ISL: FC Pune City gives off a royal vibe and its future looks bright

Pune is a city known for sports, especially cricket, badminton and horse racing. What else do you except in a city which is inhabited by students and retired defense personnel? In fact, modern badminton was invented in Pune and at one point a group of Britishers seriously considered naming the sport Poona. But football and Pune? The sport is not part of the city’s past but it may just become part of the city’s present and future. [caption id=“attachment_1756031” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Facebook.[/caption] On the weekends in most open spaces, you can hear the sound of boots kicking a ball. The Liverpool FC-DSK Shivajians international football academy, a sprawling state-of-the-art residential facility on the outskirts of the city, is a testimony to the love the current generation of Punities have for the beautiful game. This was probably why the Wadhawan Group and actor Hrithik Roshan decided to invest in FC Pune City. With an eye to develop young talent FC Pune City has a strategic tie-up with Italian football major ACF Fiorentina. The club’s identity draws inspiration from the pride of the city - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. As a tribute to him the club has incorporated the fortress in their logo. However, this fortress has no features of Maratha artistic styles instead it looks very European, maybe as a deliberate attempt to incorporate the cosmopolitan feel of the city or maybe to give ACF Fiorentina reassurance that they too have a stake in the club. That being said it is a good looking powerful logo. Very easy to remember. The flag, the horses and the orange and purple color scheme add a very regal touch to the identity of the club. The logo as well as the choice of colors beautifully brings alive the club motto of passion, honour and glory. As a color, purple combines the stability of blue and the energy of red. Purple is associated with royalty. It symbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and ambition. It conveys wealth and extravagance. However to ensure that the club does not go overboard with this “Royal” association they have very strategically used orange. Orange is a color associated with joy, sunshine and the tropics. To me the team represents royalty, the kind which is loved by the people and is fighting on behalf of them for their honour. While the brand may not be a modern day personification of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, it comes pretty close. This is an interesting space to play in. FC Pune City somewhere reminds me of the IPL team Rajasthan Royals. Though unlike the Royals, FC Pune has fully immersed itself in this royalty mode. Personally I like it. The brand is very sharply defined and this will only make life simpler for the marketing team going forward. As far as the club is considered, being in Pune is good news. Pune is one of the youngest cities in the country and by now it is an established fact that the Millennials consider football as their number one sport. As one of them told me, “Cricket is my father’s sport, football is mine.”The future for FC Pune City looks bright.