Aizawl FC-India’s very own Leicester City

Leicester City won the hearts of football fans around the globe last season by their sensational rise to the champions of the premier. For the relegation survivors to win the most competitive league in the world was a story to be told for ages. A year later the story has been repeated in the North Eastern corner of our own country. Aizawl FC has created history by winning the I league.

Aizawl’s story is as dramatic and as romantic as one can be. This was a club (due to relegation immunity for DSK ) relegated last season. It was only due to a pullout from the Goan clubs that Aizawl were reinstated and allowed to play in the league this season.

Their manager Khalid Jamil was sacked by Mumbai FC last season. 7 years without silverware made them think Jamil wasn’t good enough for the task. This was inspite of him making a severely dysfunctional club safe of relegation for years. Mumbai’s relegation in just the year after they won the title is a telling story. His coronation with Aizawl is a well deserved reward for years of hard work.

Their player’s haven’t had it in easy in life either. The story of star player Mahmoud Al Amnah born in war-torn Aleppo, having played club football in Syria, Iran, Iraq and Malaysia before coming to India in 2015 is touching and inspirational. Other players such as captain Alfred Jaryan, a Liberian national played for Mohammedan Sporting club twice and Mumbai FC before joining Aizawl a couple of years ago. Jayesh Rane and Ashutosh Mehta’s careers were dwindling before joining Aizawl on loan from ISL clubs Chennaiyin FC and Mumbai City FC respectively. This group of discards and strugglers have come together and created something very special.

Aizawl’s resources aren’t close to what they big clubs in the country possess. Their budget and spending was far less than the big 3 of Indian football. But what they had in volumes was belief. They had a dream and they worked their hearts off to achieve it.

With the proposed merger of top I league clubs with the ISL, no one knows how long Aizawl FC would be visible on the scene of Indian football or what the future holds for them and nobody knows how long they can sustain themselves. One thing that everything does know is that Aizawl has cemented a place for themselves in the archives of football Indian football for many years to come.

Aizawl’s story is one that will make us love football a little more. Their story is one that reinforces our belief in the miracle of sport. It is also one that brings out the romance in sport and inspires everyone to dream a little more.

Do Fairytales happen? Aizawl FC have answered the question with a ‘YES.