Super League Kerala has scored a fine goal on debut

Calicut FC celebrating their title triumph at the Kozhikode beach.
| Photo Credit: K. RAGESH

A full house. A well-contested final. A win for a home team.

The script has proved just perfect for Super League Kerala. The success of the opening edition of the ambitious project augurs well for the future of Kerala football. The beautiful game may no longer be a clear winner when it comes to the State’s most popular sports, and it could do with the fillip provided by the league.

To conceive a new football league when the calendar is already full with the ISL and the I-League – the two together employ the best of Indian talents and quite a lot of quality foreign players – would have been a challenge for the organisers.

Selling football to prospective owners may not have been easy either, given the fact that football is not exactly a hugely profit-making sport in the country. But, Super League Kerala has debuted well.

It is, of course, too early to say how the league will shape up in the future. The signs, though, are encouraging. The crowds have been really good in most venues, especially at Kozhikode and Manjeri – both grounds have attracted capacity crowds (the final between Calicut FC and Forca Kochi was watched by nearly 36,000 at the Corporation Stadium here on Sunday).

Something to address

As heartening has been the interest shown by Thiruvananthapuram, which unlike Kozhikode or Manjeri, isn’t exactly known for its love of football. Three clubs didn’t have home grounds, and that is something the organisations should do well to address before Season 2 arrives.

As Manjeri, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram showed, fans would want to see their teams play at home.

The fans followed the league on television too. The coverage was of good quality, and the numbers were excellent too, running into lakhs per match.

The fans came to the ground and viewers followed the game on television or on mobile because the quality of football was pretty good. The clubs managed to bring in fine players, domestic as well as overseas, and capable coaches though they didn’t have too much time at their disposal.

Wonderful opportunity

The league is also a wonderful opportunity for the State’s young talents. If they had only Kerala Blasters and Gokulam Kerala to look up to, now they have six more clubs, too.

After the euphoria of the maiden season, the expectations should be high about the league. For the league to sustain, it should be able to break even before long. If the organisers and the club owners manage to do that, Kerala football, and professional sport at large in India, will benefit.