Bengaluru FC's international success another indication of long-awaited 'good times' for Indian football fans

SINCE THE INCEPTION of Bengaluru FC, it looks like there has been no looking back for Indian football and the fans. The steps they have taken have always ended up for the betterment of football in India.

They started playing in I-League in 2013 and well what happened since then till now is literally HISTORY!

Winning two national titles since 2013, one Federation Cup and now have got the tag of being the only Indian club to qualify for the AFC Cup finals. Nothing happened overnight, it was all process and the right process to be precise.

Owned by Mumbai based company JSW Group, the team has been hitting the right notes from the very beginning.

Apart from Kolkata, Goa and Kerala and the Northeast states, there has never been much talk of football in other cities. And out of these, Kerala doesn't have a team representing the state in the top division (I-League).

But Kolkata, Goa and Northeast are very much involved. If you belong to one of these states then football is by default injected in you. We've had clubs like Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Churchill Brothers etc creating milestones after milestones but not on short period of their existence like Bengaluru.

BFC's success story has become such a hit now, that the people in the city come out in huge numbers to show their love and support for the team. The fan culture has only been going upwards.

The credit definitely goes to the management who have marketed the team and the sport in the right way. Having good players, excellent coaching staff, all falling in place to see BFC succeed.

From here on there is only upwards for Indian football, the reason being BFC has just raised the standards. Previously two teams represented Indian at the AFC Cup till the semi-finals (Dempo and East Bengal) but BFC have just gone one step ahead.

The truth is that they have always been one step ahead of every other club in a lot of ways in a very short period of time. The culture of fandom has also grown for Indian football in an otherwise scenario where you find fans of the top EPL and La Liga clubs.

And we witnessed high level of fandom for Indian football at the Kanteerva Stadium on 19th October when BFC took on Johor. This was also the first time that a football club asked fans and other teams to show their support and the response they received was positive.

The result was just an icing on the cake, two goals coming from the current leader of Indian football, Sunil Chhetri. For those who witnessed it live, it was a surreal moment but also a dream come true.

Chhetri is not only known for shinning for his club but also for the national team and that was seen at the 2015 SAFF Championship held in Trivandrum, Kerala. India defeated Afghanistan to clinch their 7th title. The captain also bagged the Best Player award.

His leadership skills and performance on the field was yet again shown in the friendly match played against Puerto Rico on 3rd September in Mumbai. Thrashing the opponents 4-1 gave rise to a crazy atmosphere for the match as fans flocked to the Mumbai Football Arena to witness their national team play.

And what they received was sheer joy and the best night in terms of national team success, beating a then higher ranked team. The recent success run has enabled India to be ranked above Puerto Rico (at present 137th).

National team success along with clubs in India doing so tremendously well is what every football fan in India dreamt of and after a prolonged period of losses and heartbreaks it is finally happening for real.

For all those Indian football fans, this is the proudest moment where everyone has come together and celebrated the victory of the sport in the country. It is also the best time to be a fan of Indian football and if you aren't one then get on and be a part of the crazy atmosphere.

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