Delhi Football crying for support...

Surrounded by crumbling walls and three surviving gates, the still vibrant old Delhi, built during Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan’s reign, is very much a city within a city. A labyrinth of serpentine lanes crowded with rickshaws, it is lined with 17th century havelis whose once ornate facades are now defaced with rusted signs and sprouting satellite dishes. This decay symbolizes the dwindling fortune of football in the Walled City, a sad state of affairs since I once used to dominate Capital’s soccer scene.

In the halcyon days, driven by passion for the game, old Delhi trades and businessmen did not mind diverting their business profits into football, helping the emergence of well-known clubs like City Club, Simla Young, Shashtri FC, Youngmen FC, Mughals FC, Dwarka FC, and Indian Nationals.

While the club flourished, the game attracted the middle-class. Such was the clubs’ appeal that even common folks came forward with contributors as clubs like Indian Nationals or City Club became a part of their lives. Today, these clubs are up against harsh reality: How to carry on their legacy without funds? Passion alone cannot take them forward. The clubs have ceased to enjoy patronage from the locals as well. And businessmen no longer support them as they used to.

I feel, we are spending mostly from our resources. Gone are those days when these clubs would be treated with handsome contributions from Delhites. However, the recent takeover of New Delhi Heroes by auction house Osian and IOS Sports & Leisure has given them a ray of hope. For the record, it was the first ever corporate takeover of a soccer club in the capital.

It is definitely good for the game here. But there should be more takeovers like this. Today, a top club needs about Rs 10 to 15 lacs to run its affairs. It’s a huge amount by Delhi standards as football is still a poor man’s game here. But still, some clubs are able to manage the money required to run their affairs which indicates there are takers for the game. Most of these clubs depends on their communities for financial support. But with football’s charm slowly fading, even old fans now chose to stay away.

One of the main reasons for the decline of soccer in the capital, club official feel, is that DSA does not have its own ground. Ambedkar stadium which usually hosts important football matches in Delhi is easily available for fans from the Walled City. But ever since some games have been shifted out of Ambedkar, fans have found it difficult to follow their teams.

In fact, absences of proper grounds have pushed Delhi football way behind the rest. There was a time when people used to kick a ball on the roads, in the parks and in the empty areas which have been now taken over by high-rise buildings.

In Old-Delhi, if someone played football, others watched him and gradually followed him. That was how many youngsters took to the game. With some leading corporate showing interest in Indian Soccer recently, there has been something to cheer about for the soccer fan. But how will the lot of Delhi football improves, no one knows.


..Harish.