After three months of grueling football - featuring 72 teams divided into 9 groups with a staggering total of over four hundred matches, the inaugural Mumbai Football League 2009-10 Division Six regular season has come to close and the competition now moves into it’s next phase.
Sixteen teams have made it through to the post season and have been divided into four groups. Following a round-robin format of games, the top eight will move into the quarterfinals – a classic knock-out structure - to contest for the title of the MFL Division Six Champions.
With nine teams in each group and only two qualification spots up for grabs, consistency proved to be the key factor for teams emerging victorious amidst the fierce competition.
Group A
The race for the play-off spots went right down to the wire with Madanpura outfit Classic FC piped Indian Tigers FA - of Chelsea fame - to second place in the closing round of games.
Group winners Kanara Catholic Association from Bandra were in cruise control throughout the entire phase – posting convincing victories and raking up twenty two points in the process – the highest across all groups in the division.
Group B
Falcon Brothers took first spot after gradually moving up the table and despite losing 2-0 to group runners up Santa Cruz, went on an impressive winning streak to finish two points clear at the top. Despite some great performances, Gunners FC missed the cut by a single point and finished in third.
All in all, a very high scoring group with the top three teams averaging 25+ goals scored.
Group C
Despite two draws, Juhu Strikers managed to secure top spot on goal difference - an impressive feat considering that initial group leaders Green Fields FC had an explosive start to the campaign – registering a 13-1 score line against Anjuman Islam in their second game.
Both teams finished equal on 17 points at the end of the season.
Group D
This group saw two of the most consistent teams in the league do battle for top spot. Both Our Lady of Health and St. Sebastian Boys finished equal on 21 points from 8 games (7-0-1). The much awaited summit clash between the two finished 2-0 in favour of St. Sebastian and was an absolute classic.
Young Ones FC deserve a worthy mention for their third place finish – which included a 1-0 victory over the Sebastianites.
As the fourth-largest populated city in the world with a staggering 14 million inhabitants, cosmopolitan Mumbai is a melting pot of ideology and culture.
Somewhere among all the chaos, the beautiful game binds people across barriers - race, caste, creed, religion and economic status - celebrating humanity in it's purest forms. Football Mumbai is on a quest to capture the essence of what makes this city's identity so unique.
On behalf of my entire team, welcome to the world of Football Mumbai.
