Vaibhav Manchanda: passionate about football.Vaibhav Manchanda clearly wears his heart on his sleeve…and that heart beats quite loudly for football. The VP of DEN Soccer, owners of Delhi Dynamos FC, has a very focussed and determined approach for giving the capital city a taste of fast, attractive and dynamic football. In this exclusive interview with indiansuperleague.com, the young tycoon shares his thoughts, ambitions and strategies concerning the club’s foray in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL). Here are some excerpts…How would you define your vision for Delhi Dynamos FC in a nutshell?In a nutshell, I feel that our vision encapsulates an attractive, aggressive and an ethical brand of football. There is a growing football fan base in Delhi. We want to be the team that they can call their own. Hopefully, they will support us with passion and vigour which will help us produce great results.You have already had a chance to observe the current state of football in the national capital. How do you plan to change the scenario?The first aim would be to get the people excited about the ISL by bringing in international players of repute like Alessandro Del Piero, who is possibly visiting India for the first time. Once the excitement kicks in, everything else will follow. We are very enthusiastic about contributing on the grassroots front with our Junior Dynamos programme. We plan to take this programme to over 100 schools and spread this across north India. It is a very crucial part of our vision.What is your strategy for engaging the football fans in Delhi?Delhi has a large segment of fans who watch European football, the English Premier League, La Liga, etc. To engage these fans, we are trying to capture their interest at a very young age through our grassroots programme. Our social media extensions are also doing well. We just crossed over 200,000 likes on Facebook and our Twitter followers are growing day by day. A part of our strategy was also getting a marquee player who could create a stir. Del Piero fits the bill perfectly.What sort of a boost will a player of Del Piero’s class give to the Delhi Dynamos FC team?A huge boost. With Alessandro, we knew that we were getting a great professional, a world class player and a genuinely nice human being. He has had a chat with the coach, and they have agreed that their goals for the club and Indian football are on the same wavelength, which is fantastic for us. The impact that Del Piero had on Australian football is there for all to see. We are hoping that he can do the same for us.Tell us more about your association with football and the manner in which it all began.It all began as a football fan, of course. I have been following football for quite some time. I used to play a lot too. If it weren’t for my bad ankles, I would still be pursuing the sport. My passion for football has kept on increasing and I feel that I can contribute towards providing Delhi with a team that it can call its own. What sort of impact will the ISL have on Indian football?A huge impact. It is the first time that corporate houses and celebrities are coming together to support the beautiful game. With the inflow of money, naturally, the infrastructure, quality of coaching and the interest in the sport will increase. People can now aspire to be professional footballers. I see Indian football gaining big time from this, every single day.
