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Minerva Punjab recently announced that they would be entering into a partnership with Bundesliga club Borussia Monchengladbach wherein the I-League club's youth academy players would train alongside the age group teams of the German club. ISL's Jamshedpur FC also has an ongoing partnership with Atletico Madrid.
As a part of the deal, the Tata Football Academy- the youth academy of Jamshedpur FC- was renamed as the Tata Atletico Football Academia and, Atletico would provide technical support to the TFA. However, these two instances are not the first time an Indian club has partnered with European clubs.
There have been 10 such instances in the past, wherein the short-term objective was achieved. However, nothing fruitful was attained from the long-term perspective. Let's hope that the romance of Jamshedpur FC and Atletico Madrid and, Minerva Punjab and Borussia Monchengladbach carry on till eternity.
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On that note, here are 10 partnerships between Indian and European clubs which broke down.
#10 Sheffield United- Tata Football Academy
Eight years before entering into a partnership with La Liga giants Atletico Madrid, TFA ventured themselves into a tie-up with present Championship club Sheffield United.
As a part of the deal, the South Yorkshire club put up a 12-month programme on coaching, fitness, and professional developments for the coaches and players which would be revised every year. Moreover, players and coaches from India would make use of the training facilities in England and play friendly matches against the youth teams of the foreign country.
The TFA send its cadets to England in 2011, 2012, and 2014. Their U-19 team played friendlies against the U-19 teams of English clubs but no such instance of foreign exchange took place thereafter.
#9 Leicester City FC- East Bengal
In order to get recognition from the Asian community of the East Midland region, which has the highest Asian population in the United Kingdom, Leicester City FC inked a deal with Kingfisher East Bengal FC in 2004. Unlike the previous tie-up which stressed on youth development, this one was focused solely to bolster the club's reception among the ethnic population in the locality.
East Bengal were invited to play a friendly tournament, commemorating the 120th anniversary of the club which also featured Real Mallorca and Maritimo Madeira. In the semi-final fixture, the Red and Golds lost the game 1-0 to the hosts after the referee turned down Bhaichung Bhutia's penalty appeal.
In the ensuing third-place playoff, Portugal's Maritimo Madeira blanked East Bengal 3-0. Leicester City FC got themselves relegated from the Premier League that year. This fact might have led to the Kolkata giants not continuing their partnership with the future Premier League Champions.
#8 Wolverhampton- JCT
Like the previous tie-up, then Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers partnered with now disbanded club JCT Phagura to bolster their fanbase among the Asian community in 2007.
As a part of the deal, knowledge between the two clubs and coaching skills would be shared, and experts from Wolves coaching management would visit India. In March 2010, Wolverhampton Wanderers' physiotherapist and sports scientist arrived in Punjab to conduct a two-week training programme for the JCT coaches.
Coach Parminder Singh and five players- Pawan Kumar, Balwant Singh, Parveen Kumar, Amarwant Singh and Amandeep Singh- did spend a week training with the Wolves but, it materialized into nothing in the long run as the club's senior side disbanded themselves a year later.
The five aforementioned players are all retired, having achieved very little in terms of national and international recognition.
#7 Fiorentina- FC Pune City
Fiorentina FC partnered with ISL club FC Pune City for their inaugural season, wherein the Italian club bought 15% of the club's share. As a part of the deal, the Serie A club would help in recruiting foreign players and also in the appointment of head coach. Moreover, they could also use their training facilities in Italy as a part of their pre-season training.
The club helped sign in Italian players Daniele Maglioccheti and Davide Colomba and France's marquee player David Trezeguet and Greek World Cupper Kostas Katsourainis apart from drafting in Italian names Bruno Cirillo and Emanuele Belardi.
FC Pune City didn't achieve anything much as they finished sixth in the points table and failed to make it to the playoffs. Fiorentina continued their partnership with the ISL club for one more season before selling off their stake a year later.
#6 JS Hercules- Chennai City FC
Chennai City FC partnered with Finish third-division side JS Hercules in May 2017. As a part of the deal, four Chennai City players- Michael Soosairaj, Edwin Vanspaul, Nandakumar Sekar, and Antony Beautin- trained in Finland with the JS Hercules team for a period of one month.
A return contingent of Finish players to India was also planned in the month of October. However, that ship never set sail and they couldn't help in the recruitment of foreign players either. Delhi Dynamos eventually roped in Nandakumar Sekar, who has been a mainstay there and, Michael Soosairaj is winning laurels with his performance in the ISL this season.
