Going back in time, the year 2009 was an important one for Pune football. Pune Football Club (PFC), founded in 2007, had managed to gain promotion to the I-League. Owned by Ashok Piramal Group, Pune FC was considered one of the most professional clubs in Indian football. Preparations began for Pune FC to play their first I-League game at the Balewadi Sports Complex, which was their home ground; after all, Pune was finally going to be on the Indian football map for the first time.
On October 3, 2009, Pune FC took on East Bengal in front of a decent crowd of around 9000 people who had turned up specially to see their favourite Bhaichung Bhutia, who then was playing for the visitors. This was the day Pune arrived on the football map.
Local football got a much-needed boost due to the presence of the I-League club in the city, which also used to sponsor the local leagues.
Year after year, Pune FC continued with their participation in the I-League with varying results. On the other hand, they failed to attract fans to the stadium for the home games. Finally, in 2015, the club had to be shut down due to a financial crisis.
The Balewadi stadium also witnessed some international friendlies and AFC matches during this time, sadly, which could not rouse the interest of the public. Mumbai FC used the Balewadi stadium for quite some time as their home ground due to issues with the Cooperage ground, which added football action, which Pune got.
The city also witnessed Bharat FC and DSK Shivajians who tried to bring a change. Sadly, they did not hold fort for long as they too had to wind up within a short span.
Historic first as Pune FC take on EPL side Blackburn Rovers in Pune
In October 2011, Pune witnessed a historic first as English Premier League side Blackburn Rovers played a friendly against Pune FC at the Balewadi Stadium. Blackburn Rovers became the first Premier League team to play in India, thereby realising the dreams of many fans who follow the EPL.
The visitors walked away with the win, but it was Pune FC that won hearts. The EPL club had been bought by Pune-based Venky’s group, which was a ray of hope that football in Pune will now change for good. Sadly, other than one exhibition game, there was nothing much that happened other than Venky’s sponsoring local teams and tournaments.
FC Pune City continues where Pune FC left
FC Pune City, owned by Rajesh Wadhawan Group, was founded in 2014 during the inaugural season of the Indian Super League. With inflows of money and well-to-do owners, things looked good for the sport. Sadly, even for a cash-rich club, attracting fans to the stadium continued to be a major hindrance. Finally, in 2019, the club was dissolved and the stakes were sold. The new owners then shifted based from Pune to Hyderabad, with the new club being rechristened as Hyderabad FC.
Pune District Football Association in negative light
Local body Pune District Football Association (PDFA) has long been involved in controversies for more than a decade now. Players from various clubs have come forward with stories since many years highlighting the wrongdoings of PDFA.
In 2019, owners of five local clubs came together to raise their voice against the local governing body. The aftermath was such that the clubs were banned from playing local tournaments due to allegations of their owners. A legal case was filed then, which is still pending and running in the courts.
A couple of media publications had covered about the wrongdoings of PDFA but that did not change things as the local body continued to work their way.
With a huge lineup of allegations on the local body, formalities have been dragging on for years now with no result in sight, which is affecting the sport.
What the future holds?
With the current situation, things don’t look good for Pune football, be it dwindling local tournaments to a stadium that is AFC-approved lying idle with no footballing action. The possibility of a new ISL club based in Pune looks bleak, as crowds still don’t tend to come in for a football game, and no owner would want to be based in Pune, which has a bad track record for the sport.
What remains a distant dream is more local tournaments and a fully packed Balewadi Stadium if at all an ISL game takes place here in Pune.
