League of extraordinaries

There's no doubt that cricket is the biggest sport in the country, but not far behind are football fans. Despite the country’s national team yet to identified as ‘world class’, India’s love for football is growing and growing, thanks to the football leagues. Though India has their own football leagues like I-league and ISL, European Leagues still remain the favourite for millions of Indians. Among the League fanatics, the lion’s share goes to the English Premier League.

In an estimated calculation by Premier League’s (PL) statistical survey, India is home to almost 155 million passionate and loyal PL fans. Compared to the rest of Asia which has a PL fan base with the same passion and intensity, the Indian figures are humongous, more than most of their entire population. Kerala, Maharashtra, New Delhi, Bengaluru and North-East have the biggest number of PL fan clubs, officially affiliated and identified by the PL clubs. In Kerala, there are tens of thousands of supporters for each club in the league. Among them, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City have most fan following.

With the Premier League already up and running this season and having completed fourth round matches, these five Big Boys’ fans are as excited as any fan in England. On a Saturday or Sunday evening when a Premier League match kick offs, the young ones book their places in front of big screens, at clubs and cafés.

“How it is that Liverpool fans in Kochi know all the words, harmonies and even the nuances within the nuances of You’ll Never Walk Alone? How is that feeling when Manchester United Fans, in front of the large screen in Kozhikode, harmoniously sing Glory Glory Man United? We have the same amount of passion like any other PL fan in the world,” says Sudeep, a die-hard Liverpool fan, who adores Scouse. 

“Liverpool has been a revelation last season and under Klopp, we are building a great team. The Reds are on the right way. This season, we definitely have a chance along with City and Chelsea,” says Sudeep, who is also the head of Liverpool’s Official Kerala Supporter’s Club.

“Years ago, this was only a phenomenon that happened in cities like Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram, but now the PL fan base for each team has grown in a big way and even remote villages in Kerala has their own support groups. Since the ISL came along, people started to involve in more matches and new fans were started following PL. The Premier League has helped build a strong football culture in Kerala,” says Sanjay, a supporter of Mancunian giants Manchester United. “ManU has a great fan following in Kerala and Manchester United Supporter’s Club has been one of the main reasons for it. This season, though we started off in the back foot, I trust inJosé Mourinho and we will bounce back,” says Sanjay.

These fan clubs are not just screening matches or screaming for their favourite clubs; they also get involved in charity activities, says Sandeep, an Arsenal fan and one of the caretaker of Highbury, a spot for Arsenal fans to get-together and watch live matches in Thrissur.  “We have donated a huge sum to the CM’s Relief Fund after the Kerala floods. The Arsenal FC and Arsenal FC Kerala fans club offered us all the support,” he adds.

Chelsea FC’s fan base in Kerala is one of the biggest along with Liverpool and ManUnited and has also offered wholehearted support to the flood relief crowd funding. Afsal, one of the representatives of Chelsea’s official Kerala Fan club, says the London club has been directly supporting the people who are affected and are monitoring every activity through the official Kerala fan club.

Champions Manchester City, since their successful run from 2009, started to gain huge number of fans in Kerala and the club even went on to display its Kerala supporting fan club’s name during one of the games at the Etihad Stadium in England last season. Sreekanth, Man City fan and Citizens Kerala’s representative, says that like any other PL Club, the City enjoys great support and is as big as any other fan base; thanks to some brilliant runs after 2009. He also says Cityzens will defend the title this season.  

Apart from screening of weekend matches, there are groups which organise pre-match events to inculcate football culture in various parts of the state.

Though the season has just started, all these fans believe that they have an edge over others to win the title this year as it is very open from the start.

The Premier League will resume this Saturday after two weeks’ international break.