THE RENAISSANCE OF FOOTBALL IN HYDERABAD

G.M.C Balyogi Athletic Stadium, Hyderabad

THE GREAT PAST

Once upon a time in a land not so far away, there was a club known as the Hyderabad City Police football club. They were famous by the name City Afghans and were quite popular in the 1920s. This club was a force to reckon with. The City Police Football Club defeated even one of the best football clubs in India and one of the oldest football clubs in Asia, Mohun Bagan Athletic Club. This club was so successful that it won the prestigious Durant Cup thrice, the Rovers cup for five contiguous years and the state league competition for eleven years straight. One of India’s greatest coaches, Syed Abdul Rahim and one of India’s best players, Tulsidas Balaram were in this football club. The club does not exist today, but their story remains a legend that Hyderabadis pass on to their next generation. 

 

THE REBIRTH OF FOOTBALL

 

Despite having one of the most formidable football clubs in India, it was sad to see the passion in football fade away after the journey of Hyderabad City Police Football Club ended. This season some of that passion, that interest in football got reignited in the City of Pearls with the rise of a new club, Hyderabad Football Club, as it began its football journey in the Indian Super League. Vijay Madduri, an entrepreneur and Varun Tripuraneni, who was the CEO of Kerala Blasters took over the dissolved franchise of FC Pune City and brought it to their hometown.  

 

The venue for the home games selected was the G.M.C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium in Gachibowli, which is a multipurpose stadium with a running track surrounding the football pitch. There was a lot of work put in before the season began to prepare this football pitch. Reyaur Sports became the official sponsors and kit manufacturers of the HFC jersey. The jersey is mainly black in colour with yellow stripes and is inspired by the Nizami Sherwani. The top part of the HFC logo shows the iconic monument of Hyderabad, the Charminar and the bottom part depicts the Kohinoor diamond. 

 

Most of the squad was inherited from FC Pune City with a few additions and was a combination of experienced players and young players. Phil Brown, who had experience as a premier league manager, and as the manager of FC Pune City, was appointed as the HFC manager. Rana Daggubati, a popular actor in Tollywood and Bollywood, became the co-owner of Hyderabad FC much to the delight of everyone at HFC and the fans from the two states. A fan club of Hyderabad FC named Deccan Legion was formed too by excited, enthusiastic football loving fans from Hyderabad.

 

ISL 2019-20 SEASON REVIEW

 

Hyderabad FC finished 10th in the table and accumulated a total of 10 points which is not the points tally one would have hoped. There were some close games though, like the 2-1 defeat away at Chennai against Chennaiyin FC which had two late stoppage time goals and the 1-0 defeat against Northeast United at home which could have gone either way. Hyderabad performed better than Northeast United in that game but did not have the rub of the green; a free-kick was not given for a foul against Marcelinho in the first half and a penalty goal was scored by Maximiliano Berreiro in the second half and that ended up being the winner. 

 

Two back to back defeats so early in the season after their first home victory did not help their cause. Some of the decisions made by the referees in other games also went against Hyderabad. There was a good performance and close contest at home against ATK which had a wrong handball decision by the referee. In the context of a season of 18 games, every game matters and every point counts, and fortune did not favour the South Indian side. There was a change in management during the season too as Phil Brown was sacked due to the poor results and Javier Lopez took over as the coach. Albert Roca was appointed as the technical director and will take over as the manager next season. 

 

There were some good memories for Hyderabad fans though during this season and the focus will be on these wonderful moments.

 

First Home Game

 

Hyderabad FC played at home for the very first time in their inaugural season in the ISL against Kerala Blasters, and it was definitely a day to remember for all the Hyderabad fans watching the match in GMC Balyogi Stadium, as well as for those fans watching the match at home. The stands were lit with the black and yellow colours of HFC supporters and the yellow colours of Kerala Blasters supporters.

