The Rise of Bengaluru FC

Recently we have seen death of Mahindra FC,JCT FC,Pailan Arrows.Most of the clubs in the country are facing financial crunch.Chit fund scam has affected investment in all the Kolkata clubs.In current depressing scene where football clubs are crying for fans and money,the success story of Bengaluru FC presents a very different picture.

The club based in Bngalore.It opened it's operations barely 6 months before.It got direct entry into I-League (unlike the 2nd division promotion route) and promised to fulfill the expectation of AIFF in response.JSW group are the owner and sponsor of the club.

Within 7 days of the birth,club made some eyebrow raising signings.Ashley Westwood,who has worked as an assistant coach of Blackburn Rovers was signed to be coach of the club.To give the club a pan Indian image,two best Indian strikers,both from Delhi were signed.Robin Singh is enjoying the weather of this and Sunil Chetri has already 8 goal even though he is playing in unusual winger position instead of  central forward.In the forward line, they have their own Rooney-'Sean Roony' who is following Chetri in goal count with 7 goal.Young Salgaocar purchase Pawan Kumar is a regular under the bar but missed last match against EB due to injury.

When Westwood came to India,he knew that he had a tough job at hand.He walked extra mile and distributed pamphlets in shopping malls for the popularity of the club.To attract the youth,colleges were approached and a few hoarding-ads did real work.It helped in increasing the awareness level of the people of the city

Club wears jersey with crest which resembles Bangalore Palace.It is a sign of victory when native

Wodeyars dynasty took the palace back from English troops.Picture of blue Gandaberunda,a mythical two headed bird with magical powers is embedded in the middle of the crest.Incidentally,it was a symbol on the coat of arm of Karnataka state and presently in the symbol of state.It all gave club a sense of belongingness.

Club uses all sorts of social media to stay connected with the fans.8000 strong crowd can often be seen during club's matches.Club has not disappointed them and currently won all I-League games at home except two.They are running for title and currently in the top of the table after 15 rounds.

Soccer is growing.CEO Mustafa Ghouse shares the view.He admits that soccer scene in the country is very positive.There are many football lovers who have been to Europe for long period of time.Others follow European Leagues and desires for same soccer culture here in India.

The club tied up with a local pub to give the loyalist a feeling.It is the official pub of the club.Here matches of the club are shown on giant screen and and loyalists cheer whole heartedly for them.Club owns and maintains a stadium 'Bangalore Football Stadium' in the heart of the city.It can accommodate a crowd of 15000 but club reduced the capacity to 9500 as east and upper west stand in dangerous condition thanks to KSFA for the corruption.Club will install a temporary floodlight for the second phase of the league and renovate whole stadium for u17 world cup 2017.The stadium has VIP box and press area.

I think Mumbai FC also started with same zeal a few years ago.It clearly has lost the steam and currently their home games took place in Pune.Example of rise and fall of pro club FC Cochin can also be seen.So BFC has to be very cautious if they want to run a long race.May their bold dreams come true.

official website http://www.bengalurufc.com/

official Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bengalurufootballclub

official fan page https://www.facebook.com/bengalurufcfans