A country over one billion people and the most followed game in the world! Of course, their paths were destined to cross. For years, India have been regarded as the sleeping giants of football and with the inaugural Hero Indian Super League in 2014, the nation seems to have finally taken its first step towards waking up to ‘the beautiful game’ and reaching its potential as a footballing powerhouse.While it is still early days in what is set to be a long and winding road towards reaching its ultimate goal, the ingredients for success are there - from international superstars playing shoulder to shoulder with Indian footballers to an innovative and comprehensive plan for grassroots development throughout the country.Here, the ISL takes a look at the footballing culture in all eight nerve centres - the 8 cities/regions represented by each of the ISL teams.Part one takes a look at the traditional powerhouses: Kolkata and Goa.KolkataIt’s often referred to as the mecca of Indian football. If one tries to narrate the history of the beautiful game in the country sans the City of Joy, it’s like attempting to build a car without an engine.Any love that stems for football in India today originated from the city of Kolkata in the 1800s. It all began when Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta) was the British capital of India. The English used to play “some ball game” in the vast open fields (maidans) of the city. Intrigued by the sport was a 10-year-old, Nagendra Prasad Sabadhikary. According to the history books, Nagendra came to be known as the father of Indian football. So touched he was by the game that he set up a chain of football clubs in Calcutta, including the Wellington Club and the Shovabazar Club. These clubs began to challenge the British monopoly on the football pitch and the latter created history by beating the East Surrey Regiment 2-1 in the Trades Cup.Thus Sabadhikary paved the way for then younger clubs like Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting to achieve greater glories on the football pitch.Mohun Bagan was one of the most successful clubs to have been established in that era and the Mariners’ IFA Shield victory in 1911 is perhaps the biggest milestone in Indian football and also one of the cornerstones of India’s freedom movement. An all-Indian squad outclassed four English teams and beat the all-British Yorkshire Regiment in the final.In the subsequent years, Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting Club emerged as the three giants, not only in the state but also in the country.The world over, the passion for football is such that there are bound to be deep rivalries. Kolkata too has given birth to one of the fiercest rivalries of all time: Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal.East Bengal’s ASEAN Cup triumph in 2003 is considered the biggest achievement by any Indian club on the global stage.As a state, West Bengal has 31 Santosh Trophies in its kitty and is the most successful state in the history of the tournament.Cut to the present...The Kolkata franchise of the Indian Super League, co-owned by former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, was unveiled as Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) in May 2014. It is also co-owned by Spanish football giants Atletico Madrid. Apart from the two, the ISL franchise has the city’s top businessmen - namely Sanjiv Goenka, Harshavardhan Neotia and Utsav Parekh - as its stakeholders. Crowned as the first champions of the ISL, ATK’s victory ushered in a new beginning for Kolkata’s already rich and flourishing footballing history.GoaMany believe, while Kolkata inherited its footballing tradition from the British, Goa, on the other hand, credits its footballing roots to the Portuguese and the Latin touch in the Goan style of football bears testimony to that.However, Goa’s first encounter with football dates back to 1883 and it came from the neighbouring state of Karnataka. Reverend Francis William Robert Lyons visited Goa from Karnataka’s Udupi district, in order to recover from his ailment. He settled down at Goa and founded an English medium school at Siolim, where football was part of the curriculum. When St. Joseph's School was relocated to Arpora, Lyons was appointed its principal and he ensured that the game extended its reach there. The school shut down a few years later but by that time the game had already caught the Goans’ imagination. Some 132 years down the line, football is still the most popular sport in Goa. The game boasts of high levels of penetration, where even inter-village rivalries are common.The Goa Football Association was established in 1959. It conducts three state leagues and the staggering number of football clubs in the smallest state in India itself describes the passion Goa has for football. The infrastructure for football in the region is very highly developed; and the support is second only to West Bengal - which is startling considering the difference in size and population. FC Goa, the ISL franchisee from the region, was one of the biggest attractions of Season 1. The Gaurs dazzled with their brand of attractive and skillful football under the tutelage of Brazilian great Zico and reached the semifinals.Kolkata and Goa will continue to engender the next generation of Indian footballers and fans. Come October 3rd, both cities get another chance to renew rivalries and stake their respective claims to become ISL champions in the second season.Stay Tuned for Part 2.
