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Amid the gloom of Mahindra's demise, two separate, young clubs — Pune FC and Shillong Lajong FC — provide the silver lining. Pune's efficient marketing and Lajong's much-talked-about pride in being the representatives of the North-East has translated into growth of football in their respective home cities.Pune FC were founded in 2007 and in just three years, they have made their way into the top-five clubs in India. Having been promoted to the top flight at the start of the current season, they are currently placed fourth in the I-League first division table.Former Mahindra and current Pune coach Derrick Pereira feels that the success on the pitch and the growing fandom off it are because of an efficient marketing system at the club. "Revenue, ticketing, marketing and merchandising form a very important part of building the brand that is Pune FC," he says.According to Chirag Tanna, operations head of Pune FC, every decision of the owners — the Piramal group — has been well researched. Moreover, the club might be a corporate product, but it has been run as the club of the city. "We wanted to choose a city that did not already have a football club. Also, the big student and IT population meant that we had a good target audience," he says.Steps for advertising the brand kicked off early. Tickets were made available at different venues across the city. Merchandise was sold. Events were organised with prominent team members, giving the people a chance to know their players. Matches were scheduled for post 6:30pm, after office hours and under floodlights, giving everyone an opportunity to come and watch. The club has managed to attract an average of 7,000 spectators for games on weekends and 4,000 during the week.Lajong, which means 'Our Own' in the Khasi language, have kept true to their name. The squad is formed of players from the North-East of the country, most of whom are making their first appearance in the top league. Considering this, a possible top-ten finish in their debut season in the I-League top-flight (they are placed 11th with two matches to go) has made them a success story. The major contributor, according to Andrew Suting, the club's operations manager, is the tremendous crowd support they receive. "We have had almost 30,000 spectators for every home match and this has really motivated the team," he says. Another, says Suting, is the pride of representing the region. "We've never had a football club to root for at the top level. This team brings out a lot of emotion in both the players and the fans," he says.With the professional club providing career opportunities, more youngsters are taking up the sport. According to Pereira, his club has brought about a change in the outlook of the sport in the city. "Pune has a number of amateur teams. With our success, these clubs have something to look up to," he says.Suting says the passion for football was always present in the city. Lajong FC have provided an outlet. "We never lacked talent, but now we have the tools to harness it on a large scale," he says.Other famous corporate shutdownsThey call it Corporate India's whimsical interest in football. Teams who attain great heights suddenly get disbanded one fine day and each shutdown is more shocking than the previous. But the corporate football clubs have had a big role in the history of Indian football:Tata's: One of Bombay's best clubs for decades, making the Rover's Cup final thrice in the 1970s till the team got disbanded in early 1980s and made way for the Tata Football Academy in 1987Mafatlal's: Built an attractive side after recruiting the talented Gorkha players from Dehradun in the mid-60s, before folding up in the 1980sLeader Club: Popularised the game in North India and then disbanded — the mantle of the textilemen taken over by JCT, who are still bravely pushing on Caltex: Won the Rover's Cup, the country's second oldest tournament for the first time in 1958
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