Blues set the pace

There’s no doubt that no football club in India has achieved what Bengaluru FC has managed in their short yet glorious time on the national scene.

Three years since its inception, the club has grown from strength to strength with every passing day – setting new standards and benchmarks. It was no different in 2016, as the JSW-owned team rising above the mediocrity that was Indian football.

In their first year, they won the I-League and in the second, they clinched the Federation Cup. The third year was special for more than one reason.

The Bengaluru side not only managed to pocket their second league title, but also became the first-ever side from India to reach the final of the AFC Cup, the Europa League equivalent for the Asian clubs.

Though they couldn’t crown the season with a magical moment in Doha — the venue of the AFC Cup final — the fact that this side has flourished in what now seems like a graveyard of football clubs (three more clubs shut shop this year) tells you the enormity of the BFC feat.

In an uncertain environment littered with stories of false hopes and a national federation looking helpless on many aspects, Bengaluru have managed to take Indian football into territory unexplored previously by Indian teams.

BFC also generated a sense of pride and optimism around a sport beyond its territory. This was evident when Bengaluru took on Johor Darul Ta’zim in the semifinal second leg of the AFC Cup on October 18. Though the Bengaluru faithful are more than capable of creating an electric atmosphere at their fortress – the Sree Kantreerava Stadium — the semifinal saw a great number of fans from across the country rally behind Bengaluru as they became the first Indian side to reach the final of the tournament.

New coach

The club’s first head coach, Ashley Westwood, should be credited for laying down the blueprint for its philosophy, one which mirrors that of a European club. And this is one of the reasons why when Albert Roca, a former assistant coach at FC Barcelona, took over the reins after the domestic league this season, the transition was so smooth that it helped them reach the final of the AFC Cup.

If Bengaluru’s exploits were the highlights of the Indian football season, a handful of Goans clubs leaving the big stage was the low point of the year, once again proving that nothing in Indian football has a definite future.

While Salgaocar FC and Sporting Clube de Goa were the first clubs this year to pull out of the I-League, blaming the road map adopted by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) as the reason, former champions Dempo SC too joined them stating their inability to float a team in the premier domestic competition.

Two new clubs, Chennai City FC and Minerva Punjab FC, have been added to the I-League which begins next month, but what does the future hold for them when the much discussed merger between I-League and the Indian Super League (ISL) takes place after the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017 is still unknown.

The ISL, meanwhile, entered the third edition, with Atletico de Kolkata emerging champions for the second time, with victory over Kerala Blasters in the final.

For the national team, 2016 was better than the previous year. Though their campaign in the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers came to a tame end with a loss to Turkmenistan in March, a win over Laos in the play-off has assured them a place in the qualifiers of the AFC Asian Cup 2019, that gets under way from March, 2017.

And with the federation trusting Stephen Constantine to continue as the head coach, much will be expected of the side when they embark on the journey to book their place in the 2019 event.