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“The younger guys in the club meet up regularly and play informal tournaments,” says Shalin. “I wrote a letter to the two telling them about our club in Mumbai and when we managed to meet Scholes later, he said that he’d been looking for us,” an excited Sunil reminisces.Initially, it was rather difficult to find venues, and we’d have to get at least 35 people attending the screening to make up for the cost of the place. “My dad was associated with Arsenal back in the ’60s and I’ve studied in England. So, we started this club, and thanks to my association with the parent club, we were made official in what I think is a record time of two months.

Popular amongst these fan clubs are the Big Four English football teams — Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool — with every metropolitan city and major tier 2 city housing official fan clubs dedicated to the grand old clubs. I’m certain in the next few years, even a huge club like Manchester United will come down for a pre-season match — this would not have been possible four years ago.”. Arpan Peter of Chelsea Football Club (CFC) Bengaluru recalls his first exposure to the Premiere League only happened in 2001, after his tenth board exams.”The seal of approval from the parent club is what most fan clubs aim to gain. United has its own soccer schools, Liverpool and Chelsea too indulge with students, as does Arsenal. The fan clubs are a great way for the parent clubs to feel the pulse of the crowd and we benefit too when legends of the game come down and interact with fans here. “I want to run this club and make it a long lasting thing.

I want it to be bigger than ourselves.”The teams in England have taken note of the passion that drives these fan clubs in India, Sunil points out. His association with the 130-year-old club goes beyond just watching them play on television.Arpan of Chelsea, Bengaluru, too believes that Chelsea has a strong rivalry going with Liverpool fans. Called Manchester United Supporters Club Mumbai (MUSCM), the fan club is one of the many official and unofficial groups in India, who profess loyalty to Premier League (PL) teams playing in England. Complete with presidents, secretaries and treasurers, these fan bases primarily host match screenings and organise meet and greets with the respective club legends. The idea is to try and emulate the atmosphere of a stadium, replete with chants and songs about their favourite teams and players.But one thing they all agree on is the fact that they believe that the fan clubs are bigger than themselves — their association with hundred-year-old clubs is no passing fad. “The club started out as a community on Orkut, while I was still abroad. “We get allocated 10 tickets for each game that happens in England; sometimes we get even 50! And it’s a big deal because these tickets are hard to come by in England too.It’s hardly surprising that most people associated with founding these clubs have been avid fans since the turn of the century.

“One thing the official accreditation from Manchester United has done is to have allowed our members to apply for match tickets from right here,” says Sunil, explaining the benefits of recognition. Besides coming together for screenings, the associations are frequently seen indulging in football tournaments too. We’re expecting at least 40 people associated with our club to go and watch a match in England this season, via us. Needless to say, fracas ensued and the owners of the place called the cops on us,” he recalls with a grin. Fifty or hundred years down the line, I want the Arsenal Delhi club to still be standing strong, long after I’m gone. Nishant (Singhal, secretary) and I brainstormed and thought of starting an academy, but that didn’t make much sense. In Mumbai, this time of the year, the aforementioned pub becomes the official home to Manchester United fans in the city. I liked Chelsea since they were always the underdogs, and thanks to a player named Gianfranco Zola. “We would have joint screenings earlier when both fan clubs were younger and they would almost always end up in brawls.”With great passion come great rivalries, and these clubs are no strangers to occasional bust-ups between fan bases in India. The league back then was a two-horse-race between Manchester United and Arsenal. Of course, it’s all informal! We even have an English member in our club who has started a podcast where we discuss the club.”

MUSCM recently shot a short film to commemorate their tenth anniversary and featured highlights of seasons gone by. “All PL teams are taking note of India. My uncle would take me to the games there, which eventually led to my love for the club and the association came about.While most pubs in Mumbai have a packed weekend schedule, with pulsating music and dolled up patrons, 3 Wise Monkeys in the suburbs of Khar plays host to a bunch of boisterous football fans who gather around to watch the beautiful game on the big screen. “We have a long term plan in place,” says Shalin of Arsenal, Delhi. We’re even working with fan bodies of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United for this. Arsenal too can’t stand us after the 6-1 loss we handed them. They know this is the future; no one can beat India numerically. United fans are the only ones we ‘somewhat’ get along with but it’s set to change with Jose (Mourinho) going to Old Trafford,” he explains, referring to Manchester United’s new manager, who was fired by Chelsea last season. “That was when we first got cable connection at home.” Echoing the sentiment, Arpan adds, “We’re looking to organise football-friendly events this season. Our goal also is to get accreditation from the parent club by the end of this season. Some of these clubs can trace their origin back to a decade. Every team is associated with something or the other here.

Somehow, I didn’t see myself liking either teams. “We are somewhat known in Old Trafford and the dressing room by reputation of being one of the oldest fan clubs in India. When I returned to India, I felt like doing something to translate my love for the game and Arsenal into something more concrete. One time, after we shifted to our respective headquarters, Liverpool lost the title after almost winning it.”Thanks to the camaraderie between club members, these fan clubs are mini families by themselves. It’s not that difficult to visit the country to watch a game anymore, especially now since Brexit has ensured that the pound is going to remain low for a while. So we’d end up getting our sisters and cousins and anyone else we could manage,” he laughs. “The Arsenal boys have even taken on the Chelsea Delhi boys.

So when they lost, I rounded up 20 United fans and stood outside theirs, chanting at 200 of them. Once I came back to India, I got more involved with the club and we started off by having screenings for matches.This year MUSCM completes ten years and Sunil Thakur, president of the fan association, recounts how the club was founded. “Our rivalry with Liverpool is legendary,” Sunil says. The new football season kicked in only yesterday, and roughly 4,000 kilometres from the UK, fans in India are poised to have some footie fun over the next 38 weeks. The highlight of their build-up to China audio cable types the new season, however, was when the members ended up meeting Manchester United legends Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes during the Premier Futsal tournament in Goa last month. They’d come to our pub rubbing their almost-win in our faces. “It’s been this way since we denied them the title two seasons ago.” For Shalin Ahuja, chairman of Arsenal Delhi: Official Supporters Club, things were slightly different