People from the village neighbor or the local bar have their eyes glued to the television for Thursday night’s FC Goa vs Chennaiyan FC match, as they jump for joy at Romeo Fernandes’s first goal. “That is one Goan lad that has potential,” says one uncle sipping on his beer.
While the team found itself a position in the semi finals, the sound of firecrackers bursting filled the streets and homes around the state.
Come match day, the floodlights from Fatorda’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium are visible much before you even enter Margao, and once at the Margao bus stand, the roar of ‘Forca Goa’ is hard to miss. Upon entering the stadium, the crowds turn into a mix of orange and blues, flags in the air, blue jerseys all around, painted faces and placards displaying the fans love for their beloved team, FC Goa.
For a team that is only a couple of months old, the fan following has been tremendous, as even the players themselves admit to fan loyalty as one of the reasons they made it this far in the first season of the Indian Super League (ISL).
The sheer numbers that turned up for the last home match against the Kerala Blasters is proof to the fact that Goa has taken to the team and how. Attendance for that match was recorded at an amazing 19,752. The stadium itself is designed to handle 18,000 fans.
On the whole, the ISL itself has been a major success with organizers saying the average match attendance recorded since the inaugural is 24,357, one of the highest across the whole of Asia and fourth among international tournaments including the Bundesliga, the English Premier League and La Liga. The ISL cumulative attendance figure has already crossed the one million mark from its opening match in October.
Here in Goa, where football has always been a part of the culture, with numerous village tournaments as well as the casual beach and backyard football, the question of fan loyalty never arose. Each home game received thousands of fans, investing in tickets priced at Rs. 100, 200, 300 and 2,500 for VIP. For many it was a league where finally Goa as a state was being represented.
Though the iLeague has been around for years, the average match attendance recorded is 11,308 while tickets were priced starting at a minimal Rs. 30 up to Rs. 500.
Gladrin Fernandes from Verna runs a busy schedule as she handles her kids and life at home, but she along with her family try to make it for every home match. Her love for the sport started when she played for her school as a child.
“Watching a match at home is not fun at all. In the stadium, you’re so close to the players themselves and the atmosphere there is just so exciting. Every time the ball even comes in to the possession of a Goan player, the crowd goes wild and it is certainly difficult not to join the crowds. We were so excited when the teams were announced that we went out and bought jerseys before the tournament could even start,” she says.
But does the glitz and glamour of having Virat Kohli or Varun Dhavan promoting the team have anything to do with it? Everyone had a vehement ‘no’. For most fans the presence of Arsenal legend Robert Pires only adds to the team’s popularity. “I think it is great that young Goan players like Romeo are finally getting a genuine chance at bettering their skills,” says Gladrins.
Goan football veteran Brahmanand Sankhwalkar agrees that the ISL has brought quality to a mediocre style of football, and it is this that fans enjoy the most.
“With exposure to foreign players, the ISL is certainly bringing quality football to a very mediocre style that existed in the country all this time. For me and most Goans, it doesn’t matter that we have an Arsenal player in our team- they together form FC Goa and that it what matters the most,” he says.
Some fans like Panjim based Keith Noronha, who is also the admin at local group called the Arsenalites, in addition to the Goa factor, Arsenal also plays a role in his being a fan of the team.
“I am a fan first because I hail from this beautiful state and secondly because the team consists of my favorite team- Arsenal with former players Pires and Santos,” says Noronha.
For Margao based Millisha Silveira, football always had a thrill among her friends and family. “For the World Cup, I would support Germany while most of my friends supported other teams. Among ourselves we were always split on who’s was the best team, but with the ISL, it has all come together. We are all FC Goa and there’s no doubt about it,” she says. She like the many other Goan fans have religiously attended every home match describing the atmosphere inside the stadium as simply ecstatic.
The team’s overall improvement however is what has made every single fan happy. FC Goa struggled to score goals in the first half of the season loosing several times in front of the home crowd. But that didn’t cost them their fan following, on the contrary fan loyalty has been as aspect to their success, they say.
Defensive midfielder Bruno Pinheiro acknowledged the fan presence as being vital to the team’s win in an interview saying, “I heard from all the foreigners that this is the hardest field to play in. When things weren’t going well for us, they were still cheering us, from the first minute till the end,” while taking selfies with the fans after the Kerala Blasters match last week.
A healthy online presence has also helped create the interest in the two month old team with constant updates on social media sites including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The ISL’s Social Wars have also been taken to popularly as supporters of the day’s match battle it out with their tweets on Twitter.
What makes the ISL different from the I League is the professionalism says Dempo coach Armando Colaco. “The ISL is probably the best thing to have happened to Indian football. One of the biggest faults in the I League was the level of professionalism. Everything happened at the spur of the moment. For example, with referees in a match as well as match venues, the ISL has planned it well in advance,” says Colaco.
His only hope however, is for the season to be longer. Recovery of players, he says, becomes difficult as they have to play two matches a week. “Maybe a four to six month season would be a better alternative, but then again factors like weather conditions and other tournaments need to be kept in mind too.”
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) in December 2010, signed a 700 crore rupee deal with IMG- Reliance giving them exclusive access to what has become one of the most lucrative football leagues in the country.
Winners of the tournament will receive 8 crore as prize money while runner ups will receive 4 crore and the two beaten semi finalists will receive 1.5 crore each.
For the moment however, fans aren’t focused on the money being won or lost and would rather cheer local lads Romeo Fernandes, Mandar Rao Desai and Gabriel Fernandes and hopefully see their team turn champions for the first ever ISL.
Review Bureau
