Mumbai City FC: The football in Maharashtra

Maharashtra is known for Cricket and produced a number of talents throughout the ages. But when it comes to football no such talents came through. But the situation is changing gradually and after the influx of Mumbai City FC the youths are getting interested towards the game. Earlier the football in Mumbai was nothing more than a seasonal sport and now it is becoming popular in the regions.
Mumbai City FC is owned by the Bollywood superstar Ranbir Kapoor and Bimal Parekh. Ranbir is always known for his love towards this game and was also a recognised Arsenal follower. He is dedicated to build this club from the scratch and his involvement towards the team is notable.
On 15 September 2014, the club signed Nicolas Anelka, a former French international who had been a free agent since his departure from West Bromwich Albion earlier in the year. Three days later, former Swedish international Freddie Ljungberg was signed as the team’s first marquee player, returning from two years of retirement. But their first match was with ATK and there they lost to thethem by 3-0 and finished the season at seventh. They were unable to qualify for the playoffs.
In July 2015, Nicolas Anelka became player-manager, replacing Englishman Peter Reid. But nothing was going good for them in this season and they finished sixth . With this Anelka left the side and depart from the ISL. The next two seasons did not goes well for them under Alexandre Guimarães. In the 3rd they were able to make up to the playoffs but lost to ATK in two legged semifinal. But the next season was tremendously bad for them as the finished 7th in the league.
After the announcement that Mumbai City FC had parted ways with Guimarães, the Islanders broke the news about their new head coach. Former Portugal international & Champions League Winner Jorge Costa signed as the manager of Mumbai City FC for the 2018/19 Indian Super League season.
The club managed to secure a play-off Finish with a 3–1 victory against ATK on 22 February 2019 with a game in hand, thanks to Modou Sougou’s second hat-trick in the league, which is also a record for having maximum hat-tricks for the Islanders. The 3rd-place finish saw them face off against FC Goa, which resulted in a 5–1 defeat at Home despite Mumbai opening the scoring.
Looking back at the records, the Islanders had registered a record statistic as they had 12 players on the scoresheet who had scored the team’s total of 25 goals. Costa’s Mumbai City had a reputation for being defensively strong and lethal on the counter-attack. It became the first team to do a league double over Bengaluru FC in ISL history and did not lose to them in the two years Costa was at the helm. After finishing fifth, and with the City Football Group ownership coming into full effect, Jorge Costa’s reign at the club came to an end.
The management signed Lobera as their new coach of this season. With this they are going to play under their new coach and hoping to make a good run in this ISL. They are one of the best side on pen and paper. Let see what they can do on the pitch.