The fourth season of the Indian Super League is here and namooru’s football buffs are absolutely kicked about it as this will be Bengaluru FC’s first outing in the tournament. The league, which commences today, will see BFC play their first-ever ISL game opposite Mumbai City FC at Kanteerava Stadium on November 19. With skipper Sunil Chhetri at the helm, our team also has India’s number one goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Venezulean star Miku playing for us. And as always, BFC’s sakkath aficionados aka The West Block Blues are animatedly gearing up for the ISL.
Engineering students Karan Prasad and Samyukth Hemanth are doing everything they can to spread the BFC fervour. “Having won four titles in four seasons, our club’s done extremely well. As a fan group, we’re reaching out to the existing fanbase and prepping for the new battle with banner painting, preparation of flags, signboards etc. Students from various colleges have volunteered to put up posters, forward messages on groups and bring new people to the stadium,” says the duo.
They’re also reaching out to fans of European clubs and bringing them to the stadium to experience the adrenaline rush. “We’ve reached out to die-hard cricket followers of cricket and RCB to extend their support to BFC too. Football buffs in other cities/towns of the state are being brought together and assisted in their travel to watch the match using a Kannada flavour,” they reveal. With the legendary Rahul Dravid being roped in as brand ambassador of the club, the buzz around BFC has only gotten louder. Lawyer Sharan Kukreja is thrilled about the ISL frenzy.”The tickets are out and most of us regulars are picking up season tickets. We have new rivalries and can’t wait for this new experience. With ‘The Wall’ backing us, the excitement has gone up multiple folds,” he says.
Fans can also catch the action as it happens, on television. BBA Student Tarang Iyengar says, “Playing the I League since 2013 was incredibly entertaining, but the sheer strength of a few teams (BFC, East Bengal, Mohun Bagan) clearly put them above the rest. As for the ISL, with 10 evenly matched teams and huge vocal fan armies, the excitement is unparalleled. It’s safe to say that BFC will take the league by storm — we’ve made a habit of winning trophies since our inception. We fans will be screaming our lungs out from the stands as our heroes look to clinch their maiden ISL trophy,” he exclaims.
As for BFC’s chances in the ISL, Sharan says, “We have an advantage since we started our season early in the AFC Cup. We have had a good training camp in preparation for this season. Our new signings look good and we should be looking to get into the playoffs for sure.” Karan adds, “The club can go to greater heights if the entire city supports them in each of our nine games.”
