An afternoon at the Saltlake Stadium

I am in Kolkata, so decided to catch some live football over the weekend. Saturday evening it was the official I-League opener East Bengal Club vs Churchill Brothers SC and then on Sunday a double header. First-up was Southern Samity vs Mohammedan Sporting Club in the Calcutta Premier League and then Pailan Arrows vs Mohun Bagan AC in the I-League.

When I go for a football match I not only go to see the actual game, but also things around the match like infrastructure, organisation and things overall. And I am especially interested in such things when going for a match in India. And Sunday was just like that...

I came a little late on Sunday afternoon, so only caught about 30 minutes from the second half of the Southern Samity vs Mohammedan Sporting Club tie. The only area with fans was the VIP seating ahead of the VVIP box; about 200, maybe 300 people who were mainly supporting Mohammedan Sporting. And their gestures after every Sporting goal and at the final whistle is better not explained by me. Things one doesn't want to see at a football ground.

After the game I walked to the Saltlake Stadium pitch to have a look for myself how it looks at the moment. The good things to see was that the ground was being watered by six people during the two matches, then the ground was hard and stiff due to the Kolkata heat. But what I saw missing was that the artificial turf ground was maintained in such a way that it can last longer. You can see black patches of the granules with the grass lying dormant, not a good sign.

Thereafter the stadium slowly filled-up for the Pailan Arrows vs Mohun Bagan AC match. My guess would be round 25,000 to 30,000 turned-up for a match, where the youngsters did cause problems for the much more seasoned side, but in the end the class of Odafe Onyeka Okolie and Jose Ramirez Barreto took the Mariners through.

I watched the match in the press box, the best place at the stadium. And my journalist friends where following online the Manchester derby. One realised that there were a number of Manchester United fans around, but when the end result of 6-1 was announced the Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal fans all had a big smile on their face. There was banter Indian journalist style...

After the game, a quick move to the the press conference room. Listen to Prasanta Banerjee and Sukhvinder Singh before having a final chat with Sukhiji and then a walk home to my aunts place. Thats an afternoon spend at the Saltlake Stadium for me...