Attracting SoBo to Bandra, students to bankers – ISL arrives in Mumbai

Mumbai: Who says if a city, known for cricket, won’t welcome football? Mumbai – known for its age-old maidan cricket culture – never had a chance to romance with soccer till Indian Super League happened. Although the venue (DY Patil Stadium, Nerul) is at least 30 km away from the main city, it accommodated people from every corner on Satuday for Mumbai’s home match against FC Pune City.

“We came here for RK (actor Ranbir Kapoor, co-owner of Mumbai City FC). One glimpse of him and our day is done,” said Sakshi, a 20-year-old student, who came from South Bombay wearing the blue Mumbai jersey.

There were many others, like Sakshi, who did not have any business with the sport, but turned up for celebrities (there was Rishi Kapoor, music director Pritam on the stands too).

But there were football fans in the house as well.

“I have been a huge Arsenal fan since childhood. I want to watch Freddie (Ljungberg) play and hence, I am here,” said Avantika, a 22-year old student, who came from Bandra.

Rudranil Ghosh- a banker – drove all the way from Malad with his office colleagues for the match. He, surprisingly, also attended the opener at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. So what difference did he find between the two stadiums?

“The atmosphere was great but there cannot be any comparison with the 80,000 odd people who were present in Kolkata. The size of the stadium is triple the size of DY Patil. What I could figure is that Mumbai crowd was predominantly a young lot whereas in Kolkata, I saw people from all age groups. Also, people there are much more knowledgeable about the Indian players and are not only running after the Del Pieros and the Garcias,” he said.

“We, as fans, have a role to play too if we want football to improve in India. Hence, coming all the way from Malad is not a problem,” he added.

Nerul, situated on the outskirts, in Navi Mumbai isn’t known to the glamour of South Bombay and its suburbs. These teenagers added to the spunk of the tournament with their fashion statement (graphic tees, Manchester United jerseys, three-fourths, hot pants, short skirts and designer leggings). Not to forget, the Mumbai City FC tattoo on their faces.

About 150 tickets (local train) for Nerul were sold between 3.30 pm – 4.30 from Wadala station. “Match jaa rahe ho na, Bambai ko jeeta ke aana (You are going for the match, right? Come back with Mumbai’s victory,” said the ticket vendor at the station.

For the first time in an official football match, the likes of Manuel Frederich and Andre Moritz were greeted to chants of “Morya Morya” from the Mumbai crowd.

“This can happen only in Mumbai, shehar hi kuch aisa hai, paagalpanti hoti rehti hai (the city is like this, people can go crazy here),” said an auto rickshaw driver in the area, who increased his station to stadium trip by five times, to earn more.

Being away from the city, there was ample parking space and the traffic did not face much congestion either.

Now it remains to be seen whether the crowd doubles in the remaining matches. Even if it is for Bollywood stars, a full house in a football match in Mumbai is good news for the future.