Inter Village  Tourneys Attract Crowds,Not  League Matches 

Crowds at a final in Raia.Not even  a few hundred attend the I League derby ...

All eyes were focused on the I League after the success of the Indian Super League. Many in the footballing world expected the water shed in the spectator response to end. With three Goan teams- Salgaocar FC,Dempo SC and Sporting Clube de Goa-at least a stir was expected. Nothing happened. In the end, it was clear the crowd response to football in Goa has turned into a scarce commodity.

The crowds came in thousands to support FC Goa. Amidst football lovers there were ladies and children. Families turned up with flags, team jerseys and all the marketing paraphernalia available. For sure, not all were football lovers. There were many who understood little of the game. Yet, they were all there for the love of Goa. Forca (Power) Goa. FC Goa meant that for every supporter.

Surely , there were three teams in the I League from Goa .That they did not represent a composite Goa was evident during all the games . From January to May –right through the tournament- not once did we see more than a thousand spectators? Sadly, the most vociferous spectators were from the outstation teams. There were loud fans from Bengaluru and Bengal. Goans could be heard whimpering on occasions.

From the two tournaments-the ISL and the I league- it is evident that the clubs have no fan base in Goa. Gone are the days of the past. And, the past cannot be recreated in today’s football. The players are different. The passion for the game is been replaced by passion for money. Money is important. How important? That’s a line our players never learnt to draw when money came pouring in. This is the cauldron one has to get in to understand why the stands in the stadiums are empty.

“When I was thirty three I was taught by a foreign coach how to stand to receive the ball. Just imagine what I would have been as a player had I been taught that when I was six.”  A former international player once said. Our players were not technically superior then. Yet, they drew crowds because they played with passion for football and not money. That time, we lamented our stadiums were small.

Emphasis on grass root football has been understood late and has hence been started pretty late by most. So has been the use by of social media. We say, Goa is the hub of football. Goa may have contributed with some great footballers. But the hub is where the crowd is. And the crowd is still in Bengal and now Bengaluru. Thousands throng the stadiums for ordinary matches. Derby day means over 50,000.

Grass root football has started late in Bengal and social media has yet to bite them hard. Yet, they come because they love their clubs. It is a love that has not withered. It is still passed down through generations. This is happening in Bengal. Not in Goa. The old in Goa still talk about football. They don’t see it anymore. The young, are going the other way.

There have been people in Goa who have spent millions on football. Dempo, Salgaocar, Churchill,Sesa Goa, Parkot , Bandekar, Peter Vaz (there must be some more ) are people whose financial contribution to the game can never be forgotten. As said, money is what curry is to rice. It has been pouring in. It’s hard to come these days. Yet, it is coming. Hopefully, it will be spent in the way it will make the fans coming back again.

Jindal steel is spending money on football in Bengaluru. Football is not nascent to Bengaluru. However, it is how Jindal is putting the money in that is making a difference. And, it is a big difference. Big enough to keep us Goans quiet for a while. There, the coach talks because he has the budget and their marketing does the rest. One does not have to be a rocket scientist to understand this.

Goa still has three teams in the League- though two are in one division and the third is in another. That does not make any difference as Dempo SC will surely bounce back with style and a new rhetoric. After all, it was Shrinivas Dempo who sang the lullaby to FC Goa. It was heard by all Goans and it will not be forgotten for long.

The permutation if the I League is scrapped for the ISL:

1: It will be stupid to have two Goan teams in the ISL as that will only lead to dividing the Goan crowd. This is not good for the State or the sport.

2: With the present ISL structure, only a few Goans will get a chance to be in the team.

3: To be one of the few, one will have to work not just hard but very hard. In short, the best will survive. And, the best do not come with rhythm and rhyme only. Hard work and dedication.

It is like going back to the old days. It was in the old days that our stadiums were packed.

Teams in Goa are facing financial problems.  A league cannot be scrapped because the fans in some States have gone morose. At the moment, the grassroots eggs are being incubated by the teams in the I League and not the ISL. The essence is the grassroots.

Like most things, football in India has got into a ticking frame. Patience helps when waiting for the eggs to hatch. Football in Goa was taken on an administrative spin by a few who did not understand. But some men’s folly does not make us all fools. Let us hear the frame ticking louder!