that when such things fall into place one can only, but bask in its glory. When Mizoram lifted the Santosh Trophy on the 10th of March, 2014 at the Kanchanjunga Stadium in Siliguri through its 3-0 victory against the Railways team, it became the only State from the North East after Manipur to have won the coveted trophy.

This victory was not only the victory of the players and those involved but of the entire State. So much so that the Governor of Mizoram His Excellency Vakkom Purushothaman took special permission from the Election Commission to declare the 12th of March a public holiday to welcome and felicitate the footballers at Lammual, Aizawl’s main venue for football matches. Lammual incidentally was the first football field in which Astroturf was laid in February 2011. With it Mizoram can boast of three Astroturf laid football fields with two more shortly to be completed.

With this win, the year is unfolding as Mizoram’s golden year in football. Earlier this year it won the Dr. T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament beating neighbouring Manipur, another State that has earned a lot of accolades in the game. It also lifted the junior Under-17 National Championship. Besides this, the Mizoram Football Association (MFA) won the 2013 AIFF Award for Best Grassroots Development programme. This was awarded to the MFA for its involvement and eagerness to upgrade using help from AIFF in Grassroots and Coach Education. Jeje Lalpekhlua, the most famous face of Mizo football, too bagged the 2013 AIFF Award for Emerging Player of the Year.  

In Mizoram football is the game. It is so popular that people stay up past midnight to watch major European football championships. The vernacular newspapers which number more than 30 have dedicated and regular full page sports section where all football related news and trivia find mention. Local cable television channels – Zonet and LPS and even State run Doordarshan’s Aizawl Kendra produce and telecast sports bulletins, interactive programmes and even talk shows related to the game and its development on a regular basis. There is even a home grown football website Zofooty.com that has the latest on the football world – local, national and international.

Private cars and public transport vehicles often have posters of major English clubs pasted on their rear windshields. Youngsters incorporate profile names such as Ronaldo, Rooney, Chelsea and Liverpool in their Facebook user names. If you ask a child in Mizoram to name the Indian cricketers, he may at best shout out Sachin Tendulkar’s name but ask him the names of famous footballers past and present, he will easily come up with at least two dozen names from yesteryears’ Pele to today’s Christiano Ronaldo. Over a dozen shops in Aizawl sell football souvenirs of famous European football clubs ranging from the Clubs’ insignia to towels and even blankets of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and others major football clubs and are doing brisk business. 

According to Lalnghinglova Hmar, popularly known as Tetea, who is a journalist donning the hat of the General Secretary of the Mizoram Football Association (MFA) and who has been a major driving force in Mizoram’s football scene, three things helped Mizoram script the historic success – starting the Mizoram Premier League for players to showcase their talent; education of referees and improving the quality of coaches. This, of course did not come overnight, the sustained and steady efforts for the past three years have finally paid off. 

The day is not far when Mizoram will have its own team in the I-League. Meanwhile sports association across the county can definitely learn a lesson or two from MFA in sports management and administration. MFA has proved true the saying ‘where there is a will there is way’.

Pratap Chhetri