Calcutta = Football Heaven

I could really write an entire novel about all of the reasons why I love Calcutta and maybe I will one day. But since this is a soccer centric blog I will focus on the beautiful game. 

I went to Calcutta last week for some meetings.  It was business trip, but it never feels like business when you are in such a fascinating city full of die-hard soccer fans. Most of our meetings were spent on the field during club trainings, in stadiums watching matches or in a restaurant gorging on plates of delicious Biryani. 

And what's great about these soccer administrators is that they are fans first and businessmen second. This may be one of the many reasons why the game hasn't grown over here as rapidly has it has in other parts of the world, but there is something very pleasant working with club owners who treat their players like their own kids instead of shares of stock that can be bought, sold or discarded at any time

People are mad for soccer over here. Regular home matches can have attendances of up to 120,000 people and fans caravan in from all over West Bengal making noise for their team. It's very similar to the atmosphere before a college football match in the south. I hope to spend more time in this wonderful city and use my passion and experience in growing the game to bring some strategy to their business models.

I've attached a picture of a recent experience I had at a Mohun Bagan match in Calcutta. I'm the one without the colorful boat on my head.

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