CALCUTTA, Aug 20: * Over one lakh people filled the stands for the Federation Cup football final in 1996 between East Bengal and Dempo.

* Over 80,000 turned up for the JCT-East Bengal National League match on February 16 1997.

* Over 70,000 came for the McDowell Cup final between East Bengal and FC Kochi this year.

* A record 1,32,000 had the stands bursting at its seams for the Federation Cup semi-final between Bagan and East Bengal on July 13 1997.

* More than 1,10,000 came for the 1997 Federation Cup final between East Bengal and Salgaocar on July 20.

* Again, 1,10,000 saw the Calcutta Football League match between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal on August 3 1997.

The first impression one gets from the head count at each of these above football matches at the Salt Lake Stadium, is that the crowds are back. But one look at another set of figures, say that of a Federation Cup semi-final between Dempo and Salgaocar at Guwahati on July 12, 1997, which attracted just about 2,000 spectators, sets one wondering why only football at Salt Lake in Calcutta.

There could be a host of reasons for the crowds return to football. It could be Mohun Bagan coach Amal Dutta's `Diamond System'; club loyalties; or maybe a sudden shift in televising patterns of the news channels which now have begun to show Asian football, too, instead of only Latin American or European leading to a direct comparison between the kind of football in other Asian countries and India.

Of the above, traditional club loyalties is most likely the biggest crowd puller. Any match involving Mohun Bagan or East Bengal has their fans converging to the stadium in thousands. Which is probably why football followers in Guwahati could not quite associate themselves with teams from Goa. These sides were as foreign to them as teams from Sri Lanka or the Maldives.

However, the initial crowd figures in Calcutta left even the old-timers and experts stunned. This had not happened for a long, long time. The odd match would draw big crowd but so many matches in succession attracting such large numbers was something totally unexpected. Could this be the revival of Indian football. The organisers, would like to believe so.

After all, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal do clash quite a few times each season. So why should one lakh and more brave the rain and much more just to watch them play each other again and again? Club loyalties apart, Bagan coach Amal Dutta should be given a share of credit for bringing back the crowd to the stands. His rhetoric and `Diamond System' had caught Bagan fans' imaginations. Their 6-0 thrashing of Churchill Brothers added to the belief that Bagan had shrugged off their indifferent form of last season and were ready to start afresh. Bagan flags were out again and truckloads of fans made their way to the Salt Lake Stadium hours before the July 13 match.If the Bagan camp was enthusiastic, how could East Bengal fans lag behind? If Bagan had Chima Okerie, East Bengal had Baichung Bhutia. Slogan-shouting East Bengal fans in equally large numbers, too, made their way to Salt Lake. The Stadium wore only four colours that day East Bengal's red and gold, Bagan's maroon and green.

Bagan's 1-3 loss subdued their fans but could not dampen Amal Dutta's spirit. The very next day, he declared that Salgaocar were the favourites for the final. East Bengal fans had to be there to prove Dutta wrong. Then came the `revenge' match in the Calcutta Football League and Dutta was ready to show who was the better tactician. East Bengal technical director PK Banerjee refrained from talking too much. But the pre-match hype had caught on with the fans. It was Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal, Okerie vs Bhutia and Dutta vs Banerjee. The fans had to be there. In spite of the match being shown live on Doordarshan and the day being a damp one with rain lashing the city from the morning.

Another important factor behind the new-found interest in the game can be traced to satellite TV channels putting Indian football at par with other Asian tournaments. In the mid-1980s, the TV coverage of European and Latin American football was said to be partly responsible for the declining interest in the game in India. Followers compared the foreign fare shown on TV with that in the country and were expectantly disillusioned. However, with the channels changing their televising patterns, the fans decided they might as well be there on the ground, wrapped in their club colours and with their faces painted. The idea was to attract cameras, which would then beam their painted faces across Asia.

This trend of increasing numbers in the stands can only be encouraging. Currently ranked a pathetic 116 by the FIFA, Indian football needs more than just a few good players to come out of the morass it has got into. Big crowds mean more sponsors, which in other words means more money. And, that is what Indian football needs right now.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.