CHENNAI: At the age of 25, most youngsters may be at a crossroads in their life, still trying to figure out life. A few may have their priorities met, growing professionally and personally too. For NorthEast United’s (NEUFC) Amogh Adige, that age is now a mark of being a record-breaker. Recently, in an Indian Super League (ISL) match against FC Goa in Guwahati, Adige became the youngest coach to lead a side in the league.
Originally an assistant coach, Adige had to step in as the first-team coach as head coach Juan Pedro Benali had to serve his one-match suspension on the back of a red card against Mohun Bagan Super Giant. In NorthEast’s next match (vs Inter Kashi), he will return to his designated role. Although NorthEast went on to lose the game 0-2, it was a watershed moment for Adige. His dream — of being involved in football in some capacity — has seen possibly the highest point so far.
Adige’s journey to realising his dream has seen a few significant roadblocks. Born and brought up in Pune, Adige grew up loving football. He even took up the goalkeeper’s gloves and even played as a wicketkeeper-batter in cricket. “My love for football came from my father Avinash Adige who created a club named Deccan XI FC in 1985. I remember sitting beside him and watching all the matches in the evenings, Champions League games in the night,” he told The New Indian Express.
It all went well until Adige fell down while jumping down the stairs, which he said he kept doing as a kid. “One fine day, I did that and then I banged my head on top of a pillar. Fell flat six feet on my back. I had around three, four stitches on my forehead and my back. I had to give up both wicketkeeping and goalkeeping then,” he recounted.
While that episode derailed his career, Adige’s curiosity in the intricacies of a football match — the tactical substitutions, the formations and the style of play — prompted him to take the coaching route. “As a young teenager, I thought if I want to do something really seriously and take this forward, I need to be educated in this,” he explained.
With little to no institutions offering formal education over coaching, Adige moved to the UK in 2018, to pursue an honours degree in football coaching and performance in the University of South Wales. He successfully attained two coaching badges – an UEFA ‘A’ license and a UEFA Elite Youth ‘A’ license. “Alongside that, I had the opportunity to work in the academy of Cardiff City who were at the time in the Premier League. I worked at Bristol Rovers, Newport County, and with the Football Association of Wales across a couple of age groups. I had the good fortune of working in a professional environment there,” he said.
Then, owing to visa restrictions, Adige had to move to the USA in 2022 and worked at Carolina Velocity, a MLS Next-league academy. The following year, he returned to India and worked in Bengaluru FC’s youth team (2022-23), before joining NEUFC. At the same time, Adige attained AFC ‘A’ license. In the time he has spent across different parts of the world, Adige has learnt key ideas of being a manager. One of them is being open to new ideas. “Having experienced football across three continents has exposed me to a completely different mindset of being adaptable, open and not being closed minded and being in touch and in reference with all the modern trends that happen in world football,” he explained.
That way, Adige is primed to grow further and one day lead the team on a full-time basis. "My short-term goal is to get more experience, finishing my (AFC) pro license, and working with different sets of coaches and staff and people and environments so I develop a distinct identity about myself to then hopefully step into a leadership position one day," he said.
Tuesday's result: East Bengal 3-0 Odisha FC.
