Thunder from the hills

A coach with a point to prove and a bunch of players high on motivation scripted Aizawl's inspiring tale

The euphoria is yet to die down. It’s been a week since a team nestled in the hills of Mizoram became a talking point beyond the boundaries of football. The feeling of their team — the People’s club — climbing to the upper echelons of Indian football is nothing short of a miracle for the people of Aizawl.

Just over a year ago, if someone were to tell you that Aizawl FC, a newly promoted side in the I-League, would beat the big names in the game and win their maiden league title in a year’s time, you would have laughed off such claims. But what unfolded over the last four months has taken everyone by surprise.

For starters, Aizawl was not even supposed to be a part of this season's I-League. Being promoted into the top division in 2015-16, the Mizo side endured a torrid time in their debut run. “We lacked experience,” states their skipper Alfred Jaryan who has been with the side for two seasons.

“There was never a doubt in the quality but to be successful at this level you need to have experience of playing at this level. Last season we played well. The results might not tell you that, but our performance was good, definitely not worthy of being relegated,” he reasons.
Having granted a fresh lease of life, thanks to the pull-out of Goan clubs this season, Aizawl was determined to make the most of it. And to lead this charge, the North-East side roped in a man who was served the pink slip just days after he saved Mumbai FC from relegation — Khalid Jamil.

The Kuwati-born had been an out-an-out Mumbai man. Moving to India during the Gulf war in 1990 Jamil never dreamt of moving outside Mumbai. He played for Mahindra United and Air India before moving to Mumbai FC. A knee injury cut short his career, and he was later appointed the youth team coach. Within a couple of years, he took over as the first team head coach — the youngest in India — ensuring that the sinking ship that Mumbai was somehow stayed afloat for seven years despite their financial and managerial concerns.
But this year Mumbai cut off the seven-year relationship with their coach. They said, Jamil didn’t aspire beyond avoiding relegation. “Aisa laga kisine mujhe mere ghar se nikal diya (It felt like someone threw me out of my house),” Jamil recalls.

Jamil had a tough decision to make. To take up the Aizawl job, a set up more or less like he would find at Mumbai FC, or wait for something better to come by, the decision had to be quick. "It was November when they reached out. So, I had to be quick. If I said yes, I would have to go to Aizawl, set up a house and then look for guys who could join me. I didn't have much time," he would say.

Jamil chose to gamble and took up the job. A man of deep faith, this time, took a leap of faith and thankfully for him it turned out to be his best decision.

Two of Jamil’s trusted lieutenants Ashutosh Mehta and Jayesh Rane followed him while the Kuwaiti-born put his Arabic skills to good use in convincing Mahmoud Al-Amnah to join his camp. The Syrian, playing in Goa, was an unknown entity till then. But then, what is a coach without an eye for talent?

A shrewd man-manager, the 40-year-old knew how to instil his no-nonsense football into a talented bunch of lads. He allowed the Mizo boys to continue with their fearless brand of attacking football, while the new faces formed the backbone on which this side evolved into a formidable force.

The Mizo unit were unbeatable at home, winning eight and sharing points in one. They managed a fairly satisfactory record of three wins, three draws and three loses on the road. Big clubs like Mohun Bagan and East Bengal failed to find a footing in Aizawl, while the then champions Bengaluru FC were saved by the heroics of their skipper Sunil Chhetri (Aizawl’s only draw at home coming against Bengaluru).

Though over the years Jamil was known as a defensive coach, at Aizawl he didn’t stop the team from doing what the players from the region are best known for — their speed and flamboyance. The likes of Brandon Vanlalremdika and Robert Laldanmawia flourished with their new-found freedom, while Rane, Jaryan and Al-Amnah orchestrated the play in the middle. And their final league game against Shillong Lajong also showed their hunger to succeed as Aizawl went on to eke out a point after conceding in the initial minutes to cap off their fairytale.

Fighting against odds and scripting history is nothing new for Aizawl FC. In fact, it’s one such movement that gave birth to the club some three decades ago. “It was Benjamin Khiangte who founded the club,” their team manager Hmingthana Zadeng says.

“Benjamin was the son of an IFS officer and had traveled the world along with his father. When he returned he wanted to replicate something similar on the lines of what he had seen in other countries. Back then football in Mizoram meant, public-sector teams competing in one odd tournament. That’s when Benjamin formed Aizawl FC,” Hmingthana remembers.
But with the Indian footballing landscape moving towards a ‘professional’ setup and Mizoram showing a reluctance to adapt to the changing environment, Aizawl FC slowly ended up as a thing of the past by 1998.

It was not until a few years ago, 2011 to be precise, that a bunch of football enthusiasts decided to revive the club.  Hmingthana and Robert Royte, the club’s president, belong to this group. “We just knew one thing, Aizawl FC should be playing in the I-League. We knew we could. Talent was never a problem for us,” Hmingthana says.

The Mizoram Premier League (MPL) was the first goal, and after two failed attempts Aizawl clinched the MPL title in 2014-15. By this time, the club had a structure and had an astute youth development coach in Jahar Das. They also managed to achieve the club licensing criteria by the All India Football Federation, giving them an opportunity to play in the second division I-League. Progressing swiftly, Aizawl was soon in the premier division of the country, blowing in a breath of fresh air in an otherwise struggling system.

There is no doubt that Aizawl's is a great story. But will it have a happy ending? The question remains unanswered.

If the restructuring of the Indian domestic circuit goes ahead as per the plans of the AIFF plans and its commercial partners IMG-Reliance, the I-League champions wouldn’t have a chance to defend their crown, as a new top division league will be in place, featuring the Indian Super League teams and three teams from the I-League.

"Aizawl cannot complain on this," AIFF President Praful Patel has said. "They won the I-League only because a relegated team was included in it. Aizawl was relegated in 2016. It was the AIFF which saw the passion (in the club) and let them play in the I-League as a special dispensation. AIFF has also supported them." Patel then made another comment, saying the new league won’t happen anytime soon.

From a larger perspective, Aizawl was not even supposed to be a part of the merger talks. But with their league win, the Mizo club has thrown a spanner in the AIFF works. With Patel saying that no final decision has been taken on the merger, the door is not yet closed on Aizawl. But one thing is for certain, the Aizawl triumph has done enough to bring the sport into the limelight again. Now it is up to the decision makers to take the right steps to cash in on the momentum.