And just like that, The Red Miners were replaced by The Red Machines. The nicknames of Jamshedpur FC and Churchill Brothers share a colour and were about the only thing in common between the clubs till one gave their Indian Super League (ISL) licence – along with 12 players and two coaches – to another.
One was owned by a corporate giant – “In many ways, the Tata group is India’s closest equivalent to a home-grown global corporation, Lloyd Mathias wrote in HT – the other driven by the passion of one family. Founded in 2017, Jamshedpur FC were not allowed to turn 10; Churchill Brothers were launched in 1988. Now, the death of one has allowed the other to live a dream.
A dream Churchill Brothers thought had been realised when they were declared provisional champions of 2024-25 I-League. A dream they contested even after the title was taken away, the trophy staying in Goa long after the Court of Arbitration for Sport declared Inter Kashi champions.
For not participating in last season’s Indian Football League (IFL), the pyramid’s second tier, Churchill Brothers would have been demoted to I-League 2 this term. Instead, they will be playing in the top tier. “While some saw decline, we saw opportunity. While some saw the end, we saw another beginning,” the club said on Instagram.
Clubs shifting cities or changing names because of investor/sponsorship reasons have happened in J-League, K-League and Major League Soccer (MLS). Birth pangs are hardly novel in new competitions including ISL. Even after massive growth, and in the afterglow of a World Cup that drew a large audience of mostly Americans, MLS struggles for eyeballs and compares unfavourably with leagues in Europe. Things were worse around 20 years ago. MLS had clubs shutting down and ownership of the rest being shared by three business groups. But those were takeovers that went beyond the right to play. It was in the time of shared ownership that a stadium for LA Galaxy began to be built.
ISL also has had teams shifting bases. Delhi Dynamos became Odisha FC; from the embers of FC Pune City emerged Hyderabad FC who then became Sporting Club Delhi. ATK merged with Mohun Bagan and, after another name change in 2023, are known as Mohun Bagan Super Giant. What makes this a first is that it is neither a merger nor were Churchill Brothers part of the ISL.
Will this be a way to bypass the IFL route to ISL? All that a club needs to do is see if another is willing to sell/transfer their licence. And, if it happens at the top, why won’t it in the lower tiers? Will Samaleswari FC not remain in I-League 3, skip I-League 2 and play in IFL after acquiring the sporting licence of 2025-26 I-League 2 champions Delhi FC? And Nagaland United bypass the lower divisions and join them because they have Aizawl FC’s licence? Why would a club with ambitions of playing in ISL want to go through I-League 3, I-League 2 and IFL like Diamond Harbour FC did? Ironically, it is Diamond Harbour who miss out, having not met the deadline to pay their participation fee.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has in the past invited bids from clubs seeking a direct entry. But they came with caveats – at least on paper – and a higher participation fee. Those clubs had to be from a place not represented in the league and had to invest in infrastructure. Inter Kashi and Bengaluru FC came through that way. This share transfer does not do any of that.
Even when facing sustained pressure, AIFF and the clubs found no sporting merit in Churchill Brothers’s bid to play in the ISL in 2025-26. Neither AIFF nor ISL clubs’ CEOs have explained what shifted six months later. And what of the supporters of Jamshedpur FC? They took out marches, created online petitions to stop the club from disbanding. The Tata Steel media release talks about Churchill’s history, rightly, but doesn’t acknowledge that thousands were hurt by its decision, taken swiftly and with help from AIFF. In a city where an India match drew a turnout of 2036, will Churchill Brothers draw a bigger crowd than Jamshedpur FC’s average of 7787 last term?
Churchill Brothers are a legacy club. Churchill Alemao’s passion for football, his monomaniacal desire to be part of ISL, and his willingness to spend on the first team, shows what’s missing in most club owners. Churchill Brothers have been India champions before ISL was an idea, given the sport a string of quality foreigners and Indian players. They deserve an ISL licence but wouldn’t it have been so much better had they got there the way Mohammedan Sporting, Punjab FC and Inter Kashi did?
There is a precedent to this. Mohun Bagan failed to make the first edition of the National Football League and were invited by AIFF, then headed by Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, to the second in 1997-98. Mohun Bagan bypassed the 97-98 second division which started after the top tier. Why? Well, because they were Mohun Bagan. The club went on to win the league. So, no pressure, Churchill Brothers.
GRAPHICS BY PRIJIT SASHIDHARAN
Santos captain Neymar became the first player in Brazil’s Serie A to be forced off the field for a minute under a new rule aimed at curbing time-wasting by goalkeepers that is being tested in the league, reports Reuters. Under the trial, if play is stopped due to a goalkeeper requiring medical treatment, the coach must immediately nominate an outfield player to leave the pitch for a minute after play resumes. If the coach fails to do that, the captain of the team must be the one to leave the field. When Santos beat Vasco 3-0 on Sunday, the rule was invoked when keeper Gabriel Brazao requested medical attention. The referee told captain Neymar to leave the field as the Santos coach did not nominate another player within 10 seconds.
