Churchill Bros SC,Goa deserves a second chance

Inter-village football is unique in Goa and for those not familiar about Goan football may be a bit surprised to know that it has been its lifeline. It could also be called a nursery where budding footballers get an opportunity to exhibit their talent and big clubs get an opportunity to scout and recruit. Some of the big names of the game in Goa such as Brahmanand Shankwalker, Nicolas Pereira , Francis D’Souza, Derrick Pereira, Camilo Gonsalves, Mauricio Afonso and Bruno Coutinho have all played for their respective villages in their teens.

Inter-village football has not only given great footballers to Goa and India but has also resulted in giving them a club of great repute. In the early eighties, a village club in Varca,Goa  started making headlines in the sports section of the newspapers. Varca SC with the backing of Churchill Bros had this path breaking idea to invite top players in Goa to represent Varca SC in village tournaments by paying the players handsomely. Money has always been a great motivation for players and why not. Other village clubs had to pull up their socks to compete with Varca SC.  Churchill Alemao has been a visionary in football and it was at his initiative a corporate was drawn into the game of football. Varca SC was sold to Madras Rubber Factory,Goa  and the club was renamed as  MRF, Soccer Foundation in 1986-87.

Churchill Brothers SC started up in 1988 as Varca  Club. A year later, Varca Club was taken over by Churchill Braz Alemao and along with his Bothers, renamed the club as ‘Churchill Brothers SC’. Since then, it has been a historic rise from being just a village club to being the champion club of India and has won the I League twice, three Durand Cups, IFA shield and the Goa Professional League titles for a number of times. They have not only played the AFC cup but have also played the AFC Champions League, the highest level of club football in Asia qualifiers in the year 2010.

With such a rich background, Churchill Bros SC can safely be called one of the leading pioneer clubs in the game of football, both in Goa and India. We are all excited with the signing of high profile managers, marquee and other international players for the forthcoming Indian Super League. Churchill Bros SC has done and seen it all. Some of the high profile managers being  Danny Maclean(Scottish), Zoran Dordevic(Serbia),Carlos Roberto Pereia(Brazil) and Manuel Gomes (Portugal). Some of the high profile players who have donned colours for Churchill Bros SC  are Edward Ansah, the former Ghanaian international who later on became the goalkeeping coach of Ghana for two world cups in 2006 and 2010, Yusuf Yakubu(Ghana), Odafe Okalie(Nigeria) who have contributed immensely to the rise of Churchill Bros SC.

Churchill Bros demotion from the I League is a major setback not only for them but Goan football as well. That is why an appeal to AIFF by Goa Football Association to retain Churchill Bros SC in the I League is in the interest of the game. Churchill Alemao the patron of the club had in the past expressed his desire and even publicly requested that the number of foreign players eligible to play in the I League be increased, so that the standard of the game is improved and more crowds would come in to watch, thus attracting sponsors to the game. It was the opinion of most pundits and the AIFF think tank that increase in the number of foreign players would result in depriving the local players the right exposure and playing experience at the highest level of the game in India. Now that AIFF, with the introduction of Indian Super League, has allowed seven players to be registered in a franchisee and has departed from the laid down dogma for I League, it should also be accommodating and retain Churchill Bros SC in the I League for season 2014-15. It was argued by GFA that originally the I League was scheduled from Oct 2014 and at the relevant time Churchill Bros SC had failed to meet the criteria for club Licensing set by AIFF. Now that the I League has been postponed to accommodate Indian Super League and will be held only from Jan 2015, in all fairness Churchill Bros deserves another chance at the top in the I League, if the criteria for club Licensing has been fulfilled by yhe club.

Churchill Bros SC, a family club which has spent crores of rupees, season after season and has done yeomen service for Goan and Indian football, for the last twenty five years deserves better treatment by AIFF.

In football, which is better- Club/State team or National team?

If you were to judge purely on the basis of football on display in any competition, what would be your answer be to this -Is club football better than the football played by the national team? Take for example, is the football played by FC Bayern Munich better than the football played by the World Cup winners Germany?

It is a fact that almost everywhere, the top two to three clubs in a country contribute most of the players for the national team. When Spain won the world cup in 2010, most of the players were from FC Barcelona and Real Madrid C.F and this year too when Germany won the world Cup 2014, they had players mostly from FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

These stats are enough to conclude safely that the success of a national team depends very much on the success of the prominent team or teams in a country. Germany and Spain have a good balance of both home grown players and international players. It is for this reason they have won the world cup in the recent past and also an array of players from different countries propel the local league into an international extravaganza. These international footballers bring in the hordes of talent and experience which in turn makes the league a huge business venture. A classic example is the success of English Premier League which is hugely popular in India. It is for this reason why a league in any country must be supported by all the stakeholders to make it vibrant and kicking for the development of the game.

In this context, the Indian Super League to be unveiled shortly is a huge step in the right direction as it brings in the cream of players from all over the world and gives an opportunity for local players to rub shoulders with some former world cuppers and highly successful managers. This would not have been possible otherwise even in their wildest dream. But the only problem is that three months of football is not the pill, doctors of the game of football would prescribe. For healthy growth, one has to take the medicine throughout the season. And that is why merger of ISL and I League would be the perfect dose for the football giant to wake up in India.

