The Indian Super League 2018-19 season is just a day away from kick-off and the fans across the country are eagerly waiting to throng the football stadiums to support their favourite teams. The defending champs Chennaiyin FC will be the side everyone will be hoping to topple this time around.
The two time ISL champs can though draw energy from the support of their loyal supporters 'Supermachans-Chennaiyin FC Fans', who will be louder than ever in cheering for their home team at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, also referred to as Marina Arena. TNIE caught up with Supermachans to know about their plans for the upcoming season, their banters with the rivals and much more.
So tell us when, how and why Supermachans-Chennaiyin FC Fans was formed and how has it evolved over the years?
Supermachans was formed by Naga Chaitanya (not the actor!) who was a regular in the first season. He was soon joined by Josh Peters, and then a few more fans joined them. We were fans who were total strangers but die-hard football fans and it was Chennaiyin FC that brought us all together. At the end of the first season, we were around 20 in number, but now over the years, we've grown to around 500. After the first season, we associated with the club and helped them with their Grassroots program. From then on, there's been no turning back. We began as a small team cheering the team from the stands, but now we are a big team that is involved in taking football to many people in the state.
You guys are known for your innovative banners, especially the one (seen below) in the 2017-18 ISL final against Bengaluru FC?
We make banners with two objectives in mind, one is to convey to our players that we've got their back and secondly to intimidate the rivals.
Bengaluru FC consider themselves to be superior to the rest of the clubs in the country. They were more arrogant than proud. And our banner had a 'Fortress' that was burning down with a direct warning stating 'Everything you've built will fall' and also hinting that we'd be the one destroying it. We did end up shaking their 'Fortress' that night.
Before the match began, the Bengaluru FC fans had unfurled a banner of a double-headed eagle with a reaper riding on it symbolically warning us that we'd be no more at the end of the match. But things didn't go their way. After the FT (Full-time) whistle, we unfurled another banner depicting a hooligan crushing a double-headed eagle by the neck thereby giving them their answer there.
Our banners are loved by our players and despised by our rivals. There are even rivals who've threatened to sue us for our banners. But we consider our banners as a medium for building a healthy rivalry. The mastermind behind our banners is Sushen Banudasan. He turns some of our banners into a true piece of art.
Most of you guys are working professionals and students? How do you manage time for the work involving in the club?
We have discussions from evening till late night literally every day on our WhatsApp groups. We meet whenever required. But since we do it out of our passion, it has become an integral part of our lives and we think of our club all the time. So managing time has not been an issue. It becomes a bit troublesome only when we travel for away games but we somehow figure a way out. Whenever there's something important, we don't hesitate to take a day off from our office/school/college.
Is there any conflict between Supermachans-Chennaiyin FC Fans and B-Stand Blues?
Absolutely not. We started in the first season and them (B-Stand Blues) in the second. Since both fan clubs started separately and have different methodologies, we work separately. We are in fact proud and happy to have one more active supporters group. No other club in ISL has that. Opponents look at us as two strong forces and get intimidated.
Is there a possibility for a merger of both the fan groups in the future?
Now that both have grown quite big in size, merging would be difficult but the club will get the best support from both.
The southern derby rivalries against Bengaluru FC, Kerala Blasters FC and FC Goa have always gathered a lot of attention?
Well, our rivalry with FC Goa is good, but not as much as with Kerala Blasters and Bengaluru FC. The ISL is boosting it as the 'Deccan Trivalry' between the three best sets of fans in the league easily. What's at stake is the 'Title of the best in the South'. Bengaluru FC has proved themselves in the I-League, while we have easily been the best ISL team in all the four seasons. Kerala Blasters FC just has the huge number of fans to boast about to go with their empty trophy cabinet.
The rivalry between Bengaluru and Chennai dates back to the roots of politics. But keeping politics aside, talking about sports, the rivalry between Chennai and Bengaluru started from the Indian Premier League (IPL). And for the last ten years, there has been great rivalry existed between these two cities. I hope that fever follows to football too.
