ISL: Delhi Dynamos go Dutch and tie up with Feyenoord FC

New Delhi: Indian Super League franchise Delhi Dynamos have gone the Dutch way as they today announced an alliance with renowned club Feyenoord FC, which would help in the “overall development” of the team besides providing players and technical staff in the much-awaited inaugural season.

As part of the alliance with franchise owner DEN, Feyenoord will share its immense knowledge of the sport with the Delhi side.

Announcing the launch of the team for the upcoming Indian Super League, Chairman and Managing Director of DEN Networks, Sameer Manchanda said, “Football is the world’s biggest sport and is now set to become India’s leading sport. We hope the Delhi Dynamos will inject pride and passion to all Delhiites and football fans of the region.

“With Feyenoord Rotterdam, we look forward to building a team of world-class players who can inspire with their skills and represent our city’s hopes and aspirations. Our dream is to take India to the global football stage and ultimately to the FIFA World Cup. They will assist us in overall development of the club and its initiatives.”

Feyenoord’s football academy has been voted as the best in the Netherlands for five successive years. According to the CIES Football Observatory, Feyenoord is the World No. 1 in Player Development for this year’s FIFA World Cup.

Gido Vader, Head of International Relations of the Rotterdam-based club, said: “Feyenoord Rotterdam is thrilled to be associated with the Delhi Dynamos. The Indian football opportunity is huge, and we are looking forward to assisting DEN in creating a fantastic team and ecosystem through the Indian Super League.”

“The task at hand now is to build a team, how do we progress Indian football, get the coaching level up, provides the right platform to the talents… It takes time to build talent and we have a strategy in place.”

Including Robin Van Persie and Bruno Martins Indi, World Cup 2014 had 12 Feyenoord Rotterdam-trained players, the highest from any club globally. Apart from the coach and a physio, Delhi, to start with, will also have a young Feyenoord player in his 20s playing for them in inaugural ISL.

DEN Networks is India’s second largest cable TV distribution company serving 13 million homes in over 200 cities.

The team name, its philosophy, anthem and the Delhi Dynamos’ alliance with Feyenoord Rotterdam were unveiled at an event held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the home stadium of the Dynamos. The stadium is getting a brand new world-class football pitch in preparation for hosting the Delhi home matches of the ISL.

The anthem of the team attempts to capture the diversity and raw energy of Delhi.

The team’s aim is to “nurture football culture in our home city, ushering football revolution in Delhi and giving Delhi a team that plays good and ethical football”.

DEN said it aims to create a robust football ecosystem in Delhi and northern India along with giving them a team they can support with pride. The alliance with Feyenoord Rotterdam marks the first step in Delhi Dynamos’ mission of building football into a leading sport across Delhi and northern India.

Feyenoord Rotterdam is one of the two biggest football clubs in the Netherlands, a football crazy country that has been producing top players and teams for a long time.

The club was founded in 1908. In just over a 100 years, the band of brothers transformed into an internationally known and respected institute, playing in one of the most authentic and loved stadiums of Europe.

In 1970, Feyenoord became the first Dutch to lift a major European trophy, when it conquered the European Cup (which is known as the Champions League nowadays). Feyenoord was also the first Dutch club to win the Intercontinental Cup (1970) as well as the UEFA Cup (1974, nowadays known as the Europa League). Meanwhile, asked about the reported signing of two former Denmark players - Mads Junker and Morten Skoubo - as their two international players, Vader said “I can’t say anything but I am not denying that either.”

PTI