Broken arrows

Vijay Anand

Arrows Club has shut shop. It was troubling news for fans of Indian Football. With this move Arrows has joined the litany of other clubs such as JCT, Mahindra, Mafatlal etc.

Arrows club was established in 2010 upon the initiative of Bob Haughton and Prafful Patel. It was sadly noticed by the Indian National coach that most of the Indian clubs were recruiting U-21 and U-23 Indian players in their squad but these players were simply warming the benches. There was no genuine platform either where buds can bloom. So to provide young birds some fair level competition, it was decided to make a club of junior ranks and induct it into I League. The experiment proved quite successful since its inception. The club was given an assurance of foothold in I-League, so that young lads didn’t get humiliated and play with a free mind. Another purpose of the club was to scout talent in India’s quest for World cup qualification of 2018.

The project sharpened their skills and matured them. In its first season, the club was based in Delhi. The club found Pailan Group as sponsors from the 2011-12 season. Headquarter was shifted to Kolkata and club was renamed as ‘Pailan Arrows.’ Sukhwinder Singh was given the charge of the coaching but he left after some time due to personal reason. Sujit Chakravarty took the baton temporarily. Club performed badly throughout the season and finished 13th in the league of 14 clubs.
After a disastrous season, Arthur Pepas of Australia was given charge to coach young Indian talent of the club. Pailan group kept their confidence in the club. They survived relegation gracefully under his guidance.

Many a players take full advantage of the launch pad scheme of AIFF and established themselves in other I League clubs as regulars. Currently, many proud products are featuring in starting lineup of big clubs of India. Jeje Lalpekhlua has played for Pune fc and now moved to Dempo. Punjabi Gurpreet Singh is Goal keeper of Kolkata giant East Bengal. At 6’6” frame he is quite similar to his personal favourite goal keeper, Edwin van der sar and is doing well in I League and other completions with the club. Lalrindika Ralte, another talent from Mizoram is playing alongside him at East Bengal. Alwyn George, Mandeep Singh and Shouvik Ghosh are back bone of India’s U-23 team.

Crunching financial budget was cited as the main reason for disbanding of the Arrows. The speculations were rife for some time. Many a players have complained of poor infrastructure, facilities and diet in the past to AIFF. Many officials in AIFF are still claiming that the establishment of Arrows scheme has served its purpose. The project was to run for 4 years only. It was becoming increasingly tougher with each passing day to meet financial needs of the club. That is why a tough decision was taken to disband the club in the beginning of new season of I League, then to bring curtains down in the middle.

The financial need of the players will be taken care of by AIFF. Since other clubs of I League are abide by the AFC regulations, it is mandatory for them to include at least 2 U-23 players in the squad and 1 in starting lineup. It will give young lads not only recruitment but also some fair time on the grass.

The biggest worry among soccer lovers is that Youth development programme of the country didn’t get a blow due to this shocking move of AIFF. The Federation has dismissed all such worries. Let’s pray that the buds may not be get nipped.