José Mourinho is confident Real Madrid will be fine without Rodri despite admitting the club made “a very good offer” to try to sign the Spain captain, says AP. This was after Rodri, 30, officially signed a four-year deal with Barcelona after a transfer from Manchester City reportedly worth $88.5m. The Real Madrid coach said he spoke twice with Rodri but felt the midfielder didn’t seem certain about his future. “The club contacted him but he had some doubts,” Mourinho said in an interview to the TV show “El Chiringuito” on Tuesday. “What I think happened is that his doubts have created doubts for me… I think Real Madrid is of such a stature that it can’t have players who think twice about being with the club…. “I don’t need Rodri. We have solutions, quality players.” City recouped about $70 million of their off-season transfer spending by selling Tijjani Reijnders to Saudi club Al-Qadsiah, owned by state oil giant Aramco.
Lionel Messi said it after his father’s death. Now, Cristiano Ronaldo has said this Saudi Pro League season is likely to be the last of his professional career. The 41-year-old superstar’s contract with Riyadh club Al-Nassr, signed in December 2022, expires next June, and he has told Vogue magazine that another is unlikely, reports AP. “This is probably my last year of football, and I want to leave a spectacular legacy,” said Ronaldo. “I have my future all mapped out,” he said. “Because football could leave a big hole, you have to fill your time in various ways, not just one. And also have more fun, travel more, watch and play padel, which I really like, and continue to enjoy what I’ve earned - what we’ve earned. Because after all, it’s been 25 years with a lot of sacrifice.”
Senegal hired Patrick Vieira as their new coach to replace Pape Thiaw, who was fired after elimination from the World Cup in the round of 32, reports AP. Senegal announced the news in a post on Instagram, without giving any details of the length of the 50-year-old Vieira’s contract. Vieira won the World Cup with France as a player during a glittering club career with Inter and AC Milan, Arsenal and Manchester City. His coaching career has not been anywhere near as successful, however. Vieira has previously coached New York City FC, Nice, Crystal Palace and Strasbourg. His last job was in charge of Genoa, but - despite an initially positive start - he was fired after less than a year with the team in last place in Serie A.
Ten-man Lens denied Paris Saint-Germain a second trophy in five days as Florian Thauvin’s first-half goal secured a 1-0 victory in the French Super Cup on Sunday, reports AFP. Lens were worthy winners in their first match under new coach Dino Toppmoeller, adding to the French Cup title they won under previous boss Pierre Sage in May. PSG, who beat Aston Villa on Wednesday in the UEFA Super Cup, struggled to find their flow at Lens’s Stade Bollaert-Delelis, despite their hosts having Kyllian Antonio sent off in the first half. Ahead of their Ligue 1 and Champions League defence, PSG signed Ferran Torres from Barcelona.
World Cup-winning Spanish footballer Gerard Pique has revealed that he has long been fascinated by chess and said the ambition to take the sport to a new level was one of the key reasons he joined Global Chess League franchise American Gambits as a strategic shareholder, reports PTI. The fourth edition of the Global Chess League (GCL) will be held from September 3 to 13, with six franchise teams featuring some of the world’s leading grandmasters and champions competing in a rapid, mixed-gender format. “Chess has fascinated me for a long time because of its depth, its global appeal and the incredible mental strength it demands,” said Pique.
East Bengal FC notched up a record 12-0 victory against Rovers FC (Guam) in the AFC Women’s Champions League 2026-27 preliminary stage in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, on Thursday, reports PTI. It was the biggest-ever victory by an Indian club in an Asian competition, overtaking the 9-0 win by East Bengal’s men’s team against Club Valencia (Maldives) in the 1985-86 Asian Club Championship. The win puts East Bengal one win away from the group stage, with Malaysia’s Sabah FA their opponents on Sunday.
FC Goa were clubbed with Qadsia SC of Kuwait, Fortis FC of Bangladesh and FC Regar-TadAZ of Tajikistan in the AFC Challenge League 2026-27 in the draw in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. Earlier, in the Asian Champions League 2 main round, East Bengal were drawn in group D with Jordanian champions Al Hussein SC, Iraqi powerhouse Al Shorta SC and Oman’s Al Seeb Club. ACL2 will start on September 15 with teams playing each other home and away. FC Goa will travel to Kuwait where Qadsia SC will host all matches in group C.
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In what was a belated acknowledgement of a glittering career, I Arumainayagam was given the 2025 Arjuna award (Lifetime) by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The winger made his debut in the 1962 Asian Games where India won gold. Including the 1964 Asian Cup where India were runners-up, he played 18 matches for India and scored three goals, according to a release by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). Arumainayagam won the Santosh Trophy for Madras/Tamil Nadu, Bengal and, Railways. He represented Mohun Bagan from 1961 to 68. Read journalist Jaydeep Basu's fascinating anecdote here
That’s all for this week. As always, I look forward to your feedback. You can either write to me at dhiman@htlive.com, or reply to this mail.
Produced by Shad Hasnain.
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