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Supporting a sports team has the amazing potential to fulfill a fundamental human need: the need to be part of a community, the need to be part of something bigger than oneself — and perhaps nowhere is this more apparent than in the collective exuberance of the fan culture that surrounds football’s greatest rivalries. Whether it’s Manchester United vs Liverpool, Celtics vs Rangers, the Classico, or closer to home, Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal to name a few, historically, local derbies across the world have always brought the biggest fan turnouts and evoked the most passionate emotional responses.

These iconic rivalries, which have been around for decades, have often been conceived from or fuelled by social or political distinctions between the regions the teams represent. And while it’s been only five years since the inception of the Hero ISL, which isn’t a lot of time for new rivalries to percolate — the southern derbies have certainly established themselves as among our most intense and awaited fixtures.

The atmosphere is always heightened when any two teams from the southern trio of Chennaiyin FC, Kerala Blasters FC and Bengaluru FC play each other — for the Supermachans and the B-Stand Blues in Chennai, for Manjappada in Kochi and for the West Block Blues in Bengaluru, when their clubs come face to face, the joy of a win and the sting of a loss are always more acute.

From the most creative banners to the most entertaining banter, from non-stop chanting, to silent prayers of hope, whenever I’ve been at a Southern Derby, I’ve been reminded of just what a powerful emotional experience football can be. Where else can you sit with thousands of other people and share the most intense feelings of glory or disappointment, anticipation or dread, empathy or anger, excitement or fear — depending on how your team fares— all within just 90 minutes.

So this week, I spoke to fans of all three teams to get their take on the Hero ISL’s southern rivalries and how they’ve evolved over the years.

Ever since the inaugural season five years ago, given their geographic proximity, Chennaiyin FC and Kerala Blasters have seemed like obvious rivals, as this pairing was the original Southern Derby. "Kerala were our nearest neighbours when the Hero ISL started," explained Jenisha Rani S, a member of Supermachans, who support Chennaiyin FC.

"Our very first derby at home already had a lot of hype around it — and then Mendy scored from a bicycle kick, when David James was Kerala’s goalkeeper — it was such a thriller that it really cemented the sense of rivalry. There was immediately this feeling that when these two teams meet, there’s always going to be fireworks," Jenisha added.

Monish Ravindran, a member of the B-Stand Blues, another Chennaiyin FC fan club, agreed. "In that same first season we ended up making it to the playoffs — but it was to Kerala that we lost a spot in the final," he said. "That definitely left us with a massive point to prove."

For Subin Matthew, a member of the Kerala Blasters fan club, Manjappada, the memory is just as vivid. "We won the home leg of the semis 3-0, but then in the second leg, the score was 3-0 in favour of Chennaiyin. Then Stephen Pearson scored for us in extra time, crushing Chennaiyin’s dreams — it was magnificent" he recalled.

Chennaiyin went on to win the trophy in Season 2, and again in Season 4, but had a disappointing Season 3 in between while the Kerala Blasters had a disappointing second season but were finalists again in the third season— and these crests and troughs in each team’s fortunes have kept the passion around the rivalry flourishing on both sides.

"This time it’s been a very unfortunate season for Chennaiyin, but the bottom line is we’ve won two trophies while Kerala hasn’t won any," Jeni said, teasingly. "That’s the point we try to make in all our banners at matches against the Blasters," agreed Monish. "And it’s the fun and the banners and the banter that makes the atmosphere so enjoyable— all the jibes are meant in good humour."

Indeed. Who can forget the cheeky Simpsons poster the Chennaiyin FC fans came up with when the Kerala Blasters played at the Marina Arena this season — or the irreverent Zidane masks Blasters fans wore when Chennaiyin visited their home in Season 3 under Marco Materazzi, an allusion to his infamous head butting incident during the 2006 World Cup.

Humour and playful irreverence are central to football fan culture globally, and the fans of the three southern clubs have been instrumental in creating a slice of that atmosphere within the Indian football ecosystem.

Speaking of the third club — last season, Chennaiyin and Kerala saw a new southern rival added to the mix: Bengaluru FC. "There was a lot of anticipation around our entry into the Hero ISL," remembers Ullas Marar, a member of BFC fan club, West Block Blues.

"Bengaluru already had won pretty much everything they could have outside the Hero ISL, and there was this shine of excellence and professionalism around the team that every other team wanted to try to tarnish. We almost instantly became the team everyone wanted to beat," he added.

Jeni, Monish, and Subin each said exactly the same thing: suddenly, more than Chennaiyin fans wanted to see their team beat Kerala and more than Kerala fans wanted to see their team beat Chennaiyin, they both wanted to see their teams beat Bengaluru.

But if both Chennaiyin fans and Kerala fans think of Bengaluru as their biggest rival now, who does Bengaluru’s fan base want most to defeat? "Chennai," said Ullas unflinchingly. After the heartbreak of last year’s final, definitely Chennai."

Interestingly, before BFC joined the Hero ISL, given that Bengaluru has a considerable number of fans that are Malayali, they supported Kerala Blasters in the Hero ISL while Bengaluru were in the I-League. "Since there’s a significant Malayali population in Bengaluru, we also have several BFC fans who have married into families that support the Blasters — so there are friendly rivalries now even within many of our homes," Ullas shared.

"It was the sheer numbers that Manjappada could bring together than any on-field incidents that amplified a sense of rivalry between Bengaluru and Kerala — Manjappada are so well organized and so passionate, they would always ensure a massive turnout of away fans at the Kanteerava — so of course at the derbies we would spur each other on — when you have away fans in full force at your stadium, you’re going to be that much louder and prouder. With Chennaiyin, the rivalry is a bit sharper — a bit more personal," he shared.

 

"For Chennaiyin FC fans there’s no greater moment than last season’s final. We ‘knocked them off their perch’ as it were," said Monish. "It was great. Sadly we fell off our perch ourselves this season, but that’s football," he laughed. "Even though we’re bottom of the table now, the fact that we beat BFC at our home last week was a massive consolation."

"Unfortunately, we then lost to Kerala soon after—but still, we’re one of the only teams in the league with a better head to head against Bengaluru, and we hope we always will be," he added.

"We really admire the wit and humour the Chennaiyin fans bring— and the amazing initiatives of Manjappada such as what they did for the flood-relief — and honestly, while we all want the bragging rights, whether it’s Chennaiyin or Kerala visiting, at the end of the day, we all have mutual regard and respect for one another. We shake hands after the match, we all want to do our best to ensure that away fans have a safe and fun experience when they visit," explained Ullas.

"Things can get heated on match day and sometimes tempers flare or someone may get more impassioned than necessary, but outside of the context of the game there are no hard feelings," Monish agreed. "Most fans know where to draw the line," added Jeni. "You never want the euphoria drowned by a bad incident. Violence benefits nobody and we like to remind each other that. Regardless of what colour jersey we’re wearing, what brings us together is actually much bigger than the team affiliations that separate us. We are all humans here together to support this amazing sport."