The I-League 2012-13
season gets
underway on Saturday, October 6, and among the five matches scheduled for that day, Shillong Lajong FC will take on mighty Mohun Bagan at their home ground, the JN Stadium, Polo.
Lajong have not had the easiest of times in India’s premier football league since they made their debut in 2009, but Shillong’s boys are eager to get the season going and they are banking on plenty of home support to rally them in their quest.
While the club did not have a great first year in the league, 2009 will still be remembered as the “Year of the Reds”. SLFC ignited euphoria at home with its entry into India’s top flight football competition and then made a more reassuring statement that their entry was not a flash-in-the-pan with a top-notch performance in the Federation Cup, beating top clubs like Dempo and Churchill, on their way to the final of the elite tournament.
In the summit clash against East Bengal, Lajong made a mockery of expectations, dominating their opponents as if they were veterans. The team and their fans were heartbroken when they were edged out in a penalty shoot-out.
For the thousands back home, it was a bittersweet loss for they had seen what the club was capable of. But SLFC’s performance in the Federation Cup had taken the relationship between team and fans further; the region now had an icon to look up to, a reason to believe in.
To many people who love football, nothing less than a win would make them happy. But to the true “Lajong die-hards” – small in number, yet fierce in passion – the club would always remain their true inspiration. For they knew what it took to stay in the I-League, to battle against top clubs – not just in the field but in other factors, too, especially financial, with Lajong riding on the smallest budget of them all.
On the pitch, the club’s army was a heavy dose of home-bred players with a touch of international flavour, adding spice to the mix.
The 2009-2010 season came and went, but the scenario back home went through a significant change. Quite clearly, the enticement and embodiment of the I-League reached greater heights and more and more supporters were drawn to the club.
Just as time had given the club the extra push, it also gave it the additional burden of expectations.
Having made short work of their 2nd Division campaign as champions, the club re-entered the I-League for a second season in 2011-12, but this time with a renewed setup.
The season wore on as the team underwent an all too familiar turbulent ride, carrying its supporters along the way.
The “whipping boys” of Indian football now had a sense of purpose. At home, they were conquerors in their own right and were a force to reckon with.
With the passage of time, the truest of fans stood firm behind the team, for they were the lifeline, the driving force behind the Reds’ charge.
In hindsight, the support could have come out a little stronger, and the passion could have burned brighter, but nothing could ever take away the fact that the club and its thousands had sent out a strong message – “We are here to stay, and we are in it for the long haul.” Simply put, every supporter of the club was slowly realising the ecstasy and the agony of being the lone shining star of the region and the enormous burden of “Being Lajong”.
An uphill climb now awaits the club and its faithful fans and the expectations will only increase, more so with the club’s impressive pre-season form, after effortlessly bagging the North East Lajong Super Series against an international team.
Whether SLFC is ready or not is not the question.
Rather, the supporters will now need to ask themselves, “Are we ready to walk on, to look beyond defeat and despair?” The supporter – be it the lone guy waving the Lajong flag, be it the child on his father’s back eagerly watching the match, be it the women dancing away at the JN Stadium, they all have a reason to cheer the team, for they are the true definition of the faithful.They are the reason why the club exists.
(Contributed by Shillong Lajong FC)