KOCHI: Come rain or flood, Manjapada (as the fans of Kerala Blasters FC are known) turned up in numbers at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi to support their team on Tuesday.
Nearly 25,000 fans from across Kerala arrived in Kochi to view Kerala Blasters take on Melbourne City FC on Tuesday.
After the World Cup, it was a good opportunity for football fans to watch a professional game. Even though it was only a friendly match, the large crowd reminded everyone of ISL match attendance.
The fans are eager to watch Girona FC which will be playing Melbourne City FC on Friday. “Even though Kerala Blasters FC lost by conceding six goals, we still support our team. We often watch matches played by Girona FC in Spanish first division on TV. It will be a rare opportunity to witness a team that play with elite teams like Real Madrid, Athletico Madrid and Barcelona. Rain won’t stop us when teams playing high-quality football arrive in Kochi,” said Anas, who came from Kasargod.
During the break time, fans lit up the entire gallery when they switched on the flashlights of their mobile phones. “Our heart beat as one forever for the club,” read a massive poster at the gallery. Even though it was raining during most of the part of the scheduled play time, fans remained at the stadium to watch the entire game. Even the pitch remain unaffected soaking the heavy rain.
Nearly 5,000-strong police personals were deployed for crowd management. Units of Fire and Rescue Service were also deployed at the stadium.
Additional police personals were deployed at JNL Metro Station to prevent an accident due to overcrowding. Majority of the people reached the stadium on private vehicles. However, there was heavy rush before and after the football match. Separate parking slots were arranged at different parts of the stadium.
The buses were parked away from the stadium to prevent traffic block at Banerjee road.
A number of street vendors were seen selling jerseys of Kerala Blasters FC at stadium gate. “We could able to sell only a few jerseys. But we hope there will good business in the next matches,” a vendor said.