Coming back to the question whether club football is better than National football, I would be more inclined towards the former. The main reason is that in the clubs, players are together for a longer period which helps them to understand one another better, both on and off the field. Whereas in the national team, players assemble for a very short period and many a times found wanting in commitment, mostly on account of the club’s reluctance to release players fearing injury to their star players.

India is a huge country and most from the outside consider its size and population as the main parameter for the development of the game, which I feel is absurd. Development doesn’t depend on the size and population but on the talent, passion, infrastructure and facilities available. Talent is there in abundance in India but has not been tapped efficiently. I am of the opinion that instead of trying to take football everywhere in India, it would be prudent to concentrate in those areas where there is real passion for the game. Cricket, anyway, is considered to be next to religion in India.

India’s performance in the two friendly matches played with Pakistan was mediocre and I wonder if the under-23 Goan team could have fared better if given an option to represent India in place of the present Indian side selected for the Asian Games. The players being from one state have better understanding and camaraderie, which is very essential for the success of a team. Goa(India-ranked 156) won gold in the recently held Lusofonia Games, Jan. 2014 in Goa beating a much higher ranked(120) Mozambique under 23 team by a score of 3-2. Another great way to prepare for Asian Games would be to make the Santosh Trophy an under-23 competition with 3 players senior players allowed, as done in the Asian Games. There is so much of talent in India but no proper scouting is done. Mizoram won the Santosh Trophy in style by beating Railways 3-0 in March, 2014.  In the future, winner of the Santosh Trophy (Under -23) could be given an opportunity to represent India in the Asian Games and Olympics which have the same criteria.

 If an all India selected team can lose to Pakistan by 2-0, what harm will it do, if a state team representing India loses by the same margin or more?

Heading a football could be dangerous for children

http://www.sportskeeda.com/football/research-suggests-heading-football-dangerous-children

I would like to bring to the notice of all Associations, Clubs, Schools and others involved in training footballers at the grassroots in Goa and  India that new research has indicated that heading a football could be dangerous for the footballers as it is known that the muscles of the neck of the children are not developed and the brains are still at the developing stage. In Goa, thousands of young footballers are trained by Goa Football Development Council and the knowledge of the coaches should be updated from time to time.  The article that has been published in the website of 'Sportskeeda' must be circulated among all for taking necessary precautions by the coaches and parents.
 

Up-gradation of Club structure-A Key to the development of football

A day after the election of the new Executive Committee of Goa Football Association on 27^th July 2014, came the news about the withdrawal of Wilred Leisure SC from the Goa Professional league. It is indeed very shocking and disheartening to know that the team that stood seventh in the Goa Professional League had second thoughts about continuing in it. It’s a huge setback for Goan Football.  So what compelled the management of Wilred Leisure to opt out? This needs to be analyzed and probed by Goa Football Association for the sake of Goan Football.

What ails Goan Football Clubs? It must definitely be the cost factor of maintaining a club. All clubs have this huge burden of raising money to run the club and most of the amount raised by the club goes in for payment of salaries to the players. If a club like Churchill Bros could not get any sponsors despite winning the I League and the Federation Cup, what could be the fate of smaller clubs competing with the likes of Salgaocar FC, Dempo SC and Sporting Clube De Goa in the Goa Professional League?

It is not understood why the top Goan League is called a professional League? Is this not the case of a cart being placed before the horse? When even a club like Churchill Bros SC with a yearly budget of crores of rupees could not get a ‘Club License’ to play the I league for season 2014-15, why is GFA calling the local league a ‘Professional league’?  The fact of the matter is that the majority of the ten clubs playing the Goa Professional League do not even have a proper organizational setup and a football ground to practice, the basic necessities for a football club. How can a professional League run for just two to three months in a year? It’s very unfortunate that, leaving aside the I League clubs, most of the clubs have a deal with the players for only two to three months ie till the duration of the league. How can there be any development of football in this situation? In this context, it must be said that having two all India Leagues ie I League and ISL in a year would be detrimental for the development of the game in India as it put pressure on the local leagues and a death knell for all other major tournaments in India.

GFA President Elvis Gomes and the new executive committee have a herculean task on hand. Just look at GFA’s website and you will be shocked to see outdated news and fixtures. No effort is made to update its website and even the latest news of having elected a new President and the Executive Committee has not been uploaded on its website.  Goa Football Association is an association of clubs and sadly there is no information on the website about all the clubs affiliated to it. Club structure holds the key to development of the game and all clubs must have a constitution to guide them and a common goal. The goal should be economically viable otherwise more clubs will go the way chosen by Wilred Leisure SC. In this age of internet, GFA must correspond with the affiliated clubs through the internet for which club representatives could be trained to become computer savvy. 

It’s important to know why ‘Wilred Leisure SC’ has opted out of the Goa Professional League and what action is being taken when a club suddenly decides to quit. The criteria for affiliation with GFA must be reviewed and the least that GFA can do, to start with, is make it compulsory for all existing clubs to register under the Society’s Act, for proper accountability and functioning of the clubs.