Bhaskaran hopes every home match to be house full
Five Spaniards part of the squad
Jamshedpur, Sept. 20: After a successful preseason stint at Madrid, Jamshedpur Football Club (JFC) squad returned to the city on Wednesday night. The team was accorded warm welcome from Tatanagar Railway Station to the flatlets in Kadma.
On Thursday afternoon JFC introduced their entire squad at a Press Conference in Russi Modi Center For Excellence. The squad includes two local lads Gourav Mukhi and Mobashir Rahman, five Spanish players along with Australian legend Tim Cahill.
Jamshedpur FC Chairman Sunil Bhaskaran seemed excited with the club’s pre-season training and hoped that ‘Furnace’ erupts like never before as the season gets underway. The players and support staffs are also geared up for the club’s second season.
�The idea is to make Jamshedpur Football Club the best in the world. We are in the process to make sure this season we provide maximum joy to our fans and the other stakeholders. I welcome the team to Jamshedpur”, said Sunil Bhaskaran.
The fans played a major part as The Furnace (JRD Tata Sports Complex) saw an average attendance of 22,980 at an average attendance rate of 94% (highest in the ISL 2017/18).
Addressing a press meet on Thursday, Bhaskaran added, ‘We will be putting up more bucket seats in the stadium and hope that all the matches are houseful. It’s a positive sign that local Jamshedpur players have been included in the team and many TFA graduates are also part of the squad.
Answering a query, Bhaskaran said, Tata Trusts wants to send ten children to Atletico De Madrid as a football development and player exposure initiative.
Jamshedpur FC conducted preliminary round trials for young and rising prospects at Tribal Cultural Center, Sonari on 17th & 18th September 2018.
‘We hope to take Indian football to new heights in the next 10 to 15 years and hope to see our future generation of players representing top clubs’, added Bhaskaran.
JFC Head Coach, C�sar Ferrando, explained his approach for the club in the new season. He said, �Our preseason went as per expectations, we played some good teams back in Spain and we are now looking forward to our first match. There is a good camaraderie within the squad. We are looking forward to bringing a lot of joy for the fans.�
JFC CEO Mukul Choudhari was highly positive and optimistic about the upcoming season as he said, �We aspire to go one step better than the last season. And we are looking forward to the likes of Tim Cahill and the entire squad to bring joy and entertainment to the fans of Jamshedpur FC.�
JFC finished in 5th place in their debut season of the ISL. The club signed future mainstays in the likes of Subrata Paul, Tiri, etc. The players won accolades for their performances during the 2017/18 season. Subrata Paul won the Golden Glove award, Jerry won the FPAI Young Player of the Year and Tiri and Wellington were part of the fans� team of the year.
The Jamshedpur FC squad includes- Subrata Paul (GK) Goalkeeper, Sanjay Balmuchu Defender, Raju Gaikwad Defender, Jose Luis Espinosa Arroyo Defender, Pratik Chowdhary Defender, Mario Arques Midfielder, Pablo Morgado Midfielder, Vishal Das Midfielder, Jerry Mawhmingthanga Midfielder, Farukh Choudhary Forward, Sumeet Passi Forward, Rafique Ali Sardar (GK) Goalkeeper, Mobashir Rahman Midfielder, Robin Gurung Defender, Tim Cahill Forward, Carlos Calvo Midfielder, Sergio Cidoncha Forward, Bikash Jairu Midfielder, Emerson Gomes De Moura Midfielder, Michael Soosairaj Midfielder, Dhanachandra Singh Defender, Yumnam Raju Defender, Karan Amin Defender, Gourav Mukhi Forward, and Subhasish Roy Chowdhury (GK) Goalkeeper.
Guillermo Fernandez Gonzalez from Spain is the assistant coach of the club, Ezequiel Gomez Leon also from Spain is the goalkeeping coach and another Spaniard Jose Carlos Barroso Coll is the strength and conditioning coach of JFC.
The fifth season of the Indian Super League will begin on September 29. Jamshedpur FC will play its opening game against Mumbai City FC on October 2 which will be away game. JRD Tata Sports Complex will host its first game of the season on October 21 against ATK.