The gruelling 2016-17 I-League season is finally over. And what more a new champion in Indian club football is born in the form of Aizawl Football Club. Little known in the annals of I-League since its inception, this Mizoram-based club, formed in 1984, earned entry in India’s top-tier league, I-League, after winning the 2015 I-League 2nd Division. Luck was hardly with this north-eastern club last season when they were relegated to the second division after finishing eighth. But as fate would have it, Aizawl were handed a lifeline by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) after a few clubs pulled out of the league ahead of its 10th edition. The Mizoram-based club also defeated last year’s champions Bengaluru FC twice in the Federation Cup and that played an important role in getting them back into the top division. The fact that Aizawl have now made history for becoming the first club from north-east to win an I-League title are undoubtedly the toast of the nation as Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Shillong Lajong confirmed they had pipped title-contenders Mohun Bagan by a point to lift the cup with 37 points. And why not, Aizawl’s feat is truly commendable. All this has come from a club which worked on a shoe-string budget, fought various odds both on an off the pitch and broke the traditional hold of bigwigs such as Bengaluru FC, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal - all big spenders and past champions. Connoisseurs have compared Aizawl’s rise to the top what an unheralded Leicester City did in the Premier League last season. Yes, both teams fought relegation and stunned their detractors to script history and bask in glory while they bewitched their followers. For head coach Khalid Jamil, the championship marks the completion of the circle of life in the league, which began with him getting sacked by Mumbai FC in 2016 and ending with winning the league with Aizawl in 2017. Aizawl’s journey will be well documented in the years to come and will be seen as an example for young Turks who want to challenge the already established big guns. And as for the I-League, the likes of Bagan, East Bengal and Bengaluru FC will wear a cautious look whenever they come across another new club on the football pitch. Aizawl’s rise to the top is by no means a fluke. This is the result of sheer hardwork even when there seemed to be little light at the end of the tunnel as time and again Jamil’s lads proved why they deserved to win the title only in their second season in top-flight football. Their journey in I-League has been nothing short of being labelled a ‘fairytale’. The club has literally risen from rags to riches if one applies the analogy in terms of their achievements in football. For now, the new kings of Indian football can savour the moment of glory hoping to make an impact in next season’s AFC Cup.
Great triumph
Mizoram’s Aizawl FC are the first club from north-east to win I-League
