They did it in their inaugural season with a team that was never meant to win the title. Two years down the line, Bengaluru FC are once again the I-League champions. But this time they were always counted as one of the favourites. What a difference three years make!
Since being established in 2013, it’s been a swift climb to the top for the Garden City side. And if there were anyone unconvinced by their debut season title win, and there were many, the success of the club in the next two seasons have put paid to that sour spot.
While history might look at their achievement in the inaugural season as one of the benchmarks in Indian football, their corresponding seasons have only added more gloss to their reputation.
Since starting as a bunch of lovable misfits, with notable exception of Indian captain Sunil Chhetri, who went on to achieve one of their biggest goals in one of the most unprecedented ways, a real life movie script if you will, manager Ashley Westwood has slowly added more steel and versatility to the squad over the next two years. He chopped off the flak, added more quality and tempered the team into the best club in the country. And key to that has been the influx of youngsters into the team.
While success for the club was the priority, there was also a motivation of developing Indian football and making internationals. A fact, that’s been repeatedly stressed by the Englishman since the beginning. By using nine U-22 players, out of which only three made less than five appearances, over the course of the season, Westwood has shown faith in the local talent. A trait that is hard to come by.
With many of the coaches making a mockery of I-League’s rule that a team should field at least one U-22 player in their starting line-up, the JSW-owned side, if anything, have at times been guilty of adding more from the bench.
It’s an achievement to win the league, especially in the football climate that exists in India. Rival leagues, crunched calendar, teams pulling out due to financial constrains and the federation fighting to make enough fixtures to maintain their AFC status.
But to do so with so many youngsters and using so many different formations and tactics during the season, makes it all the more sweeter. Something captain Chhetri is proud of.
“If you see our team, Zula (A Malsawmzuala), Daniel (Lalhlimpuia), Udanta (Sing), Len (Seminlen Doungel), Amrinder (Singh). We play two-three U-22 players regularly.
Zula did such a blunder against East Bengal (which led to BFC conceding a goal), Westwood didn’t change him. We all went to him and encouraged him. The next ball, he asked for the it, turned Ranti Martins and passed. Then you know he is under the right guidance here. He deservingly got a goal too. I bet in so many clubs, if an U-22 player did that they would be gone. We see they take off the U-22 players after 21 minutes, 18 minutes, they are making a mockery out of it. Once you can say he is injured but every match ’ remarked Chhetri.
“So the youngster knows that he only has 18 minutes to impress and he knows no one is looking at him and that it’s just a card that they are playing. But in our club all the youngsters are given freedom to express what they want. It’s a good team to be in.”
It surely is, after all its already been proven that you can win everything with youngsters.
