MUMBAI: One season after becoming principle owners of Mumbai City FC (pending regulatory approvals), City Football Group has already ticked one box in its ambitions for the Hero Indian Super League franchise – taking home the ISL title. It will now turn its sights on a longer-term project: Of making the club ‘more sustainable from a talent standpoint’.
“The challenge for any club (after winning a title) is how do you improve both on the sporting side, and the operational and commercial sides. We have already been laying down strategic plans for the upcoming seasons, not just ISL 8, but beyond that. Some of these plans have been compromised because of COVID-19,” Firstpost quotes Damian Willoughby, India CEO of CFG, as having told reporters Monday on a conference call.
“The challenge for us is really put into place a robust football organisation and a football pyramid that enables the club to identify, nurture and develop talented young players. If we are able to do that successfully, we’ll be able to have a healthy and sustainable football club. Clearly, it’s a results-driven business. The bigger project and challenge for us is to putting in place this robust football organisation that supports not just your first team but more importantly helps develop young players.”
Willoughby said that CFG will now look at investing in developing recreational football programs, bolstering their youth football teams, and the academy.
“If you look at all the successful football clubs around the world, they have a track record of developing young players. That’s the aspiration for Mumbai City FC. If we can do that, it’s a much more efficient and economical way to build a club,” he said.