 

The first half did not go as planned and the Kerala Blasters youngster, Rahul Kannoly Praveen ran towards Kamaljit and his shot put the visitors in front. The second half fight back was something that the fans in Hyderabad enjoyed watching. There was a penalty given to Hyderabad for a foul on Yasir. Marco Stankovic stepped up to take the penalty. He was cool and composed and scored the penalty to make the scores level. There were a few good chances for Kerala and one for Hyderabad through Marcelinho. There was one long range effort from the Blasters which would have been a spectacular goal had it gone into the net but luckily for HFC, that didn’t happen. Marcelinho later scored the winner through a wonderfully taken free-kick which he placed into the top corner of the goal. The Hyderabad fans were jubilant and that was definitely one of the best moments of the season. Deccan Legion were at their loudest, ecstatic to see the team victorious. The fans did the Viking celebration with the players after the game ended.

 

Other Noteworthy Results

 

There were other good results too. The draw at home against the champions of ISL 2018-19 Bengaluru FC was one such result where HFC somehow managed grabbed a point. BFC scored the opener early in the 2nd minute through their captain Sunil Chettri and outplayed Hyderabad in the first half. Sahil Panwar was handed a red card in the 56th minute, but Hyderabad’s valiant fight back in the second half with 10 men was another incredible moment for Hyderabad FC fans this season. They did not give up and finally Robin Singh, who came on as a substitute, scored an injury time equaliser in the 92nd minute, which was a thrilling end to the game and one of those moments that football fans live for!  

 

The last two games had good performances. These games included the last home game for HFC which was against Jamshedpur and the last away game of the season against Northeast United. 

 

HFC vs JFC

 

Hyderabad created most of the chances and were probably the better team in the first half against Jamshedpur. Adil Khan almost scored a header through a corner with the help of a good ball into the box by Marcelinho, but he was unlucky that his effort hit the pole. There were good efforts from Marko Stankovic and Liston Colaco who tried their luck with shots from outside the penalty box, but they failed to score. Finally Nestor broke the deadlock with a great shot from near the edge of the penalty box which went over Sardar, the goalkeeper of JFC, hit the crossbar and went into the net of the goal. 

 

The second half was pretty evenly matched with chances from both sides, but towards the end of the second half there was pressure on Hyderabad from Jamshedpur who were trying to score. They almost scored through a free kick goal which was denied by the referee for a foul on Kattimani. HFC’s defense could not manage the clean sheet though as Jamshedpur scored through a free kick by Acosta and a goal scored by Passi. This was pretty much of the story of the season, the defence just kept leaking goals.

 

Final Game of the Season

 

This was the best performance of the season. Marcelinho had a chance very early in the game to score the opener but his effort could not go past the NEUFC goalkeeper Pawan Kumar. Adil Khan thought he scored, but he was offside. Marcelinho got another chance but his low shot was saved again by the goalkeeper. There was a mistake by the Northeast United goalkeeper in the 12th minute which left an open goal for Liston Colaco to aim at and he scored the opener. HFC deserved to be leading in the game as they created the early chances. Northeast made another mistake, a back pass which did not receive the defenders and Marcelinho pounced on it and ran towards the goal and scored the second goal for HFC and his first goal on the night. 

 

HFC created chance after chance. Stankovic’s effort went over the goal and later Nestor’s shot was denied by Pawan Kumar. The hosts scored through Keogh. Liston later scored another goal in the 40th minute. 

 

Liston had a chance to get a hat-trick in the second half. His shot was stopped by the goalkeeper only to reach the path of Yasir who scored the 4th goal of Hyderabad on the night. Yasir gave a delightful pass to Marcelinho, but he could not score his second. Stankovic later hit the pole. Marcelinho, finally scored late in the second half. This was a dominant performance by Hyderabad and a good end to the season.  

 

THE JOURNEY HAS JUST BEGUN

 

The season did not go as a fan from the two states would have hoped, but it was great to see live football in Hyderabad. The fans are now looking forward to better performances next season under Albert Roca, who was successful in the ISL with Bengaluru FC and led them to the final of the AFC cup.

 

We already see some positive signs with good signings like Liston Colaco in the last transfer window.  Many of the Indian players in HFC have extended their contracts. Varun Tripuraneni has also been positive about the upcoming season in the Deccan Dialogue, a brand new podcast of Deccan Legion. He mentioned that the club will aim to reach the playoff spot in the upcoming season. The journey for the new club has just begun and the fans will hope that a team from Hyderabad can relive those glory days of the 20th Century, at some point in the future.   

 

Let’s Go Hyderabad, Let’s Go!

Regards, 

KK the Blogger