NEW DELHI: Since coming on board as the first club through a bidding process in the I-League, Jindal Steel Works-owned Bengaluru FC have not only ticked all the boxes expected of them, but have shown the path ahead for Indian club football, as to how it should be done, both on, and more importantly, off the field.
While scripting a new chapter in Indian football by claiming the I-League title in their debut season courtesy a 4-2 triumph over Dempo on the road on Monday, off the pitch BFC have given the English Premier League crazy fanatics of the country something of their own.
From dishing out match day programmes much in line with the football programmes, which are a must in the United Kingdom, to tying up with a local pub in the Garden City, the I-League champions picked up a thing or two from the most popular league on the planet and the results have been nothing short of spectacular.
Probably for the first time in Indian football, a club has been able to attract a large chunk of football followers who were previously more attracted towards the Chelseas and the Manchester Uniteds than the Dempos, East Bengals and all other Indian clubs.
The never-heard-before in Indian football chants of “When the Blues go marching in”, on the lines of the iconic tune “When the Saints go marching in,” to never-seen-before fan marches on match days are perfect testimony of the type of crowds who have thronged the Bangalore Football Stadium in numbers.
The average attendance, as provided by the club, is 7,500, the highest crowd for any football match in the southern city in over 25 years.
“They are crazily amazing,” is how Kunaal Majgaonkar, the club’s media manager described the BFC aficionados.
“They decide a place, gather and come chanting and marching straight to the stands. It’s mind-blowing, I can tell you. The fans cheer the same way for the entire 90 minutes. The chants, slogans…it’s electric.” Majgaonkar, himself a journalist, added.
Other absolute firsts on match days include a corporate box, much like the hospitality boxes in cricket’s Indian Premier League (IPL).
High-end tickets of Rs 500 laced with refreshments, again like the IPL, are always on the go. And for the first-time ever, the home-matches witnessed an emcee and not just an announcer.
The ‘Thank You’ banner from the whole squad after the final home game perhaps underlined the contribution of fans in BFC’s voyage. (Agencies