While Edwin Vanspaul has been handed the captain's armband this season, Antony Beautin is struggling to find playing time. Needless to say, the partnership got disbanded the next season, with both the clubs benefiting nothing from it.
#5 Atletico Madrid- ATK
When Atletico Madrid ventured into the Indian market, everyone thought that they would change the Indian football landscape. Through competitive bidding, Kolkata Games and Sports Pvt. Ltd. won the bid for Kolkata franchise, which had 25% stake from the La Liga club.
As a part of the deal, the Kolkata based ISL club used the La Liga club's training facilities in the pre-season. They even helped them out with the recruitment of foreign players and head coaches, which eventually guided them in winning the 2014 and the 2016 ISL.
The partnership worked for three seasons, however, Atletico Madrid sold their stakes from the ISL club thereafter. Atletico de Madrid then CEO Miguel Angel Gill told the press that they took the decision because the majority shareholders didn't want to develop the image of Atletico de Madrid through their academy in India. Atletico de Kolkata got renamed to simply ATK and, the La Liga club took their business propositions into the Mexican market.
#4 Feyenoord- Delhi Dynamos
Like Atletico Madrid and Fiorentina, Eredivisie club Feyenoord too forayed into the Indian waters with the inaugural season of the Indian Super League. Then Den Network's CMD Sameer Manchanda announced the same through a press conference and believed that the historic tie-up could guide India to FIFA World Cup's qualification!
The Dutch club helped the Delhi Dynamos in signing regular Eredivisie players Stijn Houber, Hans Mulder, Mads Junker, and Morten Skoubo in addition to bringing a Dutch influence to the technical and coaching staff. All these players and the coaching staff played a key role in Delhi Dynamos finishing fifth in the points table. Moreover, their holding possession style of play ensured they only lost four matches in the inaugural ISL season.
Both the clubs disbanded their partnership after the season got over, with reasons best known to them.
#3 FC Midtjylland- Dempo SC
While the hopes of players from Indian clubs playing in their partner European club looked preposterous in all the previous occasions, Dempo's association with FC Midtjylland in 2011 did kindle the hope that it would be possible.
After all, the Danish club used Nantes' model of recruiting players into the senior squad- partnering with academies all across the globe and then signing players from within. Moreover, Dempo owned 34% stake in FC Midtjylland.
FC Midtjylland gave their commitment to provide technical knowhow, knowledge of marketing and administration as well as strong focus on youth development to raise the level of Dempo in Asia. Having won four I-League titles previously, reached the semi-finals of the AFC Cup, and contributing a plethora of players into the national team, the club got relegated from the top-tier of Indian football in 2015.
Dempo SC chairman Srinivas Dempo revealed that he had sold all of his stakes in FC Midtjylland in 2014.
#2 Liverpool- DSK Shivajians
Liverpool collaborated with DSK Shivajians in 2013 to set-up a world class fully residential youth academy in Pune. Coaches from the the English Premier League club passed on their valuable technical know how to the Indian coaches working there. The training facilities there were top notch and even the senior Indian team held a couple of training camps there.
The academy only housed players below the age of 18 and were regular participants in the U-18 I-League. In the 2017-18 season, DSK remained undefeated in the Maharashtra leg but bowed out in the final round and failed to reach the semi-finals. Liverpool invited two of the academy graduates, Lallianzuala Chhangte and Jerry Mawihmingthanga, for a one-month training stint at the Liverpool academy.
Lallianzuala Chhangte recently bagged a trial offer from Norweigan top-division club Viking FK whereas Jerry Mawihmingthanga scored the fastest goal in ISL history last season for Jamshedpur FC. However, the club disbanded its U-18 and all age group programmes in 2018 and, the senior team operations stopped a year before that.
#1 Real Madrid- East Bengal
Just a year before the country hosted the U-17 World Cup, East Bengal inked a deal with Real Madrid C.F in 2016. However, the deal was an extremely short-term one, with the La Liga giants only assisting the club in setting up a residential football academy in the outskirts of Kolkata.
A contingent from the Real Madrid 'La Fabrica' setup came to India and spent 15 days to 3 weeks in the country coaching the first batch of players. The Indian counterparts took the mantle from there.
Despite the minuscule involvement from Real Madrid, it seems to have impacted the players profoundly. East Bengal have reached the semi-finals of the Hero Elite League (U-18 I-League) this season and bowed out to the eventual winners Shillong Lajong 2-0 in the semi-finals in the 2017-18 season.
Have we missed out on any such partnership? Do spread your knowledge in the comments section below.
