Empty seats at Barbati stadium during a match of first division football league between Bidanashi versus Chauliaganj. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 29: Footballers in Odisha might be on a high but soccer veterans say the game’s popularity among sports lovers in the state has hit a low.

Last week in Colombo, the Indian women’s football team that defeated Nepal to successfully defend their SAFF Championship title had four Odia players. The title high, however, isn’t reflected among sports lovers closer home. The ongoing first and second division football leagues are on in Cuttack, but the empty seats in the stadium hosting the soccer show support the truth that the veterans are pointing at.

“The craze for football was huge when we were in school. When we used to pass through fields in the rural areas, we would see kids playing football, but today, everywhere the popularity has shifted to cricket,” sighed well-known women’s football coach Nandakishore Patnaik, a former player of the Jay Durga Club of Cuttack.

From close to 50 clubs that used to vie for different tournaments in Cuttack, the number has dipped to a show of 30-odd football clubs.

“Until the 1980s, the club leagues in Cuttack used to draw thousands of football lovers from all over the state. Tickets priced at Rs 10 in those days would be sold out and yet people would throng the venue. For the first division league matches, I used to travel from Baripada to play the match in Cuttack. The matches between top teams — Rising Star and Jay Durga — used to be played before packed crowds at Barabati Stadium. But today, there are hardly a handful of viewers,” said Patnaik. The coach, who has groomed international players such as Shradhanjali Samantaray, Ranjita Mohanty, Sasmita Mallik and many more, feels that there are two reasons for the declining popularity of the game — sports lovers’ shift to cricket and the lack of encouragement for coaches or people dedicated to promote football.

Rajendra Prasad Singh, coach of the Odisha football team and one of the few Odia footballers to have played for the national team as well as Calcutta biggie Mohun Bagan, feels that holding more tourneys will help bring back fans to the stadium.

Secretary of the association Sanjay Behera said: “We had hosted the Federation Cup and many I-league matches. The country’s premier football tournament, Santosh Trophy, was recently held in Odisha. The state team even did well to reach the quarter-finals and such performances by our players are slowly bringing back spectators to the grounds.”

Young and old members of the football fraternity are also banking on good performance by state players and the initiatives of the association to get the crowd back.

“The past two years have been eventful for football in Odisha. The association’s efforts have to be lauded. We hope the golden days of Odisha football will soon return,” said Patnaik.

The performance level of Odia footballers, women in particular, has been astounding. The four eves from Odisha in the national team — midfielder Supriya Routray, Alochana Senapati, Lochana Munda and Sita Sharma — have won 18 of the past 20 international games they have played in.

Successful coach Shahid Jabbar, however, wants some fundamental change.

“Football is very popular in 10 districts of Odisha, but the onus to popularise it in rest of the 20 districts requires aggressive measures such as organising the youth development programmes for women. It requires long time planning. Our physical fitness and technical abilities remains a cause of worry,” he said.

The coach believes that along with facilities, the team needs exposure as well. “We have a limited pool of 35-40 women footballers. More girls will take part when more national-level competitions and league tournaments are organised,” he said. Asked whether they got a rousing welcome, the coach sounded pretty content with the reception and monetary assistance showered on the players and the management.