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Indian football has witnessed so many things in recent times. Apart from the antics on the green grass, there was always something more interesting on the galleries too.
Earlier, the supporters made their presence felt with their vocal support and hurling abuses at the rival players. They often engaged in fighting with rival fans.
But the modern age supporters, who closely follow foreign football, brought in a completely new culture in Indian football. They made songs and slogans for their players, which instantly became popular.
Along with that came the concept of tifo. Tifos are generally a choreography displayed by fans in the stands of an arena or stadium in connection with the sporting event. Indian tifos generally displayed messages to their team.
European football clubs such as Borussia Dortmund, Galatasaray, Hapole Beer Sheeva are famous for making tifos during matchdays.
But in recent times, fans started experimenting with tifos. Instead of words, they started painting new designs and display messages.
East Bengal unfurled a huge banner during the Kolkata Derby against Mohun Bagan. They claimed it to be the biggest in Indian football at 7,200 square feet.
In this article, we will bring the largest tifos created by the fan clubs:
Also See : Durand Cup, Durand Cup Schedule, Calcutta Football League
#5 Super Machans’ tifo
Chennaiyin FC have one of the best fan followings in India. The two-time champions have a fan club named Super Machans, which makes their presence felt in every match with their huge roar and chants.
Chennaiyin, who annexed the title last year, was expected to replicate the same magic on the field this time. However, despite having the same coach and almost the same team members, their fortunes went down in every match.
As things stand, they have no chance to qualify for the knock-out this time. All they are playing for is to salvage their pride. The supporters, though, turn up in numbers to the stadium despite the team having no hope of making the ISL playoffs.
The excitement among the fans at the start of the season was at an extreme level. Like every other club, they tried to do something that catches the attention of the nation. They did so with a large depiction of a player without a face.
The banner has a figure with the right hand placed on his heart like he's singing the national anthem. This denotes the Chennaiyin FC fans, the 12th man. The fans feel they are at the heart of the club and promise that they will always back the club no matter what.
The banner occupies an area of 1800 sq ft.
The tifo was unfurled before the match against NorthEast United this season, which Chennaiyin eventually lost 3-4.
#4 Manjappadas’ tifo
Probably the noisiest supporters of Indian football are none other than the supporters of Kerala Blasters, who call themselves Manjappada. Kerala is known for its passionate love towards football. Even a local game would attract thousands of fans.
So, when the ISL started, the fans got a reason to cheer. From the very first season, the spectators filled the stadium. Within no time, they formed the Manjappada group, which got registered a few years ago. Unlike most of the fan groups, they have a dedicated office set up at Kochi.
Manjappada have found innovative ways to cheer their favourite team and one of them is a tifo. More often than not, they came out with small and medium tifos with motivatonal messages.
But their biggest and most popular tifo happened to the one against Mumbai City this season. The entire state was devastated due to the heavy rain and floods before the match. So Manjappada came out with a brilliant banner to pay tribute to the rescue efforts of the state.
The tifo showed a rescue helicopter and a boat which is carried by several people, including armymen, civilians, doctors, farmers and many other people of different interests. The tifo became an instant hit and went viral on the social media.
#3 Blue Pilgrims’ tifo
Over time, the popularity of the Indian national football team has gone up. Credit goes to the players who performed their best on the field to win the hearts of the people.
India, under Stephen Constantine, climbed up to the 95th position in the FIFA rankings at one point of time, which drew interest from football fans across India. People have started following the Indian football once again and quickly, a couple of fans bases have grown up.
The most famous of them is the Blue Pilgrims community. They are present in large numbers in India’s matches and cheer the team with their vocal support.
In the recent Asian Cup, they flew into the UAE to support their nation in the biggest tournament of the continent. After a fashionable win in their opening match against Thailand, they knew they would be outdone in the match against the host nations in terms of support.
However, the Pilgrim made a large tri-colour tifo with ‘This is India’ written on it. Clearly, it was the best thing to see apart from the football. Sadly, India lost that match despite putting up a brave fight.
#2 East Bengal Ultras’ tifo
The East Bengal Ultras fan club has already made a name for themselves with their innovative slogans and songs during the match. They followed European countries and tried to bring the same culture in Indian football.
Earlier, the group members only wrote creative songs and slogans for the club and sang it out during the match. Recently, they started making tifos. The tifos started to appear in the I-League 2015-16 season.
In the first leg of the Kolkata Derby, their tifo went viral on the social media but also invited criticism from their own fans for being indecent towards their rival club.
Learning a lesson from that, the fan club made one of best tifos in the second leg, which is the second biggest in terms of size in Indian football.
The tifo portrayed the long struggle of ‘Bangals’ (refugees of Bangladesh who came to this country during partition) and how they rooted for their favourite club during those days.
It was 7,200 square feet in size and made by at least 30 supporters for over two weeks. It got support from the entire country and even the rival fans complemented them for the effort.
#1 West Block Blues’ tifo
The West Block Blues fan club was formed after the inception of Bengaluru FC. After HAL and ITI discontinued their football teams, football fans from Karnataka had no local team to cheer for.
Bengaluru FC filled the void and immediately, a fan base was created. Instead of being mere spectators, West Block Blues showed what it means of being a supporter of a football club.
Bengaluru reached the ISL final in their debut season last year and they were going to play the match at their own stadium. To make the occasion memorable, the fans thought of making something different in the final.
Braving the incessant rain, the supporters unfurled a huge tifo in West Block stand A in the match. Claimed to be 8517.675 square feet in size, it is said to be the biggest tifo Indian football has ever seen.
However, their effort went in vain as Bengaluru lost the final to Chennaiyin FC.
