A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to visit Mumbai on a charity trip where I worked in some schools and with some charities and homes for children. There are many things that I took away from the trip; one being the generous and hardworking nature of all the people that we met and also how although many people in Mumbai had very little, they were determined to make the most of what they had and not one child that we met ever complained. One thing however, which really struck me about kids in India, is there absolute love of football. Everywhere that we went, kids were asking us about football in England and about their idols like Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard. Moreover, some of the kids that we met were very talented football players, who play in a similar way to the England youngsters, with a hardworking attitude and athleticism. It led me to think, in the next 10 to 15 years, will there be a shift in the footballing powers?
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There are 1.2 billion people living In India and it is still increasing. With the recent surge in popularity of football in India, it would suggest that, with such a large population, India would have a very good national team, however this is not the case. They are ranked 163 in the FIFA rankings and none of the recent call ups to the national squad play in any other country. It is not only in India that football has become a huge new sport, but also in China, the interest in football has gone up dramatically over the last few years. Shirt sales for Manchester United in China are huge, with many Chinese football fans following the likes of United, Real Madrid and Barcelona. However, even though both China and India make up almost 40% of the World’s population, the number of top quality Indian and Chinese players is very small.
Is it too soon however for there to be a number of top quality players from China and India? The more accessible that TVs have become for people in India means that more families have been able to watch football matches from some of the best leagues in the world, with some of the best players in the world playing. This has only happened over the past 5 to 10 years or so, which relates to the sudden increase in the number of kids playing football in India. Football has always been a popular sport in India, but nowadays, it is as popular, if not more popular amongst young kids as cricket.
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Although football is played throughout India, there is not the same quality and quantity of coaching to nurture potential talent like there is in continental Europe and America. Moreover, most of the pitches that kids play on in India are a mixture of mud and stones, which is not ideal for developing the necessary skills to be a good footballer. It did give me an idea as to a potential investment for Premier League clubs, such as the Hammers, to open a coaching school out there. The club could build a centre with a similar set up to the La Masia at Barcelona, so the children are educated, eat and sleep in this centre, which in turn would create jobs for the local community and they could offer top quality coaching to young, aspiring players. The more coaching courses out there, the more quality players would come out of India.
Baichung Bhutia was the first Indian to play international club football. He played for English club Bury FC for 2 seasons, making 37 appearances and scoring 17 goals. He now runs a football school for kids in Delhi. Sunil Chhetri is the current Indian National team captain and he just recently signed for Sporting Lisbon’s ‘B’ side. Although there have only really been these two players that have graced the European game, it shows that football in India is on the up and these players can inspire the young players out there to prove that Indian players can play in Europe.
When staying in India, I notice a lot of adverts of TV for “Asia’s next top star” in which the winner would play on the pitch at Old Trafford. These sorts of programs are the sort of things which is inspiring so many of the children in India to take up football and to try and emulate some of their
heroes they watch on the TV.
In the next 10 to 20 years will we see an Indian football team competing at the World Cup and doing well? Could we see any Indian players in the Premier League over the next few years? Tweet me @TollyCoburn
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