What Brings Indians To European Football

Don't have an account?
Just enter your email id or mobile no and create your account in two easy steps!

🇮🇳
- 🇮🇳
- 🇳🇿
LOGIN

I am a
looking for
Country

[{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1501593294291","data":"Football is a sport that hardly ever fails to amuse, be it at the local, amateur, national or international level. This huge country of Republic of India that we live in, has been on many occasions, called the sleeping giant in terms of untapped talent and skill. Many clubs all across the world have players of Indian descent or heritage playing in their ranks, but very few who\u2019ve broken the glass ceiling of fame in this industry. Its growth largely comes down to the environment surrounding the sport, or the lack of it. India is, and will for the foreseeable future, remain a cricket-first nation. Cricket is a religion in this nation, but in many parts of this vast nation, Football is a way of life. Places like Malappuram and Kochi in Kerela, Kolkata in West Bengal and Goa have long held admirable standards of coaching and hype for decades.  <\/p>European club football has been a stalwart and poster representation of the game for many years now. Almost every major country in geographical Europe has a stable and respected first tier of football, often called the Premiership or the 1st Division. 1st divisions in almost all of these countries have clubs with history dating back to the First World War and some from even before the turn of the 20th century. For these football clubs, based out of cities from Prague to London, India has become a major selling point as well as a potential next-big-thing. Several clubs from England regularly involve themselves during the festive season with specials featuring their players in traditional wear or even taking part in a couple of the customary deeds like lighting diyas or setting up rangoli etc. But all of that is marketing strategy and making the most out of a growing market. A lot of tactical and technical expertise goes into targeting resources to a crowd almost 5,000 miles away from HQ. \u200b<\/p>But what makes India or Indians rather so obsessed with European club football? <\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1501658347861","data":"59817d9d6c8c1"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1501658350060","data":"Speaking from personal experience, a lot of the attraction comes from just word of mouth references to how good a certain player\/manager\/team is. Or it is just a matter of stumbling upon a game on the telly one evening and just liking all of it. A lot of factors pour into this equation of picking a football club to support. Some have an external 3rd person who forms their opinion (parents or siblings), but for first generation football fans like the majority of the Indian demographic is today, subtle coincidences like convenient broadcast timings, regular coverage or for that matter just appealing kit colours can all factor into finding the right team. Everyone has a different story, a different reason to connect with a city so far away from home.  <\/p>For me it was just that, an act of complete chance, when I mistakenly watched a game of football between clubs from two cities that I never knew existed. (Well, Chelsea isn\u2019t a city and I was not aware of that fact at 12 years of age). From there it\u2019s just a repetitive process which gravitates one towards those 90 minutes of action every weekend. It grows slowly, peaking interests with game schematics on and off the field. Transfers, discussions, debates and banter, all play a vital role in orienting the club\u2019s importance into our daily lives. All this time I\u2019ve been trying to avoid this very real and effective factor in helping popularize football, because some consider it a sort of a lesser experience or reason to begin watching football. The videogames. \u200bYes, threes no hiding titles like FIFA and PES have largely contributed to familiarizing many first timers to the rules and players. They have become a chief component of the football ecosystem and a very good source of information, on all fronts. <\/p>"}]

Message

Experience the best version of stumagz by getting the app.

Get College News, Updates
at just 5 MB

Complete Form

Experience the best version of stumagz by getting the app.

Get College News, Updates at just 5 MB

Complete Form

Responses

Get College News, Updates
at just 5 MB