Cooperage, the nerve centre of all big football in the city, is in a shambles. The Western India Football Association (WIFA) has now chalked out plans to replace the rickety stands with a concrete edifice, provide the players with modern dressing rooms and create underground parking space. The estimated cost of the project, blessed by Chief Minister Manohar Joshi who visited the venue recently, is around Rs 60-70 crore and is likely to take three years to take shape.

But the rumblings of cynicism are already being heard. And not without justification. Two decades ago, the then state Finance Minister S K Wankhede had mooted a grand plan to refurbish the Cooperage. Twenty years on, the only reminder of that plan -- a miniature model in the precincts of the Cooperage -- has been confined to the dustbin.

The late Wankhede's plans included shops and offices inthe stadium. WIFA claims that the plan was put in cold storage following objections from the residents. Detractors of the WIFA allege vested interests in maintaining the status quo. Whatever the reasons, the Cooperage remains a dilapidated structure, evoking the ire of fans and players alike.

The two instances of stands collapsing, the ceaseless grumbling of teams who have to make do with filthy bathrooms, toilets and the frustration of coaches who have had to scratch strategy on rotten doors of the dressing room in the absence of a blackboard, have maligned the venue over the years.

WIFA president Praful Patel agrees there are problems. ``Running football needs considerable amount of money. With no grants from the government it's becoming more and more difficult,'' he says. Sponsorships fail to keep the coffers from running dry. A recent sponsorship by Bristol (ITC), which will bring in Rs 50 lakh per Rovers Cup, apparently meets only part of the tournament expenses.

With the decline of football in thecity brought on by a myriad factors, gate receipts that used to sustain WIFA's running cost fell with a thud. The association has had to turn to an alternate area for fund raising. The renting of sections of the ground to weddings brought in precious funds for development, WIFA claims. That lifeline too was cut when residents objected.

Though while it lasted, it brought in handsome amounts -- quoted by officials to be in the region of Rs 40 lakh per year.

Now WIFA plans to involve corporate houses through direct sponsorship as well as enlist corporate members for a club house that is planned at the venue.

But for all that, happenings in the ongoing season still make one despair. Administrative incompetence, lack of discipline among officials and players alike compel an objective observer to look beyond a slipshod venue for answers.

The split in city football and the ramification of a division of resources and energy has lowered the sport's stock. The Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA), bornout of WIFA, continues to live the life of a `have-not' even while housing considerable talent. Instituted following the Government's and Indian Olympic Association's stipulation that sports within districts must be taken care of by a separate body, MDFA came into being in 1983 and to this day, conducts its programme at the Xaverian Complex, Parel another traditional though ramshackled venue,now facing demolition. April 17, 1984, promised a new era for football in the city. A High Court ruling on this day deemed that the leagues be run by the new body leaving WIFA to concentrate on running the Inter-Districts and Rovers Cup. But the good days were hardly to last. Acrimony between the two bodies was to have a debilitating effect on football in the city. The effect on the clubs, players and referees was predictably adverse.

Football was scourged further with the disbanding of Century Rayon, Mafatlal, Tata's and more recently Orkay Mills teams owing to financial setbacks. The sides, enjoying a place in thecity's footballing folklore, provided a supply line of talent down the ages that often went on to grace the international arena.

Meanwhile, the rift between the MDFA and WIFA widened. MDFA attempted to form the Maharashtra Football Association -- only for it to be de-recognised by court. After 1987, the tide went further WIFA's way. The Super Division League that WIFA incepted in 1991-92 drew the best sides in the city, leaving mediocre teams to participate in the Harwood League.

While MDFA conducts, what sadly could well be called `the forgotten leagues', WIFA's administration this season too has come in for severe flak. The association has admitted to bungling in a player transfer case and has fared poorly in resolving other such controversies. Punctuality in running matches has been deplorable, so has been the standard of officiating. There has been little initiative in providing proper practice surfaces. Youth development has been ignored almost completely.

But, as they say, where there is hopethere is life. And although a new stadium appears to belong to a field of dreams, the mirage of a venue worthy to serve the `people's game', provides hope for the city's long-suffering footballing fraternity.

(Errol D'Cruz covers football for The Indian Express)