In the inaugural ten-team I-League, in 2007 there were four sides from Goa and none from the northeast. A decade later there are three teams, one each from Mizoram, Manipur and Meghalaya in the 11th I-League and just one from Goa. The rise and fall of the Goa clubs in just a decade also reflects the churning process going on in Indian football.
The start of the I-League in the 2007-08 season heralded the domination of Goa clubs. Dempo and Churchill Brothers finished as joint toppers in the inaugural ONGC I-League with 36 points each. However, Dempo were declared as champions on superior goal difference. In the next edition, three clubs from Goa finished in the top four. Churchill Brothers became champions, Sporting Clube de Goa (SCG) finished third and Dempo fourth. In the third I-League in 2009-10, Dempo finished first with 54 points from 26 matches a whopping eleven points ahead of their nearest challenger Churchill Brothers.
Similarly, in the fourth I-League, there were three Goa teams in the top four with Salgaocar as champion with Dempo on third and Churchill Brothers fourth. In 2010-11, Dempo won the 5th I-League with a record haul of 57 points, scoring 59 goals.
Goa clubs won the first six editions of the I-League, Dempo thrice, Churchill Brothers twice and Salgaocar once. The famous Kolkata clubs Mohun Bagan and East Bengal got eclipsed and in six years, finished runners up just once each. Bagan was runners up in 2008-09 and East Bengal led for most of the 2010-11 edition, but came second to Salgaocar. For the first time ever, both Bagan and East Bengal felt inferior in away matches, such was the aura of invincibility about Dempo in particular. During the time span 2005-2012, Dempo became the most successful Indian club winning two National Football League (NFL) and three I-League titles.
Unbelievably, 10 years later, in the 11th Hero I-League, there is just one club from Goa, Churchill Brothers, a low budget team not expected to contest for the title. Salgaocar FC, Dempo SC and Sporting Clube de Goa have withdrawn from the I-League as they believed that the All India Football Federation’s policies were flawed. Indian Arrows (consisting of India’s U-17 and U-19 players) is playing their home matches in Goa, but they are not a Goan club. This is reflected in attendance figures. Just 218 people watched their first match against Chennai City FC.
The decline of the traditional clubs in Goa is also causing unemployment to young players from the state. Young Goan players like Brian Mascarenhas (Salgaocar) from a rural background, or midfielder Rocky Baretto (Churchill Brothers), who at the turn of the century was an orphan and used his football talent to escape from poverty, are being denied employment or a career in the game.
It is not just the Goa clubs, but clubs from all over the country have backed out or have shut shop. What should be a cause of concern to Sunando Dhar, the CEO of the I-League, and other AIFF officials is the rapid increase in dropouts. In every recent I-League, teams from the previous edition are not there. DSK Shivajians that finished seventh in the 10th I-League and whose infrastructure was praised by the national coach Stephen Constantine last year has closed their senior team citing high costs. This Pune-based club had a tie up with the Liverpool Academy and were considered serious in developing football talent. They took part in the I-League for two seasons and have now closed down. They are the third team from Pune to have closed their team following in the footsteps of Pune FC and Bharat FC.
The 11th I-League has seen the rise of clubs from the northeast. For the first time there are three from the northeast in the I-League, Shillong Lajong, holders Aizawl FC and promoted Neroca FC (Manipur). So, there will be six derby matches in the northeast. There will also be two South Indian derby matches, debutants Gokulam FC (Kerala) versus Chennai City FC. Then there is the traditional clash of the titans―Mohun Bagan versus East Bengal. These 10 derby matches will boost the attendance and TV viewership figures of the 11th I-League.
So far, two derby matches have been held and they are indicators of the popularity of such matches. On December 4, at the GMS Corporation stadium in Kozhikode, Gokulam Kerala FC played a 1-1 draw with Chennai City FC in a match that was attended by nearly 26,000 fans. A day earlier, the Kolkata derby was held at the revamped Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan stadium in front of a packed house of nearly 66,000 people. With bucket seats installed in this stadium, the capacity has been reduced to 66,600.
The recent Kolkata derby is a potent indicator that fans in India support clubs, not players. The leading Indian players of both Bagan and East Bengal had left for the greener pastures of the ISL clubs. Except for Sony Norde, all the foreign stars of Mohun Bagan had also left. The quality of football on display in Asia’s oldest derby match was also quite average. Yet, for the fans at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan stadium, what mattered was the passion involved in supporting players who wore the traditional jerseys of their respective clubs. This is the advantage the legacy clubs have over newly formed ISL franchises. The support base built over the years has not dwindled. Even Shillong Lajong got near capacity crowds in their two home matches so far, though they are also fielding many young players.
Due to a rule change, the clubs are being allowed to field five foreign players including one Asian player in their lineup. In previous seasons, only four foreign players were allowed. This rule was expected to favour the wealthy Kolkata clubs. However, the start of the I-League has been a revelation. Mohun Bagan was held to a 1-1 draw by Minerva Punjab FC and Aizawl FC rallied from a 0-2 deficit to hold East Bengal to a 2-2 draw at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan stadium.
East Bengal, which has not won the NFL/I-League since 2004, is in crisis after two matches. They lost to Mohun Bagan and have just one point from two matches. Goal scoring is proving a problem as both strikers Willis Deon Plaza (Trinidad & Tobago) and Charles De Souza (Brazil) are floundering. East Bengal’s technical advisors Manoranjan Bhattacharya and Bhasker Ganguly both feel that the strikers should be replaced if they do not improve after the next few games. East Bengal is trying to get the services of the experienced Darryl Duffy (Scotland) and Chidi Edeh (Nigeria) on loan during the second transfer window. Chidi, who has played for several years in India, is currently plying his trade for Engu Rangers in Nigeria and has scored 17 goals in 30 matches. Duffy, who last season turned out for arch rivals Mohun Bagan, is now playing for a first division club in Scotland.
Creditably, the two clubs which give maximum emphasis on youth development, Minerva Punjab FC (seven points from three matches) and Shillong Lajong (six points from two matches), are currently leading the I-league. The Shillong outfit has also maintained a clean sheet thanks to some good goalkeeping by the youngster, Phurba Lachenpa and commendable performances by the defensive combination of their academy products Laurence Doe, Juho Oh, Rakesh Pradhan, Novin Gurung and Kynsailang Khongsit. Their academy products namely, Redeem Tlang and Samuel Lyngdoh Kynshi have scored in both matches so far. It remains to be seen if they can maintain this momentum.
