Foreign stars add colour to league

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The senior division league, Chennai Football Association’s premier football competition, is starting at the Nehru Stadium on Friday.

The 12 teams in the fray have varied ambitions: a handful of them are in the title race and a few want to avoid relegation.

Players, too, must have their own targets for the season based on their positions. In modern football, coaches are under more pressure to deliver than players.

Results make or mar their reputations, so the league will be an acid test for the wise men pacing up and down the touch line. Referees will also be praying that their decisions are spot on.

Fans will enter the gigantic Nehru Stadium every day with the hope of watching exciting goals, well-timed sliding tackles and imaginative moves.

Journalists tend to think like fans in many respects, except for the fact that they love a controversy on the field. So it wouldn’t go amiss to present a wish list for the new season on behalf of reporters and fans.

1Let the title race go on until the final match, as it happened in the two previous seasons. The thrill of waiting for the 66th match to know the champions is alluring for neutral fans and a great advertisement for the league.

2The thought of throwing matches away should never cross any team’s mind. There is no worse nightmare for fans than attending a match whose result had been pre-determined. Friendly matches do take place in the Chennai league and the authorities should warn all the teams against gifting points away. If teams don’t play to win, they shouldn’t be playing in the first place.

3 There is a paucity of sure shot goal-scorers in the league. Almost all teams are searching for a fox in the box and it would be great for the league and Tamil Nadu football if sharp shooters, preferably youngsters, emerge this season.

4The CFA ad-hoc committee is duty bound to start the matches on time. Profession-alism starts with time. Dela-ys hurt everyone concerned: players, fans and the press. Nothing irritates fans more than watching the senior division players warm up at 5.30 pm when the scheduled kick off for the match is half-an-hour earlier. Sticking to the announced time is showing respect to all parties.

5Some teams want to keep the numbers and names on the back of their players’ jerseys a top secret. So poor is the colour combination sometimes that it is virtually impossible to find out who is who even with a team list in your hand. If reporters seated 10 feet away from the touch line don’t have a clue, one can imagine the plight of fans sitting at faraway stands.

6FCI and Indian Bank, one hopes, succeed in cracking the goal puzzle. Both teams did almost everything right in other areas of the pitch last year but were found wanting in scoring. It is high time the two realised that goals win matches.

7Customs are pushing ICF hard to become the most popular club in Chennai. They have a vibrant set of fans. Armed with trumpets and drums, Customs supporters add colour to the league through the noise they dish out. May their tribe grow in the league because football wouldn’t be what it is today without its passionate fans.

8A. Williams of Customs didn’t figure prominently in his coach’s scheme of things last season. The wiry midfielder is capable of threading perceptive passes. Fans would love to see more of him this season.

9R.P. Ashok Kumar (ICF), R. Rajesh and John Arul Raja (both from Southern Railway) are notorious for losing their temper on the field. They all can pick up a fight with a fly. The fiery trio can resolve to talk through their football this season.

10 There is no clarity yet on the number of foreign players who will ply their trade in Chennai this year. Watching Ghanaian Samuel Jackson turn out for Arrows last season was pure joy. The league will lose sheen without foreign firepower and it is hoped that a few excit-
ing players are roped in on time.