Chandigarh, June 23
Football, the world’s most popular game, took roots in Chandigarh more than four decades back. However, the city is not counted among the major football centres of the country. No major championship has been organised here over the past few years. The last major meet, perhaps, was the north zone edition of the Federation Cup, which featured top outfits from Punjab, Delhi, and Himachal Pradesh. They included Punjab Police, JCT, Punjab State Electricity Board, Hindustan Club besides a few others. This meet, incidentally was also the swan song of former international Kuljit Singh. The city, despite being Punjab’s capital, has never played host to the senior national championship for the Santosh Trophy. It has also not found favour with the All- India Football Federation or a participating club of Punjab for hosting any National Football League match till now, although seven editions of the league have gone by and every edition has been contested by Punjab’s top outfit JCT, Phagwara. Teams like BSF and Punjab Police have also played in the NFL but action remained confined to Ludhiana an Jalandhar.
The main reason, as keen followers of the game reveal, is lack of a proper stadium. No doubt, the Sector 17 football stadium is centrally located and has seen good crowds whenever there has been some action on the field, like the North Zone Federation Cup, but sadly the stadium does not fulfil the requirements of the All-India Football Federation which is the main reason for the city not getting favoured treatment as a hosting centre. The mandatory requirement of a fence to seperate the players from spectators remains unfulfilled. Seating arrangements, capacity, and other safety norms appear inadequate. In fact no major addition or alteration has taken place ever since the stadium was built .The Chandigarh Football Association was also granted affiliation rather late which also hampered the development of the game here.
However, this does not mean that the city does not have a football culture. Some of India’s leading footballers honed their skill in the Union Territory before bursting on to the national
scene. They include former international Harjinder Singh, who played for East Bengal in 1979-80 and then was a regular member of the JCT team from 1981 to 1985 before hanging boots. Among other well known players from Chandigarh are Bhupinder Thakur, who played for JCT, and former India goalkeeper Virender Singh, now serving Punjab Police. In fact Virender Singh has the unique distinction of serving India’s leading clubs like Goa’s Churchill Brothers, Mumbai’s Mahindra United and Punjab Police. Former international Harjinder Singh is now the chief coach of the Chandigarh Football Academy, a brainchild of the former Punjab Governor, Lieut-Gen JFR Jacob (retd). Sanjeev Kumar of AG Haryana who recently sought transfer to Mohun Bagan, and a couple of other youngsters have strengthened Chandigarh’s credentials as a football centre.
A growing trend noticed over the past few years is establishment of football academies in the city. Some of the well known schools like St. Stephen’s in Sector 45 and Sanjay Public School boast of energetic and skillful youngsters who, with expert guidance, have the capability of making it big. The St. Stephen’s Football Academy, functioning under Principal Harold Carver, with Bhupinder Singh as coach, has already travelled to England and Italy on exposure trips. Modern training techniques are adopted and on special occasions, the boys are taken out to watch big matches, particularly the National Football League ties.
The Chandigarh Football Academy, in fact, is well equipped thanks to official patronage extended by the former Governor. The academy, started in August 2000, has boys from different parts of the region. This year, four newcomers have been inducted, namely Armandeep, Sehajpal (both from Kapurthala), Shahbaz and Shamim (Malerkotla). Video recordings of training sessions are done regularly and weaknesses are pinpointed. A shooting wall constructed recently at the Sector 42 complex is an added advantage.
The academy has vigorous training and fitness programmes. The morning practice hours are from 5.30 am to 7.15 am daily while the evening practice is from 5 pm to 7 pm. The boys are provided free diet worth Rs 87 per day spread in five meals. Chief coach Harjinder Singh is being assisted by Dr Shaji Prabhakaran, a PhD in physical education. All the trainees have been admitted to Government Model High School, Sector 42. Besides regular studies, the trainees receive guidance from eight tutors from 7.30 pm to 9 pm.
The lush green ground of the CFA at the Sector 42 complex, though well maintained, also does not meet the requirements of the AIFF as far as safety and seating arrangements are concerned.
The Chandigarh Football Academy team is currently touring West Bengal on an exposure trip where they will take on the top four under-14 teams of the state. Mohammedan Sporting coach Mohammed Habib has agreed to extend a helping hand. The team will be back on June 29 and will start preparing for pre-Subroto Cup in July and the Chandigarh Junior Challenge Cup in September.
The Sector 17 football stadium also witnesses a lot of activity. Training sessions are held daily at the lush-green ground under the watchful eyes of SAI coach Dinesh Kumar. At present 29 children are receiving training. As many as 31 senior players and 15 subjuniors sweat it out in the evening daily. However, as coach Dinesh Kumar points out, absence of top-ranking clubs here is one of the main reasons for the game not gaining a strong foothold.
Panjab University is another football centre in the city but except for inter-university competitions, no other contests are held there. However, the
St. Stephen’s football academy boys train on the university campus. Boys from various affiliated colleges, particularly from the Mahilpur and Hoshiarpur areas, attend annual camps prior to the selection of the university team. Incidentally, Panjab University is regarded as major force in inter-university football. Nigerian star Emeka who played a scintillating role in Panjab University’s triumph in the All-India Inter-University Football Championship in the mid-eighties and later on was picked in Nigeria’s World Cup team as a stand-bye, is still remembered by football buffs. Among his team-mates was the late Jagmohan Singh, son of legendary Olympian Jarnail Singh.
According to the St. Stephen’s academy coach Bhupinder Singh, craze for soccer here is not of level that is seen in England or Europe. “In England, toffee wrappers and other packings carry photographs of soccer stars like David Beckham and Michael Owen. Here only cricket stars are in the limelight through advertisements from time to time. It is time soccer gets due support from the corporate sector, given the game’s popularity at the grass roots,” he says.
Given the public interest and infrastructure, Chandigarh has enough potential and scope for soccer development. What is needed is upgrading the facilities and creating the right environment. After all, the game fits into the robust north-Indian psyche as do other games like hockey and wrestling.
