PANJIM: Vasco Sports Club was once the powerhouse of the state in the past but now it looks nowhere near the limelight in the last few years due to financial crises.
When the management was supposed to shut their operations in the year 2015, Panjim based buisness man and a die-hard fan of Vasco Selwyn Bothello took over the operation and run the club for next three seasons spending almost in crores but he gave up after completing 2017-18 season.
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The management once again decided to withdraw the team from the Goa Professional League but once again someone rescued the people’s club from sinking as this time journalist Ravish Narvekar came with some innovative ideas to takeover the operation. And since then the Port Towners are sailing in the hope of a better future in the coming days.
“We have lots of plans for Vasco but financial issues restricts us from executing them. But one thing is sure that we will come up with youth teams so that youth of Vasco will get opportunity to show their calibre. We could not do anything in our first season as I was new to this and most of our time went in managing the senior side. But this season we had a plan to field U-20, also our coach had scouted few from the city but the league never happened. It won’t be possible for us to participate in all youth leagues at once so we will start with U-20 first and then rest will come in line,” expressed Ravish Narvekar.
Ravish is a passionate football lover who has spent maximum of his career time following the sport. “I always wanted to run a football club, it was my dream. And once I came in, I wanted it to be in a professional way but considering financial thing I had some restrictions but one thing I wanted was to get back fans to the stadium. I know it is difficult but started with social media pages of the club where fans can get every details of the club. Also started with the club merchandise so that fans can get jerseys and when we post it on our pages, we got overwhelming response from them. So my efforts to connect fans with the club will continue till I am here,” stated Ravish Narvekar.
The football isn’t same as before as the clubs are finding it difficult to draw sponsors and get other financial aid.
“Dealing with financial issues has been always difficult task for us but somehow we have managed to overcome it until now and we will continue to do it. The second this is dealing with the out station players and their contracts. Because most of the outstation players likes to try their luck for the I-League second division in mid season and that time it becomes difficult for us to maintain the strength of the team. I am like a person who will never stop a player who is getting a better opportunity but here we are at loss because if they leave us in the middle it becomes difficult to find the players mid season. Also if we have played our half our matches then league rules restrict us from signing their replacements.”
“The same thing happened this season. Many players went for the better prospects in the mid season and until then we had completed our first leg of the season. So we could not make new signings and had to make the most from the available resources which actually affected our performance this season,” he expressed.
“Talking about team management, we have made one system where everyone has to follow it because it’s professional club. We have also started with monthly award for the players, also man of the match and performance bonuses so that atmosphere in the dressing room should be happy. There are more things in our mind which we will try to implement in the next season.”
Earlier, Ravish was in charge of operations under Selwyn Bothello before taking the complete charge.
“The management was about to shut the operation due to financial crunches and that’s where I came into the scene. I had few sponsors and with that I put the proposals on the management’s table and after verifying everything they made a year-long contract which was extended this year and next season it will be continued.”
“Also I have been following the club since my childhood. But I was not a big fan of the club but ever since I came to know the rich history of the club I became one but also felt bad because of the present scenario. Also my wife is from the Port Town and this will the second reason after football for Vasco being so close to my heart,” he stated.
When asked about his future plans, Ravish stated, “Actually I can’t talk about next year’s plan yet because GFA has not officially given any announcement on the ongoing season. However, one thing is clear that we have learnt from our past seasons and will try to improve in the next season. Our coach Micky Fernandes has already scouted few talents from the league and also from outside. Also we will try to engage more with the fans so that one day in the future it will be once again called as people’s club. And I am pretty sure, it won’t take long if we and the higher management of the club worked in the proper way to bring back glory days in the Port Town.”
