KOCHI: Cheering fans, flares, deafening chanting and the Mexican waves with mobile phone flash lights: a football match featuring Kerala Blasters on their home turf will have it all. The spirited fans of the Blasters are all set to welcome their team into the new season, hoping that this year, their favourite team will make it to the finals and win the ISL title. The Blasters are coming home for their first match against Atletico de Kolkata after a dismal show against NorthEast United FC, but the 1-0 defeat that they suffered in the opener has not dampened the spirit of the fans.
“It happens and is natural in football... Yeah, we mean the win and the loss. Remember, in the inaugural season of ISL in 2014, Kerala started the campaign with a 1-0 loss against NE. Things will change when the team is playing in Kochi. We are sure that the team will gain immense energy from our support,” said Subin Mathew of Manjappada, (Yellow Army), the fans group of Kerala Team.
Giant Banner
Manjappada, the fan group of Kerala Blasters, now has nearly one lakh members in its Facebook Group and their FB page has nearly acquired 80,000 likes. Buoyed by the reception, they launched their official site- manjappada.in, which will post all news about the team, points and updates of the tournament.
This year, Manjappada will give their team a surprise welcome by raising a giant banner to extend support to their team. The dimension of the banner will be 6,000 square feet (300X21.5).
“The banner will have quotes ‘Show your heart on the field, we will show our heart in the stands’ in the centre. For each match, a new quote to rejuvenate the team will be added to the banner,” said Subin. The Manjappada has also brought out a theme song for this season. The song ‘Ankam Vetty’ has been penned by Manu Manjith and composed by Nikhil Thomas. It has been sung by Sabareesh Varma (Premam Fame). “Nearly 10,000 fans of Manjappada Group are expected to attend Wednesday’s match,” said Prasanth Jacob.