Twenty-two years after professional football took root in India, a team from Jammu & Kashmir will ply its trade in the country’s top division for the first time.
Real Kashmir, a club in only its second year of existence, beat Hindustan FC 3-2 on the final day of the I-League second division here on Wednesday to clinch promotion.
“You can see what it means for everybody… for the players, for the people of Kashmir,” said a beaming David Robertson, a Rangers FC legend, who is now Real Kashmir’s coach. “Just look at the emotions. It’s a fantastic achievement.”
Hard work pays off
Midfielder Danish Farooq, who had an outstanding game against Hindustan concurred. “We have created history,” he said. “For me this is not a surprise. We worked hard for four months. Now we are in the top division. After this it won’t be just Real Kashmir which will grow, but Kashmir football as a whole.”
According to Shahnawaz Bashir, it marked the continuation of the good work started by Lone Star Kashmir, which is credited with having started the I-league culture back home. “First started with Lonestar but they couldn’t make much impact in spite of working hard. But this has brought us a lot of cheer.”
“We never gave up. In spite of all the problems back home, we never stopped training, never stopped working. We don’t have much infrastructure. But everything needs a spark. I hope this is it.”
Inspirational
Defender Muhammad Hammad hoped that with the chance to see the likes of Mohun Bagan and East Bengal will spur more people to take up the sport. “The young generation will be inspired,” said the 22-year-old.
“There is lot of talent. But in Kashmir football isn’t valued much. People want jobs. Now may be youngsters will believe that it is possible to play football as a profession.”
Robertson summed it up the best. “Two years ago, Real Kashmir was just an idea. Now we are in the I-League.
“It’s incredible. A lot of people wrote us off. The fairytale was going on. Now the fairytale will now go on against the East Bengals and the Mohun Bagans.”
The result: Real Kashmir 3 (Tariq Mir 22, Danish Farooq 42, Nadong Bhutia 67) bt Hindustan FC 2 (Kushwant Chauhan 34, 80) .
