Bharat Football Club (also known as Kalyani Bharat Football Club)[1] was an Indian professional football club based in Pune, Maharashtra. Founded in 2014,[2][3] the club usually competed in I-League, then top tier of Indian football league system.[4][5] The team was founded on 26 August 2014 by Kalyani Group as a direct-entry team into the I-League, making them the second direct-entry side in league history after Bengaluru FC.[3]
The name of the team, as well as their home stadium, the Balewadi Sports Complex, were officially announced on 23 November 2014.[6][7] But after a disappointing season in I-League the club withdrew and was eventually dissolved.[8][9]
History
In 2013, in a bid to increase the popularity of the I-League – India's top football league – the All India Football Federation approved the addition of teams into the league via bidding for a direct-entry slot.[10] The first two teams to be allowed into the I-League via direct-entry were Bengaluru FC and Mumbai Tigers but only Bengaluru FC played in the 2013–14 season.[11] Despite the failure of Mumbai Tigers, Bengaluru FC proved to be an amazing success for the I-League as the Bangalore club managed to bring in full-houses to all their matches as well as even win the league in their very first season.[12] This thus made the AIFF announce that they would be accepting bids for new direct-entry teams for the 2014–15 season.[13] On 26 August 2014, after the AIFF reviewed the bidders, they announced that Kalyani Group had won the right to start a direct-entry club for the 2014–15 season.[3]
After winning the bid for the team, in November 2014, Kalyani Group signed their first ever head coach for the football team in former Wolverhampton Wanderers player Stuart Watkiss.[14][15] They also appointed Stanley Rozario as assistant coach.[16][17] Kalyani Group then signed their first ever player on 10 November 2014 when New Zealand international Kris Bright signed for the club,[18] who also represented New Zealand at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[19] After making their first signings, the Kalyani Group officially announced the name of the club on 23 November 2014 as Bharat FC.[6]
The 2014–15 I-League was their first and only top flight season, they ever competed.[23][24] For their maiden season, The Lions signed experienced foreigners like Englishman Bobby Hassell, New Zealander Kris Bright. They rope in Beninese Romuald Boco as Marquee player, who earned 50 caps for his country.[25][26][27] Palestinian Omar Jarun was also signed in March 2015 for an 18-month deal completing the club's Asian player quota.[28][29][30][31]
In their first ever league match, the debutants held Dempo SC to a goalless draw.[32] Later they defeated giants Mohun Bagan AC by 1–0.[33] On 27 January 2015, Bright scored the first goal for his club, netting a 14th-minute goal against Royal Wahingdoh but they lost the game by 1–2.[34]Kris Bright emerged as the top goalscorer for Bharat with 6 goals in the league.
Bharat FC has competed in 20 matches in the league season and managed to win only 3 matches alongside 10 draws and 7 defeats. Thus the club finished at the bottom of the league table with 18 points, behind Dempo.[35] But they were not relegated as they had relegation immunity for two years.[36][37]
Colours and kits
During the club's first ever kit launch event on 2 January 2015, it was announced that the club's colours would be based on the team's motto, "Together, Forever and Triumphant", which are blue, red, and white.[38] The home kit was coloured in dark blue which stands for the "Peoples Football" while the away kit is predominantly red.[38] The club's third kit was coloured completely white with the colours blue and red running horizontally across the shirt. The red denotes "passion and vitality" while blue stands for "truth and loyalty".[38]
Ownership
Bharat FC was formed through an initiative by Kalyani Group, a privately held industrial group, headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra, India, that is focused in four primary sectors, viz. Engineering Steel, Automotive & Non-Automotive Components, Renewable Energy & Infrastructure and Specialty Chemicals.[39] Amit Kalyani was the club's first and only managing director.[40]
When Bharat FC's name was announced, the Balewadi Sports Complex was also announced as the first ever stadium to be used by the club.[6] The stadium has a capacity of 12,000.[7] The team has stated their intention to eventually construct their own football stadium with Manjri being the initial looked at location for the stadium.[41]
Disfunction
The team was officially launched in November 2014,[42] but despite investing heavily, Bharat FC just managed to gain only 18 points from 20 games in the 2014–15 I-League season, finishing at the bottom.[43] The return on investment being abysmal, the club didn't see I-League as an economically viable investment anymore.[44][45] With minimal activity ahead of their second season and several staff, including CEO Suvrat Thatte, resigning, the Pune-based club only played one season in the I-League.[37][46]
