Australia has only 10 teams in the a-league. I'd say we wait till the academies are ready and let better players come into the system before any big expansion.
@DX Oh come on. What is this? Just because these cups were a part of Indian football does not mean we should just bring them back. And why damage the reputation of these cups through making them youth tournaments? Just create a new tournament under a new name, maybe sell the name off for sponsorship reasons.
I don't mind IFA Shield being a U19 tournament as long as IFA can bring atleast good U19 teams from say ACL clubs or Latin American too tier clubs. One ACL clu U-19 team, one SAmerican U-19 team, U-19 teams of EB, MB, PFC, BFC, USC, TFA and AIFF Goa Academy.
But why do that? Just start a new tournament then with a new name. The IFA Shield has been won and played for by some of the best in Indian football and now we are content with it as a U19 tournament?
You have what? 10 indian players per team x 8 franchises? You got 80 indian players, What will the rest do? You need smaller teams & youngsters to play in these tournaments and local cups else for a country this big, It will be unviable for any one to start a club. Your amateur clubs will fail & Promising but Raw talent that we have wont get noticed. I dont mind when a Pune FC, Dempo fail because these are corporates.
Its the smaller clubs if fail can really stop the engine of producing players. Your I-league academies are not upto the scratch but remember your IM Vijayan's, Bhaichung's & Sunil didnt come only through amateur football.
Plus your players coming from elite academies need a breeding ground to play, Not every top club would want a budding academy graduate playing in the top 16.
So your answer is to bring Durand cup, Rovers cup and which ever local cup/league competitions so youngsters and reserve players can have a chance to perform and make a living.
I don't mind the local tournaments... what I am against is going back to what Indian football was before. I-League for a certain period and then a few weeks of this tournament and then this tournament and then this tournament. They were not even proper FA Cup-style tournaments but just literally things that took 2-3 weeks and then done.
True, The reason is because you didnt have money. Indian football was left to market forces and international expertise. They want to tap the massive Indian market potential for money, While AIFF couldnt penetrate the market and unburdened these responsibilities to mere supervisory role.
Its fine as long as we get better infrastructure and quality wise both domestically as well as Internationally. We have the economic power to withstand pin pricks of money taken potentially by IMG/REL.
"what I am against is going back to what Indian football was before. I-League for a certain period and then a few weeks of this tournament and then this tournament and then this tournament."
My reply to your post for the Haphazard handling of the calendar and shorter durations is the lack of money in the game earlier.
Those tournaments can be used as pre-season tournaments for clubs before I-league or 2nd Division starts. Clubs can test various combinations, Foreigners on trials. Also we only have 100 odd players for IMG-Reliance league. Other tournaments give window of opportunity to other players as well as clubs to participate rather then just sitting and not playing anything. Durand Cup, IFA Shield, Rovers Cup all have their own significance.
Why this fascination suddenly for youth tournaments? I understand that youth tourneys are important but we have separate tournaments for youth and separate for senior teams. Instead of converting senior tournements to youth, look at Dutta Ray Trophy, B C Roy Trophy, Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy, Subroto Cup which are youth tournemnts. If there are not enough senior tournaments, there will not be enough clubs and where will these junior players go when they reach age of 20-21 or so.
Comments
Its the smaller clubs if fail can really stop the engine of producing players. Your I-league academies are not upto the scratch but remember your IM Vijayan's, Bhaichung's & Sunil didnt come only through amateur football.
Plus your players coming from elite academies need a breeding ground to play, Not every top club would want a budding academy graduate playing in the top 16.
So your answer is to bring Durand cup, Rovers cup and which ever local cup/league competitions so youngsters and reserve players can have a chance to perform and make a living.
Its fine as long as we get better infrastructure and quality wise both domestically as well as Internationally. We have the economic power to withstand pin pricks of money taken potentially by IMG/REL.
I-League for a certain period and then a few weeks of this tournament
and then this tournament and then this tournament."
My reply to your post for the Haphazard handling of the calendar and shorter durations is the lack of money in the game earlier.
Why this fascination suddenly for youth tournaments? I understand that youth tourneys are important but we have separate tournaments for youth and separate for senior teams. Instead of converting senior tournements to youth, look at Dutta Ray Trophy, B C Roy Trophy, Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy, Subroto Cup which are youth tournemnts. If there are not enough senior tournaments, there will not be enough clubs and where will these junior players go when they reach age of 20-21 or so.