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What's the story?
The Kerala Blasters team management, on Wednesday, has made a heartfelt appeal on Twitter to their fans to use public transport for their travel to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on matchdays during the ISL 2017 season.
In case you didn't know...
Kerala Blasters, two-time finalists in the Indian Super League, have a massive fan following and have regularly seen the crowds filling up the JLN Stadium in Kochi to the brim in the past three years of the ISL.
The Blasters are the only team in the league that have averaged an attendance of more than 50,000. Last season, in the fixture on 9th October 2016 against Delhi Dynamos, the stadium saw the league's highest attended match with an audience of 54,913 fans.
The heart of the matter
The Kerala Blasters have been recently hit with the news of reduced capacity at the JLN Stadium with the new attendance being maxed at 41000 fans. This has caused much uproar amongst the fans who have called for reneging of the decision by the authorities.
The appeal from the management to use the public transport for the fans' commute to the stadium further reflects the understanding by the Blasters of their fan's troubles due to the rush in Kochi on matchdays.
The Manjappada, the official fan base of KBFC, has expanded in huge numbers across the country with their wings operating even in the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. The fans use tourist buses to throng the stadium in yellow and as a result of this massive influx of people to the stadium, the security concerns increase and this appeal for public transport use is an indicator of that.
What's next?
Kerala Blasters face off against their rivals ATK in the season opener on Nov 17 at the JLN Stadium in Kochi. Incidentally, ATK are the team who defeated the Blasters in two ISL finals in seasons 1 and 3.
Author's take
The appeal from KBFC management comes as no surprise with the magnitude of people that come to watch the ISL matches in Kochi along with the environmental concerns of the decision.
Also read: ISL 2017: Top 5 candidates for the captain's armband at Kerala Blasters
