In the first of a three-part series, the Hero Indian Super League took you through the footballing heritage of the traditional giants of the game of India - Kolkata and Goa. However, two other regions, which we shall discuss in this second part, have gone shoulder to shoulder with the Big Two when it comes to their contribution to Indian football.In this part, we take a look at the cradles of Indian football – the north-east and Kerala.North-eastIf Kolkata and Goa are the brain and heart of football in India, the north-east is the lungs of the game in the country. The region has constantly pumped in talents and is rightly considered the nursery of Indian football.The whole north-eastern belt of India is famous for producing some of the country’s finest players, especially in recent times. Jeje, Haokip, Jackichand Singh, Eugeneson Lyngdoh and Durga Boro are some of the big names. Also, Indian football is incomplete without Baichung Bhutia - the man from Shillong who set Indian football alight and has been the modern face of Indian football at the international stage.Manipur, however, is at the heart of football in the north-east. The state, along with Mizoram, has supplied players to major Indian clubs. The current senior Indian football team has six players from Manipur and Mizoram.Representing all eight states of the region is NorthEast United FC. Co-owned by Bollywood superstar John Abraham, the young side won hearts of the entire nation in the inaugural edition and will be coming back this year with more conviction and determination. Also, who could ever forget the crowd at Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati!KeralaAnother traditional cradle for Indian footballing talent has been the southern state of Kerala. Some of the biggest names in Indian football history, like IM Vijayan, Jo Paul Ancheri, Sethumadhavan, Xaviour Pious, VP Sathyan, CV Pappachan, CC Jacob, and Victor Manjila, hail from the state.The game of football has been a passion for the Malayalees for several decades. This passion was there even before the state was formed. Amateur clubs with skilled footballers from Malabar and the Princely States of Kochi and Travancore fought hard and carved out a name for themselves in the early days of Indian football.Even in the 1980s, Kerala gave stiff competition to Bengal. FC Kochin, SBT, Premier Tyres, Viva Kerala, Kerala Police and Malabar United are some of the renowned clubs from the state. Kerala has won the Santosh Trophy five times and has been runners-up eight times.The Kochi franchise of the ISL was named Kerala Blasters FC in 2014 by Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, who is also a co-owner. The yellow brigade made it to the final in the 2014 edition of the ISL and will be looking to go one better this time.Stay tuned for part 3.
