Gido Vader (R) with DEN Networks' Sameer Manchanda at the launch of Delhi Dynamos FC.Feyenoord Rotterdam’s tie-up with Delhi Dynamos FC could kick-start a football revolution in the national capital. The Dutch club’s international relations manager Gido Vader, who was down in India for the launch of the club, expressed confidence that the strategic alliance between the two clubs would help create a structure to implement the long-term vision the duo have in mind.Feyenoord’s role in the relationship is like an “advising partner” which will lend its “expertise, know-how and network to assist the Delhi Dynamos FC in building their team”. While the Dutch giants will focus mainly on developing the technical, footballing aspects at the Delhi club which will participate in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL), Vader says that they can also provide assistance on the administrative side of things.The vision, Vader explained, is to build a club with a similar identity to Feyenoord, which he described as being known as a “club of the people” in the Netherlands. “You will find fans of Feyenoord in any city or village of the Netherlands, and we have fans from all walks of life. So we’re really a club that unifies people,” the Dutch official told indiansuperleague.com. He went on to say that the idea for Delhi Dynamos FC is to have a team that can “represent the city of Delhi and appeal to the public” and ultimately become a club that “people can identify with”.Feyenoord will also guide Delhi Dynamos FC in implementing a playing philosophy similar to the one in place at the Dutch club. To this end they have helped to put together the coaching staff, and recommended players from within Feyenoord’s “network”. Mads Junker and Morten Skoubo, Delhi Dynamos FC’s two Danish players, among others, were signed after inputs from Feyenoord.The Dutch club will also help with the Delhi club’s grassroots development, something that Vader says is the “basis of any football institution”. Vader talked up the importance of the grassroots programme, not just for finding the latest talents but also to “root the teams in their cities” so that people “don’t only see their teams on match days.”Throwing light on how the tie-up came about, Vader explained that a shared “genuine love of football” was what brought the two parties together. He recalled that Feyenoord’s prior association with Baichung Bhutia Football Schools also played a role in prompting DEN Networks, who own the Delhi franchise, to ink a pact with them. Vader said he and his colleagues were impressed by DEN Networks’ “long-term vision of how to contribute to the progress of Indian football”. Vader proudly pointed to the fact that the Dutch national squad at the 2014 FIFA World Cup had nine current or former Feyenoord players, including captain Robin Van Persie.The Dutch official was reluctant to make any predictions for the first season of the ISL, saying that the goal was simply to field the best team possible.But he provided some tantalizing insights into what Feynoord could hope to achieve from this partnership, citing India’s youth as a potential new viewership base as well as pointing out that the ISL could unearth the next generation of footballers.“Who knows? Maybe we find the latest talents from here,” he quipped.
