A crazy diamond in Indian football’s trying times

Kolkata: A fairytale come true in Indian football — well, not quite like the usual type of a Leicester City of 2015-2016 there or an Aizawl FC of 2016-2017 season here. Diamond Harbour FC's journey from the humble Bata stadium ground in Maheshtala — a part of greater Kolkata — to the summit of I-League and eventually the top echelon of Indian Super League just four years after coming into being is trailblazing in its own right. "We did history," beamed coach Kibu Vicuna, who has been with the team since its birth and has supervised its transition from a newcomer to the groundbreaker. Four summers ago when Diamond Harbour FC, backed by local Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, were officially launched on April 15 — the Bengali New Year's Day — in 2022, Vicuna was in Poland with his new assignment, just two years after guiding Mohun Bagan to their second I-League title and a year after an unsuccessful stint with Kerala Blasters in the ISL. No wonder it took a lot of convincing for the Spanish coach to take up the job of a team which had just about received a green light from the Indian Football Association to play in the CFL first league, the third tier of the local league. During its formal launch, delayed by two years because of the pandemic, one of the club officials said that the team's "target" was to qualify for the CFL Premier Division and compete alongside the Big Three — Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting. Vicuna came,saw his diamond in the rough and changed the mindset of the newly-formed team in such a revolutionary manner unheard of in Indian football. "Four years ago, we were playing our first official game in Batanagar against Port Trust and four years later, we have now got our promotion to the highest level of Indian football. Just amazing," the DHFC coach remarked guiding the team to the I-League triump, 9 months after taking them to the Durand Cup final.Vicuna's Diamond Harbour FC represent a rare sense of certainty in an otherwise uncertain Indian football. They have literally risen through the ranks, conquering one hurdle after another in I-League 3, I-League 2 and now I-League with a magical run. Unlike Leicester City or Aizawl — or even the two previously promoted ISL teams (Punjab FC and Mohammedan SC) — Diamond Harbour FC have come out of the blue and scripted their own destiny through discipline, determination and a never-say-die mentality. "One of the key things about this team is that we have kept fighting until the end and we scored a beautiful goal in the last minute of the match that gave us the promotion (to ISL)," Vicuna said, referring to Hugo Diaz's last-gasp equalizer in DHFC's come-from-behind 1-1 draw with Dempo FC in Goa on Sunday. Former India midfielder and a star of the 1970s and 1980s, Manas Bhattacharya echoed the Spaniard's sentiment. "The sign of any champion team is its ability to bounce back against the odds. This team has made a habit of coming back from all potential setbacks. Credit to Kibu for believing in our project and transforming it into something magical," Bhattacharya — who is associated with DHFC as the club's CEO — told TOI on Monday. At a time when an air of uncertainty struck Indian football at the start of the season forcing many ISL franchises to release players, the DHFC management has stood by the likes of Diaz, Luka Majcen and Jobby Justin, taking care of their financial needs during crunch time. "From the Day I of our existence, we've ensured that players remain an integral part of our family. We've given them a dream and they have helped us realize it," Bhattacharya remarked. Shine on, you crazy diamond!