Football is and will remain a sport of the masses the world over. There is no other team sporting spectacle as big as the Soccer World Cup. The game has no frontier; it has no religion and certainly no language. It is beautiful; it is captivating and it is imaginative. The World loves it.

The game was the Numero Uno sport in India till cricket broke the barrier by winning the 1983 Prudential World Cup in England. Since that historic achievement 29 years ago, cricket today has taken up the No. 1 position. Cricket has grown from Test format to ODI to T20, constantly evolving and bring in variety to sustain interest among the masses.

The Indian Cricket Board had no money to felicitate its heroes of 1983 till one mandarin suggested a Lata Mangeshkar show to raise money. The Kapil's Devils were successfully honoured but the administrators in the Board realised the need to raise money to spread the game. And now the BCCI is perhaps the richest sporting body in India. It also made the International Cricket Council (ICC), which governs the game in the World, as rich, if not richer.

And the beautiful game remained the same in India with an amateurish setup controlling it.

Even in those days Kolkata football was different. It was considered as the “Mecca of Indian Football.'' The three Big Clubs – Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting – took the game to different a plane by attracting the best talent in the country. Kolkata became the last stop for football stars. There was time when the Indian team had 90 per cent of the players from Kolkata.

Football players were paid handsomely by the Kolkata clubs but not openly. The outlook was amateurish. Plenty of players came from adjoining districts of Kolkata and emerged as top flight footballers for both the clubs and the country but their level of ambition was restricted to own a house, a car and substantial bank balance. They all loved the adulation of club supporters and enjoyed the superstar tag. Some even preferred Club over Country.

The talent these clubs attracted helped the Kolkata clubs to dominate Indian football. With the introduction of National Football League in 1996-97, teams outside Kolkata began to assert itself. In fact, JCT won the inaugural league. Since 2007-08 the name was changed to I-League. This gruelling tournament, spread over many months, became the most important fixture of Indian football.

I-League clubs needed to professionalise themselves to the demands of the game. Both McDowell Mohun Bagan and Kingfisher East Bengal became limited companies to attract corporate sponsorship as Mohammedan Sporting faded away failing to sustain financially.

Both Mohun Bagan and East Bengal were quick to recover and dominate the tournament by winning the NFL six times with each sharing the spoils equally. The last time a Kolkata club (East Bengal) won the title was in 2003-04. Thereafter, it was all the way by teams from Goa except in 2005-06 when the now defunct Mahindra United lifted the title.

It was not difficult to see the reasons for the Kolkata club's discomfiture for the past seven years. Even this year, Goa's Dempo SC is well set to annex the title. The two clubs, having a large number of passionate supporters, were expected to win everything in sight. In such a demanding situation, overflowing emotion takes precedence over logic.

Clubs like Shillong Lajong FC, which has successfully built a fan base, and Pune FC have completely different approach to the game with a CEO running the show. A clear vision, proper planning and building a balanced team are some of the areas that need urgent attention. Winning is a habit. And to achieve this virtue there has to be a method. Kolkata clubs will do well to develop the method.

>saba@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW