ISL: Losing start, but enough to rejoice for Mohammedan Sporting fans

It may not have been an ideal start to their debut season in the Indian Super League (ISL) on Monday, 16 September, but the new promoters of Mohammedan Sporting felt it’s an occasion to celebrate for the 5000-odd fans present at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan. A toehold in the top tier league of the country, a new ‘home’ with a nice ambience – there were quite a few things to write home about for them.

Nestled in a residential area along the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass on the fringes of the city, Kishore Bharati looked resplendent with its lush green turf and newly done up stands under the floodlights. The tifoes, banners screaming about different pockets of the city from where the fans came indicated that a decent performance in the elite league will go a long way in re-energising the fans of the century-old club.

 The football city, which only had the gigantic Salt Lake Stadium to fall back on for the ISL games, can now boast about the new facility – to be treated as the home venue for all but two of Sporting’s home games. Only their ‘mini’ derbies, meaning matches with the other two heavyweights Mohun Bagan Super Giant and East Bengal, respectively, may be held at Salt Lake due to bigger capacity and logistics of security.   

 How did the new promoters, Shraachi Sports, react to their 1-0 loss to North East United FC, the Durand Cup champions? Rahul Todi, managing director of the group with a growing number of sports verticals in their portfolio, was upbeat on their social media handle: ‘’We are quite happy with the opening day’s performance. I think this evening calls for celebration as it’s a historic occasion – though I urge the fans to turn up in bigger numbers in the next game.’’   

Founded in 1891, Mohammedan Sporting is one of the oldest and most storied clubs in Indian football. It was the first Indian team to win the Calcutta Football League in 1934, before going on to secure seven out of the eight titles between 1934 and 1941.

 In 1960, the club achieved international recognition by winning the Aga Khan Gold Cup in Dhaka, marking the first time an Indian team had claimed victory in an international tournament. Several milestones followed, until the club hit a downward spiral in the new millennium — failing to cope with the rising costs of staying afloat in the big league.

After wallowing in the lower tier of Indian leagues for more than a decade, the I-League crown in 2023-24 paved their way to the prestigious ISL. While the newcomers matched up to their opponents for a better part of the game, the team looks a bit lightweight and a few of the fans felt it would be a good achievement to finish in the top six.

Sharing his assessment of playing their first-ever ISL match, Russian coach Andrey Chernyshov said: “Many people were worried about our first match because we are (moving) from I-League to ISL. There is a big difference between I-League and ISL. But we came to the ground and played nice football with many good actions. We made some mistakes and we need to be better there in the next matches.”

The Kolkata giants are in for a tougher challenge next when take on FC Goa at home on 21 September. The Russian urged his players to work harder and pose ample challenges for other teams in the league.

“We continue to work and hope to be better match by match and start taking points,” Chernyshov signed off.