xtratime Logo

[caption id="attachment_31068" align="aligncenter" width="580"] Chennai City FC is the newly included side in the upcoming I-League along with Minerva Punjab FC. Image Source: Chennai City FC Facebook[/caption] Internet Desk: Very few football clubs in India has a rich tradition like Nethaji Sports Club (rechristened Chennai City FC). The new entrant of the forthcoming I League has a history that goes down to 1946 when it was founded by a group of five friends - SV Kanagasabai, E Vadivelu, TR Govindarajan, PV Chellappa and K Ekambaram. The name Nethaji Sports Club was changed to Chennai City FC after the present owner Rohit Ramesh took over the club from Gavindarajan, the only surviving members of the founders in 2013. The club from Chennai happens to be one of the oldest clubs participating in the competition; only Kolkata giants East Bengal and Mohun Bagan are older than Chennai City FC. Nethaji Sports Club (now Chennai City FC) can be truly called the hub of upcoming footballers in Chennai, as it produced some of the best footballers from South. But due to lack of funds it failed to retain the players who were taken away by their rival teams for better job opportunity and higher salaries. It always had a strong presence in Chennai’s senior division. Nethaji went close to national glory twice before when they participated in the Durand cup and Federation Cup. Things are getting better for Nethaji ever since Rohit has taken over the club ownership. It saw a change in name along with the colour. Most importantly the club got instant promotion to the senior division. The changes reflected in the results as Chennai City FC finished third in the latest edition of the CFA League. Chennai City FC will be the first side from Tamil Nadu to participate on the national stage since Indian Bank took part in the National Football League in the early years. But the opportunity comes with great challenges, says Rohit. “We have less than a month to assemble players and make it perfect to compete against the heavyweight teams like Bengaluru FC, East Bengal, Mohun Bagan. We want to give chances to players from Tamil Nadu. There is no point being a local club if our players are from elsewhere,” Ramesh told xtratime.in. Can Chennai City FC replicate the achievements by Bengaluru FC, only time will say?