Our country loves cricket. We play cricket on grounds, in gullies, on basketball courts, badminton courts and, for sure, on football grounds as well.
But the Trimulgherry Football Ground is one such ground where I have rarely seen anything happen apart from football. And by the way, the place is right next to legendary cricketer Mithali Raj’s house, yet no cricket on the ground.
That got me thinking. Secunderabad genuinely loves football. Nobody knows because Secunderabadis are somehow even more laid-back than Hyderabadis.
Football took a small rise in Hyderabad when apps made it easy to book grounds. Suddenly everybody started playing football after work. But most of that football happens on grounds the size of badminton courts so that employees who spend all day sitting at a computer don’t have to run too much.
Secunderabad doesn’t play football like that. These are proper football grounds. On a Kondapur turf, you might run 3,000 steps in an entire game. In Secunderabad, you’ll do that by the time you reach your position.
I mean, in Secunderabad every church has its own football team, which is to say football is almost sacred.
I’ve seen friends and their parents watch the Football World Cup together. You expect that with cricket, where your father is a Sunil Gavaskar fan, you’re a Sachin Tendulkar fan and your son is a Virat Kohli fan. But in some families, the father, son and the Holy Spirit all support Lionel Messi.
And that made me realise Hyderabad actually has a history with football. During the years when India was doing reasonably well in football, from the 1950s to the 1960s, Hyderabad was known as the nursery of Indian football. Under Syed Abdul Rahim, Hyderabad was one of the centres of Indian football. Then later, Kolkata became the football capital and India currently ranks 139.
I also think football is especially prevalent in Secunderabad because of the Catholic angle. Till I moved to Secunderabad, the only Ronaldo I knew was the GOAT. Since moving here, my contacts include Ronaldo Basketball, Ronaldo Amazon and Ronaldo Mutton Shop.
And here’s one stark difference I’ve noticed: players and fans are completely different species.
The people who play the best football are often the least interested in football leagues. You’ll never see a genuinely good football player obsessing over a European club. I once asked a very good player which team he supported. He said Malkajgiri Club because that’s where he plays every day and he’s too tired at night to watch football.
Fans are the opposite. Some of them became Chelsea supporters without ever touching a football. I knew one Chelsea fan who turned up to play one day. That day our team had ten players and one mannequin wearing a Chelsea jersey.
There is a Venn diagram, though. Kids who went to schools with good sports facilities, played football during the day and watched football at night. Those are the people who can actually play and also show up to a Kondapur turf wearing a Manchester United jersey. They are decent at football but love explaining the offside rule to people who never asked.
Anyway, all I’m saying is that when people talk about football in India, only Kerala, Kolkata and the Northeast seem to get mentioned. But I’d like to remind everyone that there is a small pocket in Secunderabad where football gets taken very seriously. Not professionally, not successfully, but very seriously.
Need more proof? Revanth Reddy is probably the only Chief Minister in India to have played football with Messi, and he once contested an election from Malkajgiri. Take that, Kolkata!
Sandesh
@msgfromsandesh
(This comedian is here to tell funny stories about Hyderabad)
(The writer’s views are his own)