Coming to the football rivalry, they (Bengaluru FC) always boast about Sunil Chhetri, while we have our very own Dhanapal Ganesh, who alone was responsible for breaking thousands of BFC fans' hearts in Kanteerava during the league stages. And after that, the Bengaluru FC fans took a dig at Dhanapal, which heated things between Supermachans and the Bengaluru FC fans. From that date, till now the rivalry and banter exist even during offseason.
The banter on social media between Supermachans-Chennaiyin FC, West Block Blues and the Manjappada has always made the news. Tell us about it?
West Block Blues consider themselves to be the masters of banter but cry foul every time a banter is against them. Manjappada on the other hand distance themselves from banters claiming it to be not their 'culture' and complain wherever there's a banter against them. It's fun dealing with such rivals. There's never a shortage of entertainment.
Recently, Manjappada put up a banner during their match against Girona stating that "Only God can stop us" and ended up losing 6-0. We struck the word 'stop' and replaced it with 'save' and put up "Only God can save us" back to them. Last season, West Block Blues in an interview before our league game at Bengaluru invited us to their stadium and asked us to "enjoy the match except for the result". That interview video went on to become a meme later on.
But the West Block Blues are quite generous. They made two banners for us last season. One stating "Southern Capital of Trophies", and the other for our Gaffer "Johno, Best English Import".
Talking of banter, Jamshedpur FC has been trying to make themselves look relevant by trolling others but end up getting battered by other ISL clubs, their fans and also random obscure Spanish clubs.
Supermachans-Chennaiyin FC Fans' recent social media post involving Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri and Dhanpal Ganesh received a lot of criticism. Do you regret putting up that post?
That was just banter and there was nothing offensive in that. That post only depicted Dhanpal's superiority to Chettri in terms of ISL where the former has two ISL trophies while the latter has none. We don't regret it, in fact, we had previously chanted "Dhanpal 2, Chettri 0" at Kanteerava after lifting the title.
Those who mix club football with the national team were the ones who were offended the most. We have the utmost respect for Chettri for his contributions to Indian Football, but when he wears a rival club's jersey, he's just like any another rival to us. Also, it is difficult to educate those who respond to banter with abuses. So unless the criticism makes sense, we ignore it. After all, what is football without banter?
There has always been criticism against Chennaiyin FC that they don't have many Tamil Nadu players in the squad. What do you have to say about that?
From having no player from Tamil Nadu in the first season to having two players now and also having youth teams comprising only of Tamil players is a big improvement. Hopefully, there will be more local players in the squad in the future. But our love towards non-Tamil players is no lesser.
Chennaiyin FC fans have been called very hostile. What do you have to say about that?
We give the boys all the 'home advantage' that they could ask for. Yes, we have been privileged to be called a hostile crowd by even Bengaluru's captain Chettri. We think its because every fan in the Marina Arena backs the team whenever it needs support.
We may not have the hordes of fans like Kerala or Kolkata, but every Chennaiyin fan who comes to the Marina Arena is not short in passion or quality. We named our fan club as Supermachans, as coined by Abhishek sir himself instead of anything specific because we wanted all the Chennaiyin fans to feel that they are a part of us.
How have you guys prepared for the upcoming season as you are the defending champs? Is there a lot of pressure?
Well, last season was a really good one for us, apart from a slight disappointment in the Indian Super Cup we had a very good season. As the defending champions, we would be everyone's target, every team would want to beat the champions. Yes, there is pressure, but at the same time, we have one of the best managers and squads. What we are really waiting for this season is our debut in the AFC cup competition. No Indian club has won it before and this provides a huge challenge for us.
Jeje Lalpekhlua has been the only player to play for Chennayin FC since Season One. Do you think it's a drawback not to retain the players who have done well for the club?
Chennaiyin FC is one of the very few clubs in ISL to retain it's core players every year. Although we have only one player who has been with us from day one, we ensure a good number of the players are retained every consecutive year. For example, we retained 13 players this year from our title-winning squad last season. That's a big number. Karanjit Singh, Dhanpal Ganesh, Raphael Augusto and Thoi Singh have been with us from the second season. We got Mailson back last year and have got Eli Sabia back this time. Dhanachandra Singh was with the club for four years until he left after last season. So, as far as player retainment is concerned, we've been doing a good job.
