Have the referees really spoiled the game?? What is it that causes disappointment in fans and players alike?

Well behind the last line of defence

Scores the goal, but adjudged offside

This is quite a talk of the town about referees giving bad decisions all the time that spoil the quality of the game much to the loss of temperament of players. Here for instance, Sharath of CIL scores a goal with a brilliant run but it is adjudged offside.Well, in my opinion it is a 50-50.
The standard of "Football in Bangalore" has not developed to understand cheeky runs or  intelligent passes. We still see the number 10 jersey running with the ball all alone at the front like in the age of the Peles and the Mardonas. Football has evolved many a fold. In Bangalore though, we still are to see improvements in this aspect. The so called " intelligent" players are always out of favor by the managers and coaches. Freddy of Postal, a youngster so brilliant in his time, now 27, is not considered good enough to start a game in the super division. If one watches the passes and runs he makes, he would rate   among the players of the top flight.

But when we asked Sharath about the same, he quoted ": Ummm, I don't know. Referees are not well educated about the game but I wouldn't complain about referees being a key in poor standards of football in Bangalore. I would challenge all such people who say referees contribute to poor standards of football, to score from 40 yards out and see referees get that wrong. The Indian physical aspect of the game is yet to develop. They find reasons to to take the blame for their own poor performances"

This was in clear evidence throughout the league. There weren't a whole lot of long range efforts that brought a sense of excitement in the crowd, or even attract bigger crowds as a mark of improving standards of the game. Attracting bigger crowds is the first step in the development of the game. How we do it is the big question. How do we even get started in a country where sport is never encouraged to be a profession for growing kids or even teenagers. It clearly the lack of "education" and  education about the game. The I league was a huge step forward in this direction. Much needs to be done if the whole structure and standard of the game are to improve in this humongous country. 

The Bangalore "A" Division Football League May- July 2011

The 2 year long wait for any competitive football finally ended when the Bangalore football stadium was finally inaugurated in the last week of May. Bangalore Mars and ADE were the two lucky teams to feel the brand new astro turf. There were contrasting reviews and that was the talk of the town for a week and more.The 2 months of exciting football took a while to digest. Some teams struggled while others stamped their authority on the the pitch. 

 Newly promoted Bangalore Mars did not fail to impress.  They pulled out a hard fought 1-1 draw from the jaws of last season’s relegated team ADE. Dinesh for Mars was lethal in front of goal. His show was quite something to watch. They went on to finish 3^rd being the second highest scorers of the league. They are definitely a team to watch in the next year’s A division league.

As expected ADE cruised along the way. They won the league. Kewal Lama was the man who did most of the damage for them along with Murugan. Murugan, with his powerful runs filled with pace, left defenders flat footed most of the times.  The only hitch came when they had to face old rivals LRDE. The game had red cards as expected, and a feisty contest to relish for the fans / employees of both the establishments.

Students Union FC have been turning a lot of heads since their “C “ division campaign in 2004 in which they reached the semi finals and finally got promoted to the B division in 2007.  They have never looked back ever since. They were a very strong unit in the 2008 A division league giving a run for their money for tough teams like AGORC and ISRO. The Prasanna Kumar Tournament held in 2009 saw them clean sweep the entire tournament with thumping authority. It does not come as a surprise that they were the only other unbeaten team in the league and the highest scorers. The turn around for the season came when they defeated LRDE and sent LRDE tumbling down making it a  2-horse race at the top. Philip Babalola, the Brazillian was on target throughout the league.

Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) managed by Munawar Pasha failed to impress anyone this season. The team had been fading out over the recent years. They were relegation contenders on many occasions. This year though, the writing was on the wall. The once so brilliant Ali Khan, who was the goal keeper for the Banaglore University team and represented the junior levels for the Karnataka team was a gaping reality for the water supply men.  He played in all the different positions possible and represented a fading career, fading dreams…  He does his bit for the game as a referee now.

South Western Railway surprisingly stood strong this season. They were written down as relegation contenders to start with.  It was mainly down to their youngsters that turned the tables for them. They still had a whole lot of problem letting go of their aging players. To the senior players, the A division league is just a pass-time and wont let go off their places to youngsters sitting on the bench.  Hmm… food for thought. Had they fielded more youngsters and the more deserving players, would they have made it further? It is a question that shall be answered in the next season as there were signs of finally giving opportunity to the youngsters in the latter half of the season. The Bangalore University player, Arun was in fine touch throughout the league. He is one player to watch out for, whether he will follow the footsteps of this brother Nikhil Dass.

AGORC disappointed yet again. They promised to induct a few of the players as employees in their organization early this year. The applications for the job flowing in, the castles were built in the air for the applicants as well as the team manager. A promising youngster of his time, Ganesh was signed by them who stabilized the back 4. After a dismal start to their campaign, they finally consolidated on the back of good performances from Alwyn and Akash. The aging legs of Mohan Maren, Dina and Joe carrried them through to safety.

LRDE put up a good show till the half way mark of the season. Finally things went haywire after the game against ADE where their inspirational player George was given the marching orders. They went on to lose their momentum and fell apart to Students Union. LRDE remain stagnant with not much promise ahead of them.

Royals and Orientals pulled out of the league owing to internal problems at the club. Royals FC are making this a kind of habit of pulling out of league. They had earlier pulled out of the Super division earlier owing to similar problems. Neither  Orientals nor Royals impressed anyone except for the 4-4 thriller that they produced was a treat to the neutral observer.

Southern Blues- The team from Austin Town did not look like the force they are known to be.  Striker Ashok popped up with a goal or two when most required. They just managed to keep their noses in front while the bottom 4 lost crucial games. This is another club overlooking youngsters. The youngsters staring at the game from the bench did not really ignite new hopes. Southern Blues are the only team that has a systematic training facility under the passionate and extravagant coach Andrew.  Players like Lokesh who represented the Karnataka and BDFA teams was left on the bench for most of the season. They were expected to do better if not for key players leaving the club for better opportunities. This team has been home to many great players the country has seen.  We all hope to see something more positive from them next season.

DYSH has been producing an Indian international every year. If not an Indian international, a great talent emerges from DYSH that hits the Super Division, I league and I league division 2 by storm. Manju, Chandrashekhar, Chetan, Nabeel,Vishal, and Edwin the latest of the long list. Bejoy has been catching the eye of the selectors. Is he next on the list of India Internationals from DYSH. I wouldn’t bet against it. In the league, they just managed to show glimpses of brilliance. The sheer inexperience showed. They boys had a lot of spirit on the pitch, however, the composure at the time of pulling the trigger was seen to be missing. This team though, has always been under the selectors’ eyes for the various State and National teams.

Government Press were the one team that seemed to have no ambition right from the start of the league.  They did pull one over their old rivals AGORC with a 2-1 win which was the only highlight of their season. The Press men never really could field a proper team all through the season. Half of their players who had signed the previous year left due to promised employment was not provided for players. It is one thing to see the club in a position like this, even worse is seeing the players quit and moving on to lower division clubs. This is one club that has been more than a disappointment this season.