From being relegated last season to winning the title this year, this is a journey legends are made of. With Goans cheering on Churchill Brothers who has also made a comeback of sorts after languishing in the early periods of the league, fans from the state were rallying behind another club, that played the entire season as the underdogs. Aizawl FC has become the toast of the nation after they became the first team from the north-east region of the country to lift the I-League title in 2017. The previous year Aizawl had been relegated into the second division after finishing eight but managed to stay in the league, incidentally after Goan I-League clubs pulled out.
What has struck a chord among fans especially among Goans at a time when the local clubs were faring miserably in the previous I-League editions, was that Aizawal works on a seasonal budget of almost ten times less than that of top clubs like Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC. With Goans clubs talking about the lack of fan support and funds, Aizawal FC has shown the template of success where they managed to beat the odds and win the title but also managed to bring back the fans to the staidums. As soon as Aizawal FC won the I-league, fans across Goa took to social media to praise the efforts and achievements of the north -east club and hoped that the Goan clubs too could follow the example of the giant killers.
