SHILLONG: Gouramangi Singh, a Rangdajied United FC player, feels that the time is ripe for North Eastern clubs to truly shine in the top tier of Indian football, the next logical step as footballers from the region play a bigger role in the sport.
Speaking to the All India Football Federation website, the defender agreed that the rise of Rangdajied and Shillong Lajong FC, along with Second Division team Royal Wahingdoh FC, means that there is plenty of representation from Shillong in the I-League.
“Mizoram has also recently won the Santosh Trophy and a lot of their players are being looked at by I-League clubs,” he said. “However, I hope this can only get better and spread over to other states as well. We need professional clubs from Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Assam to come into the I-League at some point.”
He went on to say that while the region has been a “hot bed” for football talent, it has lacked top football clubs. That has started to change with the emergence of strong competition from Shillong, but he wants that success to expand to the rest of the North East and to do that, he focused on the need to develop the sport at the grassroots, through partnerships between schools and academies.
Asked for his take on talented team mates T Lalnunpuia, David Ngaihte and Munmun Lugun, Gouramangi said, “All of them are very talented, but we need to keep upgrading ourselves. Talent alone cannot win you anything. Systematic training, development and education for players is of paramount importance, too.”
Despite thinking that table toppers Bengaluru FC have a strong shot for the I-League title this season, he is also bullish about the fortunes of his own team.
“Our main aim is to save [ourselves from] releation,” Gouramangi said.
“We want to be part of the League now and aim higher in the next couple of years. More than us aiming to win the title, I would say the League needs winners from the North East. The amount of adulation the sport receives in the region is amazing and accolades can be the best inspiration.”
Rangdajied have recently climbed up to eighth place in the standings, but the Manipur player said that it was just a matter of the squad getting to know one another better.
“I have always maintained that the squad has some quality players and after getting to know each other we have started working well as a team,” he said.
“A few more additions in January including that of (striker) Ranti Martins have made a difference as well. If you look carefully, every player is playing his role.”
The Blues will next play on Sunday at East Bengal.
