the name I-League... I-League is to bland... to simple and I doubt will capture the young audience India has for football, no, the league IMO should be named "League One India".
Start a new league called the League One India and select 8-10 clubs to compete in a full season. 22-28 game regular season and then a Grand Final at the end between the top team and the second best team to decide the champion. The clubs should be the top clubs in the I-League based on a number of criteria with the AFC criteria being the minimum. We need to create a criteria which is stricter than the AFC one and only those clubs can be inducted into the league. And also, at the same time, have some investors like Tata or, as much as I doubt there intentions, AirAsia create teams here.
Grab the audience this time with this league. We need the owners of the founding members of the LOI to come together to start a mega event where sponsors and potential fans can see and perhaps start to dream of what this league can do. If this can be done successfully then perhaps we could sign up a league sponsor... think "the Airtel League One of India". And then bag a good TV deal and unlike the previous I-League set-up a revenue system which the owners/officials can agree on to benefit the league in the short and long term.
We need people with vision here. Everyone involved should share the same goal to take Indian football to new heights. This means all the clubs giving there all to the league and themselves to make it look lucrative. TV partners making the league look good through the way they broadcast the league. Proper commentators, proper camara definition... graphics! Work outside the field... working to make yourself part of the community.
Also, due to the fact we have shady organizations like the FPAI or even the Referees commision in the AIFF the LOI should create their own organizations for their players/coaches and referees. The "League One India Players Association (LOIPA)" and the "League One India Referee Board (LOIRB)" should be the new organizations here and run professionally, again, based on what owners and officials agree on. It is these associations that will give players and referees a chance to really work with the owners and officials to their benefit. This should also be where the salary cap, player/referee conditions, and other things are discussed.
In terms of structure it would depend on what the owners/officials agree on but I feel having all contracts be owned 50% by the league and 50% of the club would be good. Meaning the club would pay 50% of the players salary while the other 50% is payed by the league. The total 100% salary is still counted on the salary cap though and unlike MLS who made this mistake, the club has all the power here. This would just ease liabilities on the clubs. There should also be 1 marquee spot per team but this marquee needs to be league approved through the officials and the squads would just be max 25 players. 3+1 rule. 10 U23 players at least. Simple.
Now, in terms of the future of the league. I personally want to see the league start with 10 teams but no pro/rel. As the league grows and revenues start showing progress and popularity increases we should add 2 new teams through corporates. Each company that wants a team must be league approved through the owners and officials.
At the end I would like to see a 24 team League One India and then... wait for it... a first for @ArsenalFan700.... an 18-20 team League Two India with promotion/relegation. WOAH! Did ArsenalFan700 just say that pro/rel should be used! Yes, I did... I like it and I think the Indian population have accepted it in football so when the time is right it can be added. And this also makes the name League One India work as the second division would be League Two India. From One to Two.
Anyway, that is it for me. Just a crazy idea which I think can work if given some serious thought and time. It is time for a rebrand, a breath of fresh air, a relaunch... a new future, and this is what I think it should be.
I don't think it is unrealistic. We have seen with the hype of ISL, the rise of Bengaluru FC, and the decreasing numbers in cricket viewership that it is possible. If people with the money are willing then it will get done, perhaps not in this way but the I-League needs to go as the current system is not serving its purpose right now.
Decrease in viewership in cricket is bcoz of election...people love to hear narendra modi speech...wen i'm taking a walk at eve i hear children singing 'aache din aane wale hai' let election get ovr...u wil see guys switching back to cricket...
Comments
If we think about it, the whole thing boils down to: i) Having a football culture (which the foreign coaches/ experts harp on and we take offence), ii) understanding football as business (which we don't WANT to accept probably due to our socialist past: you know, 'profit' is a dirty word, we prefer 'social responsibility').
If we accept these two aspects, then it becomes easier for the clubs to to locate/ relocate in big cities, concentrate on gate sales & merchandise, and generally market the club. If we do not, then we fall back on CSR and be in the 150's in ranking.