I-League: Bengaluru FC sets benchmark for other clubs

Zee Media Bureau/Rajdeep Saha

New Delhi: After pocketing the I-League title, debutants Bengaluru FC is set to achieve more landmarks in the coming seasons. The Bangalore-based club under Briton, Ashley Westwood, has been brilliant all season and their performance has been the major highlight. With Kolkatan clubs failing to win the domestic league for 10 years, the onus lied on clubs from Goa, another hotbed of Indian football. But an unheralded team from Karnataka has now set in to shift the tide. The club is amongst the few other outfits that have abided by the licencing criteria of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) which has been made mandatory for every club. Bengaluru has set their sights on qualification for the AFC Champions League, where only one Indian club gets a play-off spot. If they qualify they will be the first Indian team in the history of the game to do so. Their players have also dominated the nominations for the FPAI (Football Players Association for India) awards. Under the stewardship of Westwood, the team has addressed every section of the game in a way it should be done. The training facilities, and more importantly methods are a class above the rest of Indian clubs and players including Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri have praised the efforts. Westwood recently claimed, their training is similar to those in England which ultimately contributed in their success. In India, no club has a stadium of their own and are affiliated with the state-owned facilities. Bengaluru is vying to become the first club to have their own stadium. And besides Pune FC, Bengaluru are the only team to have set up a youth system and youth leagues. They have set the platform of soccer schools. The standard they have maintained, both on and off the field, is something other I-League clubs need to learn. Bengaluru will also start the next season as favourites and the team will hope to continue their hardwork to gain more success.