How the Advent of ISL Is Putting Kerala Back on the Football Map

Kerala Blasters have set up football schools across the state in an attempt to unearth future stars.

File photo of Kerala’s football star CK Vineeth.

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Vineeth CK)

When we think about the football frenzy states in India, usually West Bengal, Goa, the Seven Sister States of North East India or Kerala come to our mind. Over the years, some of the greats of the Indian national team have come from these states.

However, in recent years, one of these states has become an odd one out for several reasons. The South Indian state of Kerala is renowned for its amazing football culture. Despite this, the footballing landscape in the state started spiraling downwards in the 21st century.

How the Mighty Have Fallen

Kerala was once the state which gave the country players like IM Vijayan, VP Sathyan, CV Pappachan, Jo Paul Ancheri, Xaviour Pious and T Abdul Rahman. The state was also home to the first professional club in India, FC Kochin.

So what went wrong in the recent years?

In March 2016, the manager of the Indian football team, Stephen Constantine, made these scathing comments about Kerala:

Kerala’s decline in football is self-inflicted. The hunt for talent should be strengthened. There is no paucity of talent in Kerala. You cannot expect exceptional players like IM Vijayan and Jo Paul Anchery to come up naturally. Anchery and CK Vineeth accidentally turned up for the football camp at the age of 15. Without doing anything, you cannot sit back and expect such talents to flower accidentally. Despite having many abilities, to me if you unearth a player at the age of 15, he has lost at least 10 years and it is a big loss.

Stephen Constantine

File photo of Stephen Constantine speaking at a press conference.(Photo: Reuters)

Constantine’s comments were harsh but warranted. When the Indian Super League started in 2014, there were no players from Kerala in the Indian football team and in the three years before that, there was no team from the state in the I-League.

For a state which takes pride in its footballing pedigree and culture, this is a sad state of affairs.

Promising Signs

During the golden era of Indian football in the 1950s, there were five players from Kerala in the team. In the late 90s and early 2000s when the Kerala team had the likes of Vijayan and Anchery, the football frenzy crowd of God’s Own Country would turn up in huge numbers to cheer their heroes during the Santosh trophy.

Such frenzy and crowd support were a distant memory for many years before the advent of the Indian Super League.

It goes without saying that the Indian Super League trumped the I-League in several aspects, thanks to the brilliant marketing and the arrival of players who excelled in the popular European leagues. However, what people failed to take notice was how the addition of Kerala Blasters rejuvenated Indian football’s sleeping giant.

A group of fans cheer for the Kerala Blasters team ahead of an ISL match.(Photo: Indian Super League)

The fans of Kerala Blasters have been one of the major highlights of the Indian Super League. Managers, players and commentators alike couldn’t fathom the unreal support the Blasters received.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi, which is the home of Kerala Blasters, is the biggest stadium among all the eight teams with a capacity of approximately 55,000 fans. Nevertheless, the stadium witnessed a sold out crowd in every single game of the season.

Following Kerala Blasters’ heartbreaking defeat in the ISL 2016 final, Nita Ambani, founder and chairperson, Football Sports Development Ltd had this to say:

A big thank you to Kerala for being such gracious fans. It is your unmatched enthusiasm and passion for the beautiful game that made ISL 2016 such a memorable season for me and for the entire footballing fraternity. The way Kerala fans supported their home club and kept cheering the team despite a heartbreaking loss exemplifies the strong bond you have established with the Blasters.

Nita Ambani

Can Kerala Rise Like the Phoenix?

Kerala Blasters have set up football schools across the state in an attempt to unearth the future stars of the nation and ISL rules stipulate that each team should spend Rs 2 crore for the development of the game at grassroots level. This will ensure that players are given the right guidance from a very young age.

The Blasters announced Thangboi Singto as their new assistant coach for the 2017 season and he is credited with developing a lot of talented players from the North Eastern states during his time with Shillong Lajong.

His experience and track record are welcome news for all the talented youngsters of the state aiming to make it to the big stage.

File photo of Thangboi Singto. (Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Shillong Lajong Football Club)

The focus on young players from the state is evident when the club picked up 20-year-old Ajith Sivan during the ISL draft.

The attraction of ISL has also opened the eyes of parents as they are now far more supportive than they were in the pre-ISL years.

ISL has definitely played a huge role in reigniting Kerala’s football landscape, but the contribution of the Kerala Football Association cannot be ignored. The KFA has invested in infrastructure development and also tied up with the UAE Football Association.

That being said, ISL has acted a huge driving force knowingly or unknowingly in rejuvenating football in Kerala.

(Naveen Joseph is a passionate, avid and cognizant sports fan who believes that sports make the world a better place. Although content writing is his forte, he has significant experience in video production and copywriting. All of this after graduating from IIT Kharagpur. In the long run, he hopes to infect the rest of the world with his love for sports.)

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