Kolkata is the land of rasagullas, tram, golgappas and obviously East Bengal & Mohunbagan which keeps the Bengalis divided yet united. It is better to state it as a collision, as these two teams give rise to sentimental or verbal rivalries among the respective communities BANGAL & GHOTI, which has given rise to the term “ARCH RIVALRY”. This rivalry is not confined within the bourne of the stadium but involves pretty much football-lover outside the ground who eat, drink, sleep & dream football. These tiffs are pretty much enjoyable as they are the representatives of the glorious spirit of Indian Football.
But in recent past, we have been observing that, we don’t have anything to do other than bite our nails & chew the cud of our past success & quarrel among ourselves. Whatever do we quarrel of, either 5-0 in 1975 or 5 out of 5 in 2008 cannot cover up our present plight. Statistics can prove our past history but at the same time it may be of too horror. As this statistics can only point out what we were and what we are.
We need to give a serious thought over the present condition of Indian Football, specifically on the football of Bengal. Bengal, the land once which produced champs presently lags behind. The teams of Bengal which were strong contenders of the shields or titles are about to face relegation. I hope everyone can understand that I’m not writing a fairy tale. This is the ultimate truth. In the I-league 2008, East Bengal was about to face relegation and Mohunbagan finished on fourth place though it is nothing to feel proud of. We are not so much interested about matters outside the ground. All we want is rapid success. But, we have to keep in mind that, if the base is not strong, success cannot last long or stay forever even if it comes. We need to realize that goal scorers can not only be present on the ground. The ingredients of goals and goal scorers are from outside that ground, the key of which lies in the hands of our Club Officials. The question arises here, what do we lack? The answers may vary from person to person. But, if we delve deep into thoughts, we can observe that, at present we lack everything. We are lagging behind in all aspects - professionalism, devotion, willpower everything. Even the body language sometimes turns out to be too scaring.
In the recent past, the IPL T-20 series put up a high fever in the country. Parallel to it, we were having the some of the matches of the AFC Cup tournament held in Kolkata. But, it did not have a high temperature, fever is pretty far. This concept of IPL is not at all a new one. It has many similarities with our I-League. The big dissimilarities marked the differences. Firstly, the game is not football, its cricket. Secondly, it had an attractive packaging which involved shining stars of Bollywood. Football is a team game and thus involves the full team where no single person can be the hero or villain. If a goal is scored, the striker may be a single person but the ball comes through everyone’s kick. Football falls a prey to this one sided attitude. This is not an episode of one or two days. This has been going on since decades back. A short example can be cited. When the test cricket matches came to be very boring and monotonous, the one-day cricket evolved. At that time these one day matches were played for an innings of 60 overs. Even when this turned to be dull, came the 50 overs match. Then came the T-20 where there are something other than cricket.
It is a million dollar question why Kolkata Football falls prey to it. The picture is a different one abroad. Chelsea, Manchester United etc. are all city based teams. In spite of this, the whole of the world knows their name. On the other hand, East Bengal & Mohunbagan involves communities where there is a fight of sentiment. Where are these nowadays? The Kolkata Football League is nothing other than a farce. There are only two possible champion teams, either East Bengal or Mohunbagan. Where are the rest? The supporters dance with joy on the victory of their team’s win. But, this victory is not the ultimate solution. If we carry on the search for other teams, there will be a long list of factors responsible for their incapabilities. “Persons for scoring goals both inside and outside are decreasing day by day at a rapid rate. At the same time, there is a gap created for an icon player”, says a football lover on being asked the present situation of Indian Football. This is true. We cannot find any icon, who can stand as an idol succeeding Bhaichung Bhutia. Absence of good football Academies is a very important factor of this. Mohunbagan – SAIL Football Academy at Durgapur is taking a good effort in creating a platform for rising footballers.
“We are East Bengal the Real Power” Fans Club have taken a good step for the betterment of Indian Football. They are helping poor talented boys for giving them a good platform. The community has future desire to support some of the economically backward but promising footballers through minimum primary education and necessary accessories.
These small pieces of effort can lead to a great outcome. We can dream that, in the coming days, Bengal will have well-groomed and trained footballers to its credit. Like Mohunbagan-SAIL Football Academy our vision is World Cup 2014 and we have to prove “We dare to dream and make our dream come true.”
