Thane’s football awakening…………..
The Thane District Football Association (T.D.F.A) had its curtain call on at MPF ground at 1st of July.
The final match played between western united and soccer 11 were witnessed by some senior protagonist in the field of football. The match was played under the supervision of Mr. Rajan Salvi, a FIFA approved referee which witnessed Western United’s thumping Soccer 11. They won the match 7-0 with a hat-trick from skipper Saket Sharma.
The award distribution ceremony followed the match. The chief guest was Mr. Henry Fernandez, former Indian player. His speech was very simple but to every one’s surprise it was an eye popper. His views although was known to all but no one hardly spared a thought on those valuable views. He agitated “when I talk about cricket children say I want to become Sachin Tendulkar, when I talk about hockey people say I want to be like Dhanraj Pillai, but when I talk about football children say I want to be like Beckham or Ronaldo. That’s were Indian Football miserably”. An electrifying wave was set which travelled through the nerves of very audience present bitterly.
After that, winners were announced Western United and Century Rayon being adjudged the winners of elite division and 1st division respectively. Runners up were Soccer 11 in Elite Division and (K.E.F.C) Kalyan East Football Club in 1st Division.
Although the surprise package was undoubtedly Kalyan East Football Club (K.E.F.C). A team that was a rookie in the league but gutted out top clubs to pave their way to the runner’s up spot. A team that hardly had any sponsors, no proper ground to play, no big players but still they put forth a fairy tale run. It was this team that proved that all other amenities are just secondary all you need is a big heart, love for the game and an optimistic approach to achieve wonders.
In the end it was dawned to every one that Indian Football needs recognition from grass root level and this is what such tournament aims at.
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