How supportive have the club owners (Abhishek Bachchan, MS Dhoni, Vita Dani) been to Supermachans-Chennaiyin FC Fans?
We can proudly say that we have the best owners in ISL. Abhishek Bachchan and Vita Dani attend every game. They are very humble and respect the fans. During home games, at HT (Half-time), they walk around the ground and cheer fans. After we qualified to the playoffs last season, Abhishek Bachchan came all the way to our Supermachans stand and knelt and bowed to us for our support. A person of his stature and stardom so humbly thanking his fans was incredible. It was totally unexpected.
Even after the finals, he joined us outside the stadium and chanted along with us. In an interview, he even mentioned that it's the Supermachans who run the club. So much is the importance given to the fans. At least once every season, we have a meeting with them. They take time out of their busy schedules to talk to us. Dhoni has helped in bringing a lot of CSK fans to the stadium.
There have been speculations that Chennaiyin FC is considering playing their AFC Cup matches at Ahmedabad because of the unavailability of Chennai's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium? Your comments on the issue?
It has been mentioned only as a backup stadium which is required as per the AFC guidelines. We really hope the matches happen at home here in Chennai. We will be participating in the AFC Cup for the first time and want to give the team maximum support.
A word about the travelling fans? Chennayin FC fans can be seen in large numbers in away matches? Will it be the same for AFC Cup as well?
The morale boost the team gets on seeing their own fans in an away game is huge. That's why we try to travel to as many games as possible and make our presence known. Though we might be negligible in number when compared to the home fans, we make our voices heard and back our team till the end.
Last season in Kochi, when Karanjit saved the penalty, even the Vuvuzelas went silent and it was our voice that was heard. We travel in bigger numbers to Bengaluru, Kochi and Goa and in smaller numbers to Pune, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. We will travel for the AFC Cup games as well.
Dhanapal Ganesh will be missing the first part of the season? Will his absence cost the team big time?
We will be missing out on our local hero's action. He has been phenomenal so far and had played an important role. He single-handedly took the rivalry with Bengaluru FC to a different level. But we have a replacement now and hopefully it works out. We are definitely sure he will also miss playing the season opener against Bengaluru. We will have to win this for him.
Do you think ISL should follow EPL or La Liga play format like promotion and relegation as it will make the league more interesting?
Yes. In our opinion, ISL should be following the same format as that of EPL or the Liga. For instance, imagine if there was a 'Tier 2 League', and if a good team is relegated, everyone looks up at that club to rise up and get promoted again. What better feeling than having the club you love to get promoted to the level it once was? It gives the fans and the other rival clubs hope to keep on fighting in the top tier, to fight for their place and the title.
Chennaiyin FC failed to register even one win in the four pre-season matches in Malaysia. Will it affect the morale of the team going into the new season?
Results do not really matter in pre-season friendlies. As long as the Gaffer is satisfied with how the matches have turned out, there is nothing to be worried about.
Who is that one dangerous Chennaiyin FC player rival clubs have to watch out for?
No one can be more dangerous than Anirudh Thapa. From a nervous teen to a savage midfielder, we could clearly see a legend in the making even though he has a lot to improve. His vision, passing and the pressure he puts on players clearly makes him stand out as the best in his age group. For me, Anirudh Thapa will be the one man who will make a difference in some major games.
Tell us about your work outside the football ground?
We have taken part in many social causes. Many of our causes are towards helping underprivileged children through football, although we have also taken part in tree planting and coastal cleaning. We organised a freestyle session by Guinness Record Holder Raghul Raja, for underprivileged kids a year ago.
This year we started an initiative called the 'SM Giveaway' where used/new football gears are collected from those who can afford and distributed to those who cannot afford them but have a passion towards football. We also support the Tamil Nadu Women's Team and the Tamil Nadu Cerebral Palsy Football team.
What can we expect from Supermachans-Chennaiyin FC Fans this season?
Longer season, three tournaments, so we'll keep improving our support as well. The banner game will be stronger than ever. And we also plan to travel to the away games in Jamshedpur and North-east in addition to the other cities. We have few social causes lined up. We will also be organizing our own gaming tournaments and 5s tournaments. We recently announced Hydra Gaming as our Digital Game Hosting Partner for the same.