Football and fanfare go together. While the players make the match an exhilarating experience for the fans, cheerleaders in the stands push the players to produce special performances on the field.
On Sunday, the atmosphere inside the Mumbai Football Arena (MFA) in Andheri will scale a new high when India take on Kenya in the summit showdown of the Intercontinental Cup. To inspire the Indian team to achieve its peak performance, the Blue Pilgrims, self-appointed supporters of Team India, will raise a giant banner measuring 25 ft x 25 ft from the pitch level to the stadium roof as the home team, led by captain Sunil Chhetri, enters the playing arena clad in blue.
“We are trying something never seen before in India during a football kick-off,” says Gayatree Joshi of Paint for a Cause, who painted the banner with the help of members from the fan group inside the table tennis hall at the Andheri Sports Complex.
Dinesh Nair, former India football international and MFA stadium trustee, says, “Watching a football match in the city is turning out to be a fun experience for all. The players enjoy it.” Mr. Nair helped the fans in their initiative by co-ordinating with technicians to weld pulleys into the stadium’s metal roof.
Waseem Ahmed, an engineer from Bengaluru, and Debanjath Bannerjee, an economist from Kolkata, say that the banner is another experiment aimed at making football-watching a delightful experience for fans. The duo is a part of the Blue Pilgrims, whose members travel across the country to stadiums hosting Team India’s matches. The duo plans to travel abroad to cheer the national team at competitions like the AFC Asia Cup, which will be held in the United Arab Emirates from January 5 to February 1 next year.
Mr. Ahmed and Mr. Bannerjee say that they believe in teamwork and appreciate the ability of the fans in the city to pick up tips and memorise chants. Mr. Ahmed says, “Mumbai fans watch a lot of foreign football on television and are familiar with how fan groups perform at different stadiums. It is easy to get them to work together so that we perform well as one group and the effect is seen all around the stadium.” The Blue Pilgrims hope for more matches in Mumbai. He says, “MFA have been very supportive of a fan group, which is rare.”
