October 12,2014 was a start of an exciting event for Indian football Fanatics like me….
Start of “Hero Indian Super League” , which is supposed to be a huge step in making the country with population of more than billion people to fall in love with the Most beautiful game in the world…
After postponing the event a few times it has Finally kicked off…
Well,looking at the no. of internationally renowned players and few Legends involved in the league it seems pretty promising…
It has also made some buzz in Europe with likes of Thiery Henry, Rio Ferdinand already showing interest in coming editions of ISL..
For me, The most exciting part about ISL is FC PUNE CITY…. A Home team from my beloved city….
So today’s post is going to be about my experience as a Football Crazy Punekar in the ISL…
First a little Background about Punekars’ experience with Sports leagues so far…
Though there was a Football league already present in the county, in short and simple words , Punekars really didn’t give a damn because the league never really reached the city or even the state until 2009 when, PUNE FC were promoted to the top tier of the 2 layer football pyramid in India.
Till then we were busy supporting our National cricket team… Punekars’ Burning pride which is seen in every other area was never really seen in the field of sports…
Then The IPL brought a little fire to this with the so called Pune Franchise “SAHARA PUNE WARRIORS/ PUNE WARRIORS INDIA”, Which honestly never sounded like a PUNE team to me, it was more of a SAHARA team playing near my city…. Anyways…
This is how Punekars were introduced to the idea of supporting a local team… Later it was followed with the teams in Hockey, Badminton, Kabbadi, American Football (yes, Look for Pune Marathas)!
Most of these were a nightmare… Though the least noticed team among them, which was actually established before all these marketed teams ,was doing pretty well and that was PUNE FC…. The Lizards remain the best team from my city and very special for me….
So looking at the good performance by PFC over the years FC PUNE CITY bought some hope…
So here is my Honest Opinion about FC PUNE CITY,
First of all few interesting things,
1. First of all, I must say they have been good at reaching to the crowd with all the events, shows, contests,etc… Because I doubt if any of the other so called PUNE teams actually knew how and where they would find true Punekars, let alone getting us into supporting them. So well done….
2. They are trying their best to use Puneri culture in the promotion….
3. The Logo is just perfect with a catchy motto “Passion Honor Glory”…
4. By getting AFC Fiorentina involved, team took a huge step… Next was signing David Trezeguet as the marque player…
5. One thing I liked the most is They are actually learning from their previous actions, reducing the ticket prices was a right step.
Now few things I feel FCPC need to work on,
1. First and most important, The actual footballl….. We are very very weak when it comes to keeping possession & Pace on the other hand defence and attack is fine…
2. Do signings with better strategy… What happened in case of Adrian Mutu was very embarrassing!
So overall team is really trying hard to connect to the crowd but poor performance so far has been one of the reasons behind Punekars not being too impressed… That will improve, I hope!
Now As a football fan I have few things to share…
My experience at the game was awesome! Environment, decoration everything was great!
I was lucky to have enthusiastic crowd around me! Club was nice enough to distribute the flags and Tees… So crowd looked more like home fans! otherwise it was more like EPL fans assembled together… Plus the win made it an amazing experience…
I observed many people around the country have been criticizing Punekars for poor response,
So here is little bit of explanation,
Pune is known for its educational facilities, IT industry and also called pentionor’s paradise! So forget the good response from the third part!
First two, the student community and the IT guys are the real crowd to focus on…
Well as a student that too an engineering student of SPPU, I have a complaint about ISL schedule,
Guys we have exams going on…. So if you are expecting a youth from close to 150 engineering college then sorry! Its just the bad timing… In future consider Dec-Jan period….
And the IT guys won’t be available on weekdays!
Another issue is the location of the stadium! which is far away from the actual city and buses from only one place close to actual city lead to stadium… and the Buses are not reliable. I have missed I league MAHA Derby last season because of that! A closer location will add more crowd!
Well you guys have worked out solution about my other suggestion already, the ticket pricing was too much earlier so people who criticized Pune for “Only 2 people in the stand”, those were 1200 stands and I don’t know why cameraman was interested in those stands when me and my friends were singing our hearts out…
Now I have a Little complaint to fellow Punekars who are attending the games…
Guys please sing, make noise….!!
Me and a small group of friends who came together Because of the FC PUNE CITY and love for football are trying to create our own chants but People need to respond!
And to other Punekar football fanatics I know, Who (just like me) follow their favorite EPL teams with great passion and spend good amount for screenings, that’s great! even I do it! Then why not do the same for our very own team? I know quality of football is not up to EPL mark but how will it improve if we don’t come and support? Its up to us to come out and give our best as fans! Team will automatically improve!
I know we have been hurt and embarrassed by franchises who have represented our city so far…. But football is the only game that has given us a chance to see an Ex-EPL Champion team play in our city, The top league from the Asia came to our city only because of football, but we have not really given the sport enough support… Lets come out in great numbers to support our home teams just like we do for the European teams!
Its time to sing
Ole
Ole Ole Ole
Pune Pune!
Mancunian Punekar 