Watch out cricket: ISL has sparked a revival of football in Delhi

“My favourite player is Wim Raymaekers,” beams 13-year old Shivansh Anand as he practices his short passes at the IIT football ground in New Delhi. Not Alessandro Del Piero, not Nicolas Anelka, not Elano, not Robert Pires, not Freddie Ljungberg but Raymaekers? Not many would know who Raymaekers is but the 13-year old Anand who wants to become a defender knows every detail about the Belgian footballer. In this sense, the arrival of the Indian Super League is proving to be a boon for those looking to revive interest in football in India’s national capital. Once upon a time Delhi had decent football following. Clubs like Young Men Sporting Club, City Club, Indian National, New Delhi Heroes, Mughals, had a strong fan base. But over time, a lack of organisation and poor planning meant football slowly faded into oblivion. [caption id=“attachment_1825951” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Wim Raymaekers celebrates after scoring a goal in. ISL[/caption] Delhi has hosted prestigious tournaments such as the Durand Cup, Nehru Cup, South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship, but has struggled to produce top quality players or a top football club. Currently, there are no clubs from Delhi in the I-league. Cricket dominates every other sport here. But suddenly, the energy and verve for football can be seen on the playgrounds and maidans of Delhi. There is enthusiasm among the locals and the kids. “Beyond a shadow of doubt, ISL has achieved what it had set out to in the first year specially and it has created the spark in the the city,” says Mr. Kishore Taid, Director of Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools, as he watches his academy kids train at the football ground in IIT Delhi. Decent crowds, on an average about 15,000, have been thronging to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to watch matches. Even the tournaments such as Nehru Cup do not attract such crowds, except for the finals when India is playing. Rajesh Mehrotra, who is the director of the Paris Saint-Germain Academy in Delhi, says, “ISL has managed to make the game very glamorous. The games are held under lights, there is a good atmosphere in the stadium, there are foreign stars, there is a lot of good marketing around it. There is consistency in the programming schedule so you know that you have a game everyday at 7 pm.” “We took around 50 kids from our academy to watch an ISL match at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium. They simply loved the experience. Because till now, they have been used to watching good quality football only on TV. Watching a match in the stadium is different from watching it on TV. The energy in the stadium, the chants and fun makes a whole lot of difference. This gives them more sense of belonging for the sport so that has been a great boon by ISL, it has suddenly brought football into limelight in Delhi. Danny Muinao, who is a senior coach at the Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools and has formerly played for Mohammedan Sporting and Churchill Brothers in the I-League, has 10 years of experience in professional football. He believes the matches offer a great opportunity for kids to learn from live games. “We had taken the U-15 squad to watch the training session of the Delhi Dynamos,” Muinao said. “The kids watch the ISL matches and the next day in the training session, they analyse where a particular team went wrong and what could they have done to get it right and we too try and correct their mistakes by giving examples from the ISL matches.” It isn’t just the kids either. Their parents are coming to stadium too. “Most parents are positive about the league but some parents compare the quality with the European Leagues but this is just first season and it will take some time for Indian football to reach that level,” Kishore said “We have about 150 children in our Elite group and 90 percent of their parents have watched one or two matches with their kids in the stadium. Traditionally, parents in Delhi have talked their children out of careers in football because there was no career path. Delhi does not even have an I-League team. But with the arrival of ISL and the Delhi Dynamos, things seem to be slowly changing and the parents are encouraging their kids to take up football. “We have received a lot of encouragement from our parents after the arrival of the ISL,” says 16-year old Tarun Sharma, a student at the Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools. “Before the ISL we were only encouraged by our coaches but after ISL, everyone has started encouraging us. “In the past, we used to watch the matches only on TV but after watching it in the stadium, it creates a lot of difference, we get an inner feeling that one day we went to enter that field and play. Even the parents of my friends who used to restrict them from playing football citing no future scope, have eased the restrictions and allow the kids to play the beautiful game,” The parents that Firstpost spoke to backed up Tarun Shama’s claims. “The ISL has increased my enthusiasm as a parent, I see it as a very big platform. says Sylvester, who has taken time off from his busy schedule to watch his son Rahul practice. “There is always a chance and a space for a child to showcase his skills going further, Another parent, Mrs. Ashmeet, says, “Tournaments like ISL are helping our kids get more active. They want to play more and more football. I would love him to make a career in football.” Delhi has constantly churned out quality cricketers such as Bishen Singh Bedi, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir, but there when it comes to football, Delhi children don’t have anyone to look up to or idolise. Munmun Lugun, a 21-year-old talented footballer who trained at the Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools, is the only local player who has made it to the Delhi Dynamos squad. He hasn’t featured in the starting eleven in any of the games up till now but is touted as one of the brightest stars in Indian football. The entire football fraternity in Delhi knows Munmun and if he is playing on the field, it helps generate the connect with the local fans. Youngsters can follow his example which gives them the motivation to emulate their heroes. Delhi needs to create more such heroes. The ISL has provided the spark for revival. Hopefully, these are signs of more good things to come.