This season, Mumbai City, part of the City Football Group run by the Abu Dhabi-based owners of Manchester City, were runaway winners of the league, giving them a route to the AFC Champions League.īut in the ISL play-offs, Grayson’s Bengaluru surprised Mumbai City in the semi-final, winning an epic penalty shootout 9-8 to qualify for the final in Goa.Ī few hours before the game, The Athletic spoke to fans around the stadium about their new coach masterminding a remarkable 10-game winning streak to come from nowhere to reach Indian football’s set-piece event. After the league ends there is a mini tournament where the top six teams in the league battle it out to become ISL champions. First there is an 11-team league in which each club plays each other twice. The ISL has an unusual format compared to European leagues.
The Athletic was in Goa last week for the final of the ISL, which pitted Grayson’s Bengaluru against ATK Mohun Bagan, one of India’s oldest clubs, based in the footballing hotbed of Kolkata. It involves sacrifices because my family are all back in England but we all felt it was worth it.” “But when the offer came and I really thought about it, it felt like the right thing to do.
Even a couple of years ago, I’d probably have backed out at the last minute. “Three years ago if you’d offered me that, there’s not a chance I’d have said yes. “The timing just felt right,” says Grayson. After developing contacts, he received an offer from Bengaluru and accepted the job last July. He first got interested in Indian football after being invited out to the ISL final three years ago by Martin Bain, the Scot who worked as CEO at Sunderland while Grayson managed at the Stadium of Light. India, by his own admission, took him out of his comfort zone, away from English football where he played for Leicester City and Aston Villa and coached a string of clubs including Leeds United, Blackpool and Sunderland. Grayson at the wheel? 🚗 Not in Bengaluru! 😂 #WeAreBFC #NothingLikeIt #BFCFCG ⚔️ /ypZarDlp29įor Grayson, a return to England - his first visit here for seven months - is an opportunity to see family and enjoy some relatively empty roads. We’ve not had a crash yet but mainly because it’s usually bumper to bumper.” People go on the wrong side of the road, mopeds are on the inside of you, then the outside. “There are 11 million people and I’m very fortunate that I’ve got a driver.
0 kommentar(er)
