Soccer
Blue Pilgrims, the 12th man of Indian football
A collective of football fans were seen backing India during the Fifa Under-17 World Cup. They promise to follow every Indian football team to let the players know they have support in the stands.
The Indian squad may not have had the best outing at the Fifa Under-17 World Cup, but the signs are certainly optimistic for football fans in the country.
While India lost all three of its group stage matches — 0-3 to the United States, 1-2 to Colombia and 0-4 to Ghana — the team gave a good account of itself with its performances. Most encouragingly, Jeakson Singh’s headed goal against Colombia was India’s first ever in a Fifa World Cup tournament.
To add to that, the off-field support was top notch as the stands were regularly packed with crowds in good voice cheering the team on.
All three matches involving the Indian under-17 team at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi witnessed record attendances for a football game at the stadium. The average attendance across the three games was 49,000 passionate fans making their voices heard. And a large part of the credit for creating a great atmosphere goes to a bunch of 300-odd people who call themselves the ‘Blue Pilgrims’.
Founded by die-hard Bengaluru FC fan Wasim Ahmed, the Blue Pilgrims are modelled after the support structure that exists for European football clubs in their home country and around the world.
“The whole idea behind starting the Blue Pilgrims is very simple. No matter where the Indian national football team plays, no matter what the age group, we will go out in numbers and support our boys,” was how Wasim explained the idea behind starting the Blue Pilgrims. “We are inspired by the exuberant and passionate ultras of European football. Before the team plays, we go on marches with chants and banners, and we support the team in the same way.”
A group of at least 300 ‘pilgrims’ had gathered outside the gate of the closest metro station to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi before India’s first group game against the United States on 6th October. These fans then marched towards the stadium gates while chanting in unison, “Oh when the blues go marching in” and “We shall overcome”.
The atmosphere was unlike anything in Indian football, and while fan groups for individual clubs have existed for many years, the chief contributor to this culture have been the West Block Blues of Bengaluru FC. Wasim plays a significant part in organising the West Block Blues as well and said that fans of other clubs were also present among the Blue Pilgrims.
“I was hoping to do something to support the national team when I first heard that India was going to host the Under-17 World Cup, and now the idea has come to life. When I reached out to all the top fan bases of clubs across the country, everyone came on board. Dynamos Ultras, Mariners Base Camp, Super Machans, East Bengal Ultras, Pune’s Orange Army, and fans from North East and Goa have come together to join their hands for this. We chose the name Blue Pilgrims because football is sacred to us. Just like people go to Kashi, Mecca or the Vatican [for a pilgrimage], we will follow our national team. It’s a pilgrimage for us, the start of which is in Delhi,” said Wasim.
Adding to the sense of unity among the Blue Pilgrims is the fact that despite being recruited through their local support clubs, they all set aside domestic rivalries to back the Indian team. West Block Blues form a large part of the Blue Pilgrims and regularly support Indian Super League team Bengaluru FC. Other ISL team fan clubs pooling together for national support are Dynamos Ultras of Delhi Dynamos, Super Machans of Chennaiyin FC and Pune’s Orange Army of FC Pune City. Supporters of I-League rivals Mohun Bagan and East Bengal — Mariners Base Camp and East Bengal Ultras respectively — also lend their voices.
The average attendance for India matches was 49000
© AIFF
Keep up the support
After the Under-17 World Cup, the Pilgrims are planning on travelling for the senior Indian team’s campaign at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the UAE. The Indian team is set to play in the tournament after four straight wins in their qualification campaign, with two games yet to be played. Encouragingly for the Blue Pilgrims, the Sunil Chhetri-led Indian team is also better prepared to face the elite of Asia on this occasion than the last time around in 2011. That team had Bahrain, Australia and South Korea in its group then, and exited the tournament without registering a point. This time, hopes for a better performance are more realistic considering India’s form over the last two years and the fact that they managed to reach 96 in the Fifa Rankings in July; India’s best rank in international standings since 1996.
Indian senior team coach Stephen Constantine had previously spoken about the effect that crowd support could have on the performances of the team. Taking the cue from the head coach, a poster in Bengaluru during one of India’s AFC Asian Cup qualifying matches read, ‘The road is long, but belief is everything’ in support of the national team. The Indian players acknowledged the poster and crowd support after the game, praising the fans for keeping belief which served as encouragement. If the Pilgrims do go to UAE to back the blues, they could be the proverbial 12th man for the Indian team which European stadiums tend to have so often.