Kochi: Football lovers from across the state descended on the city in thousands in yellow T-shirts and cheered for the home team when Kerala Blasters took on North East United FC in the ISL second edition on Tuesday.
Unlike last year, when opening matches saw average crowd turnouts, this time the number of people thronged to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was much higher. But, still there were empty spots in parts of the galleries.
With the rain staying away, the ticket sales picked up from Tuesday morning itself and the fan flow did not stop even after the match was kicked off at 7 pm.
Earlier, hundreds of youths can be seen waiting near the VIP entry to have a glimpse of their cricketing idol Sachin Tendulkar, who owns the Indian Super League franchise Kerala Blasters.
The batting legend finally arrived at the ground 20 minutes before the start of the play.
A beaming Sachin acknowledged crowd support as he waved hands to the fans all around as he got out of the vehicle.
“Looking forward to experiencing the passion and support,” he had tweeted before flying into the city.
He later sat in the VVIP box along with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who officially flagged off the match and also took a selfie after entering the ground during halftime.
The cops had a tough time handling the crowd who indulged in deafening drumbeats, waved yellow flags and unleashed a flurry of Mexican waves.
“We’ve deployed 800 police personnel in the stadium and at various parts of the city. The traffic flow was not affected much with a strict traffic regulation in place,” said DCP S. Harishankar.
A few enterprising youths were seen doing a brisk business of ISL-related merchandise such as T-shirts and jerseys which were selling like hotcakes.
Meanwhile, based on a request from passenger associations, the Southern Railways has decided to provide a temporary stop for the Thiruvananthapuram - Guruvayur Intercity Express (T No 16342) at Ernakulam Town Station on all ISL Football match days for the convenience of spectators returning after the match from Kaloor Stadium. The train reaches Ernakulam Town at 9.45 pm.
