Home at last: SC Delhi bring ISL to the capital after seven long years

New Delhi: It was Tuesday morning, and the sun was beating down. The facilities of Northern United Football Club in Delhi-NCR were busy. On one side, a group of players were going through warm-up drills. On another, the goalkeepers were being tested with walloping drives. In the middle of the pitch, the coaching staff kept a watchful eye over the proceedings.

It was followed by the field being divided into two halves as two different sets of strategies were employed. As the sun grew sharper, the approach shifted to set pieces with the coaches dictating matters.




It was no ordinary morning, and it is no ordinary week. Finishing touches were being applied to what is a monumental occasion - a Delhi-based top-level club returning home after a seven-year gap.

Delhi once boasted of three clubs in the top two divisions: Delhi Dynamos in the Indian Super League (ISL) and Sudeva Delhi and Delhi FC in the I-League (now called the Indian Football League). Dynamos witnessed an average attendance of over 15,000 in the first ISL season (2014) and had legends such as Alessandro Del Piero and Roberto Carlos in their ranks.

Delhi's tryst with ISL and top-tier football lasted until February 2019 as ahead of 2019-20 season, the club rebranded itself as Odisha FC and shifted its base to Bhubaneswar. The presence of I-League clubs has persisted.

The capital city’s seven-year void of first-division football ends on Thursday (March 19) as Sporting Club Delhi, earlier called Hyderabad FC, host Jamshedpur FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

It is an emotional moment for defender Akshat Mehra, who was part of the Dynamos youth setup and is now one of two Delhites in the SC Delhi squad.

"I'm very happy that football is finally back in Delhi after a very long time. Last time it was Delhi Dynamos and thankfully I was a part of it also and now being a part of SC Delhi it's a great feeling because it's my home club and I get to represent my city and I'm very happy about it," said the 19-year-old after the team's training session in Noida.

The magnitude of the occasion is not lost on Akshat, who was part of Delhi's U-20 national championship-winning side recently. The stage and level of expectation are bigger now.

"It's a great feeling, but also it's a bigger responsibility, and I feel it's not going to be easy, but we are prepared for it as a team. If you talk about Delhi, now it's time for Delhi to step up... there's no going back from here, and hopefully we do great for the city, and we make all our fans proud," continued Akshat.

The Phoenix, as the club is nicknamed, are hoping that this home stretch proves to be a turnaround in their fortunes. After four matches played in the truncated season, SC Delhi are second from bottom with one draw and three losses — doing only marginally better than Mohammedan Sporting, who are yet to open their account.

The season began with a 0-2 loss in Bengaluru, followed by a 1-4 thrashing at the hands of East Bengal, a slender 0-1 defeat against FC Goa before staging a comeback from 0-2 down to force a 2-2 draw against Mumbai City FC for their first points of the season.

Having zig-zagged across the country, taking multiple flights -- sometimes more than one -- this home game comes as a respite after a 10-day gap. It helps that it comes at a time when the team is struggling, and the threat of relegation is ever-so-real.

"There is always the additional support, so we are counting on them to come in big numbers. They will be loud in the stadium and they will motivate our players. We say that fans are like the 12th player and we are expecting that, waiting for that," said coach Tomasz Tchorz.

Tchorz has been in India for a while now: with ATK Mohun Bagan and Kerala Blasters - both with strong home connections and a loyal fan base. He hopes Delhi adds to the list for him and JLN Stadium continues to be a venue of miracles.

"I think this is challenging but also very interesting especially in a city like Delhi which is (the) capital, which is big and versatile because you have a lot of communities in Delhi. Also, you have foreign people, and our team can represent different communities and unite them," said the Polish manager.

"This is something I would like to do as a coach of the team. Even in our team you can see people from different parts of India. You can also see people from different parts of the world.

"With our team, we can unite communities, and we can make a big family which is very rich in different cultures, languages, and religions. We can be as one by football," he continued.

To draw fans for this momentous occasion, SC Delhi have invited school kids, made tickets free and are collaborating with social media influencers to spread the message. The response has been "overwhelming", says club CEO Dhruv Sood.

"We launched (tickets) Friday night, and we've had an overwhelming response so far, above our expectations. The first game is an inaugural offer. The ownership wanted people to see and feel the pulse of ISL and football in Delhi. So, it's been free of charge for all people who want to attend.

"Tickets are still available. We are still trying to put out more because we want young people, we want Delhi people to come and see football.

"So, we are trying to get out there, even in this current situation in Indian football, as much as possible. My hope is that we have 10-11,000 people which would be a good number. Hopefully, a lot of them (will be) wearing red and supporting us and hopefully, the team will respond by giving them the first win of the season," said Sood with a lot of optimism.

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