A group of young football enthusiasts never thought that one day they would form and manage a football club. The team was founded in the year 1997 in Bhandup, a suburb of Mumbai. They started playing football on Sundays, and this weekend affair took the form of a club aptly named ‘Sunday Boys Football Club’.
Padmaraj Krishnankutty (Paddy), a key member of the club, is an Investment Director at Mindshare. He started his media journey with Overture Communications, then moved to Carat Media, then Mediacom and is now at Mindshare, part of GroupM.
Krishnankutty’s love for football started early. He was in 8th standard when professional coaching in school helped his team reach the district level finals of a Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA) tournament. The passion continued during college with many football clubs coming to play in the locality. Big stalwarts used to rub shoulders with them in that ground, he recalls, in conversation with MediaNews4u.com.
It was their main coach and mentor, Francis Hendrick, Central Railway Mumbai Division Head coach, who urged the group to have a regular practice schedule. Thus the self-funded Sunday Boys Football Club got initiated with around 16 or 17 members and was officially registered.
The club started to play in private tournaments in Mumbai and its suburbs. To develop football in their locality, the club started coaching at St Xavier’s High School, Bhandup. Most of the players from St Xavier’s are still playing in the club. Some of the students from this school are playing in various ‘Elite’ and ‘Super’ divisions clubs of MDFA today.
The official website of the Sunday Boys Football Club ww.sundayboysfc.com was launched on 1 May 2007 – a first for a football club in Mumbai, we gather. The site also manages MDFA League standings.
Rising Stars
Between 1997 and 2006, the club won many tournaments. Some of the players represented teams in the Mumbai Football League. The club also successfully managed and organised private football tournaments in Bhandup in 2002 and 2003. This was probably a milestone, recounts Krishnankutty, with national and international players participating in a football tournament in the suburb.
It was not until 2006 that the coach and senior members of the team decided to register the club with the MDFA, with the intent of playing in the fourth division of the Mumbai Football League. The club rose from division 4 to 3, 2 and division 1, where it defeated four-time winners Central Bank of India 4-1 in the final.
At workplace Mindshare, it was not just Krishsankutty but a host of others who loved the beautiful game. Thus started inter GroupM tournaments and later corporate tournaments. A torn ligament and groin injuries meant he needed to rest but he continued as a goalkeeper, before playing his regular game again.
By the time the team reached the ‘Super Division’, a level up from division 1, Krishnankutty was not playing but managing the team, in order to balance work and play. He admits that even managing work and the team of 20 to 25 players is a tough job. Yet the group managed to run the club professionally, despite lack of proper funding, ensuring each player was paid. The club’s expenses ran up to Rs.7 to 8 lakh a year.
Passion competes for time with not just work, but also family. The adman and footballer had been out looking for a ground for a tournament when he received a call from wife. He texted ‘Will call back’. On reaching home he realised that she was already admitted and rushed to the hospital. He managed to reach there before his son was born, but repents missing those crucial moments with his wife.
Ups and Downs
In the years to come, Covid was a setback and to add to their woes, the Club’s hard-earned money (Rs.12 to 13 lakh) was lost in the PMC Bank scam.
During Covid they even planned to shut shop, but parents insisted on continuing with the coaching. A Whatsapp group was formed under the leadership of Sudarshan Shetty and Amrit Raj and online training/health fitness sessions were taken for kids.
After the lockdown the kids were back on ground with gusto. The strength reduced from 100 to 40/50. The ranking level too dropped from ‘Super Division’ to ‘Division 1’. Money lost to the banking scam hasn’t helped.
Krishnankutty remarks, “Covid didn’t matter much but the falling from Super Division level to Division 1 was more painful. Climbing the ladder is easy but maintaining it and the fear of falling is tough.”
The club is now rebounding under the leadership of Amrit Raj along with Kailash Nishad, Sanjay Shetty, Ganesh Shetty and Vijesh post Covid. Ajit Raj promises to scale up the training and take the team back to super division.
On the personal front, Krishnankutty recalls his coach’s words: “‘Was a player’ is past tense, talk about now; what you did never matters, what you are now matters.”
Now over 40, Krishnankutty has played five to six matches in the veterans category. The Sunday Boys FC even has players aged 50, 56 and 62 years. Mr. Selvaraj who is 62, is still fit and can play 20 mins on ground, he notes. Their dream is to be on the ground till it’s possible and stay fit.
Supporting Ecosystem
Tata Power Chembur and IIT Powai helped the Club with ground support for training.
Experienced and certified professionals offer year-long coaching for boys and girls of all age groups at the Club. The girl’s team and the underprivileged get coaching free. Students’ development is tracked using regular performance tests. Nutrition guidance and classroom sessions are part of the training.
Many prominent personalities have supported the efforts of the club. Among them are Olympian footballer S S Narayan; Hon. Secretary of MDFA and Western India Football Association Souter Vaz; National player and Manager of Tata Power Football Club Joacquim Menezes; and Director, Films Division, Mumbai Packirisamy, who made the film ‘Indian Football a Credible Legacy’.
The media buying professional says that wife Saritha, who is into biostats, has been very supportive of his passion beyond work, as has his mother, a throw ball player during her school days. The latter even helped with pamphlets during the early days of the Club.
Things are not back to normal in terms of funding and coaching but the show goes on, driven by a passion for the game shared by the management and players. It’s a passion that will never stop.
