2nd Div club Fateh Hyderabad AFC get former player and decorated grassroot coach Tom Byer as co-owner
FOUNDED ONLY LAST YEAR, second division club Fateh Hyderabad AFC have attracted a lot of interest from abroad, and now they have a foreign co-owner in Tom Byer. A multi-dimensional footballing personality, Byer was the first American to play top division football in Japan, and has remained associated with Asian football for decades now.
Hailing from New York originally, Tom is now based in Japan and is one of the well known grassroots football coaches in the Asia. With Fateh Hyderabad intent on taking a long term approach towards building a grassroot network in the city and beyond and establish themselves in the Indian football match, the association with Byer can bring significant international connections and opportunities for their academy cadets in the short term and good exposure for the club itself in the long term.
Tom shared the news today via Twitter with pictures with the press and the club management.
Proud to announce I've become a Co-Owner of the Professional Team, @FatehHydAFC, playing in the I-League 2nd Division. Dev is at the core! pic.twitter.com/DBqRNyj0dx
Tom Byer汤姆.拜尔トムバイヤー (@tomsan106) October 6, 2016
Tom was honoured with the Adidas Golden Boot award, which he accepted in France after the World Cup draw of 1998 for his contribution to youth football in Asia.
Attracting foreign personnel to lower division clubs is an indication that football in India is sending out the right signals. While other such partnerships like United Sikkim and Mumbai Tigers have not survived, more are croping up, which is a sign that Indian football is expanding its domestic reach as well as reaching out to the footballing world.
