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In Search of India's Football Culture with Mumbai FC's Yellow Brigade

India is fanatical about sport, but this is a nation where cricket is king while football has tended to be overlooked. Could that ever change? We spent time at Mumbai FC and spoke to an Englishman playing in the country to get a feel for India's football

Photo by Meghna Gupta.

Mumbai is a cricket city. Millions of Rupees are invested in coaching and facilities, while the 32,000-capacity Wankhede Stadium plays host to some of the biggest international sides on the planet. In contrast, Mumbai FC's stadium, the Cooperage, hosts regular games from India's premier domestic football competition, the I-League, with a capacity of only 5,000. Given that this is a city of over 20 million, the work required to further the culture of the club game in India is clear.

As someone currently living in Mumbai, not to mention an Arsenal fan, I was struck by Arsene Wenger's recent comments about football in India. "It's a slow process of creating a football culture," said Wenger, also noting that England's league system is 150 years old yet still struggles at times. "I expect India to come to the game and I hope it will happen," added the Frenchman. Having seen the development of Japan's league system up close, Wenger speaks from experience. Instead of simply taking the gaffer's word for it, however, I decided to head to my local professional team, Mumbai FC, to see how they are working to create a 'football culture' in a nation where cricket is king.

Read the rest of this article on VICE Sport.