Chirag United Kerala faces fans’ ire

[1]

'No matter what, you should support the team’, was Thierry Henry’s reaction following his outburst with an Arsenal fan after the North Londoners lost to Swansea in a crucial EPL match earlier this month.

Let alone such momentary flare-ups, some pretty shameful things have occurred in football during the heat of the moment. How can one forget Andres Escobar’s killing for letting in an own goal in the 1994 World Cup?

Kerala has always had a passionate yearning for the game and old-timers talked about their players and clubs at wayside eateries, or in those brisk get-togethers they had wherever possible.

With the changing times, the discussions by fans — maybe fewer in number today — retain the same fervour. Take the case of Chirag United Kerala, the only I-League team from the state. The fans of the club on Facebook were vexed after its humiliating loss against bottom-ranking HAL Bangalore. ‘Why is everything going wrong? What do we lack? We have lots of questions to be answered’ were some comments and questions posted on the wall.

And fans’ response was quick. Archak Sengupta points out the need for experienced guys in the team. “Bring back Kerala’s own sons to the team, like N. P. Pradeep and Denson,” he said.

Rinkle Bekadia said, “Please make the game good, then people will support us ... hope in the next season we can make a new history. Promote our team through FB and other social networks.”

At this point let us be reminded of how thin the fan base has become for the game in recent years. Raihan posted a link to a picture that shows the Corporation Stadium in Kozhikode during a match between East Bengal and SBT in 2005.

The gallery in the picture is filled to the rafters, something that would have made you cry, had you been to the Chirag versus HAL match where hardly a couple of hundred spectators turned up.

Meanwhile, reading the live updates of the game against HAL, which the home side lost 0-2, Suraj Shaji, a Chirag fan said, “We will support the team till the end, but sometimes it gets on your nerves.”
And Jaisal Hussain replied, “Today I feel so angry. Is this the same team that gave a good fight to Dempo? Look , now it is in a shambles against HAL . What happened to our team?”

The fans are emotional and they get angry; like the Arsenal guy or like Suraj or Jaisal. But the bottom line is: the support is always there. So why not win some games and make the fans happy?