'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
After being away for almost one-and-a-half seasons, the legendary Sukhwinder Singh is back in the Indian top flight. The 64-year-old had been part of every campaign between the first NFL (National Football League) season in 1996-97 to February 2012, with the majority of that period being spent as the head coach (later technical director) of JCT.
Following the disbandment of JCT after their relegation from the I-League in 2011, Sukhwinder was appointed as the technical director of AIFF’s developmental side Pailan Arrows. But he resigned from that post after just six months following the failure to register a win in their first 17 I-League matches of the season.
Trending
However, Sukhwinder’s coaching legacy remains intact for his exploits at JCT over two decades, and he is the last Indian coach to enjoy considerable success with the Indian national team.
As a result, Churchill Brothers appointed the former JCT tactician as their new technical director following the departure of Subhash Bhowmick.
Sukhwinder, who had won the inaugural NFL title with JCT in 1996-97, will be expected to retain the I-League crown at Churchill Brothers and the former India defender is looking forward to the challenge.
“It is a great honour for me to be technical director of this champion club. I know the club management for a long time. They always recruit a very good side and aim for the top so when they showed interest I duly accepted the offer. I have spent a few days with the team and it already looks a good side. I am looking forward to this new challenge and will try to do my very best,” Sukhwinder told Sportskeeda in an exclusive chat.
Sukhwinder enjoyed great success in the early years of his JCT tenure with the club investing heavily on star Indian players and foreigners but gradually he had to work with much younger squads and hence expectations also dropped at the Punjab-based club.
The legendary coach has a new challenge at Churchill Brothers
At Arrows too, there was hardly any pressure to get results and therefore Sukhwinder admitted that the task at Churchill Brothers will be much different.
“At JCT, I worked with some very good teams and produced impressive results. The Arrows was completely different as it was a developmental side. So at Churchill Brothers it will be different again and there will be differences in working conditions and management compared to JCT. But it is an I-League club after all and I have coached in the top flight for a long time so I hope we will work as a team here and achieve the targets,” Sukhwinder added.
One of the targets will be a good showing in the AFC Cup with the club owner Churchill Alemao and CEO Valanka Alemao publicly expressing his desire of seeing the club being successful in the continental stage.
Sukhwinder has achieved some big results against strong Asian teams with both JCT and the Indian national team. In 1996, his JCT side beat Iraq’s Karkh Club to win the IFA Shield and they also defeated another Iraqi outfit Oil Club to clinch the Durand Cup that year.
In 2001, Sukhwinder famously guided India to a 1-0 victory over UAE, who were then placed 64th in the FIFA Rankings, in a World Cup qualifier in Bangalore.
Clearly, the two-time Federation Cup winning coach has the know-how of getting results against strong Asian teams and thus, will be looking to enjoy the same success with Churchill Brothers also.
“It’s too early to comment on Asian competitions as we don’t know our opponents yet. But I do have international experience being a former India coach and I know Asian football very well so I am confident of good results on the Asian stage with Churchill Brothers as well,” he stated.
Besides some of those upset wins, Sukhwinder is also well known for mentoring and developing some of the best talents in the country with many of his students going on to become stars at domestic and international level like Sunil Chhetri, Karanjit Singh, Anwar Ali etc.
Sukhwinder’s longevity is also staggering as he even guided the India U-23 team to SAFF Cup success in 2009 and also reached the knockout stage of the 2010 Asian Games. However despite all those achievements, the legendary coach hasn’t yet been honoured with the highest award for sports coaches in the country, the Dronacharya Award.
“If I could have got the award, I would have got it a long time back. I don’t expect it anymore or have any ambition of winning it,” Sukhwinder said.
Karanjit Singh is one of many India internationals that Sukhwinder has mentoredPhoto Credit: AIFF Media
It has been 17 years since the NFL started but despite it being rebranded as the I-League in 2007, the country’s top most league competition has become a fading product and the man who won the first season believes the inaugural campaign remains the best till date.
“I feel the first national league from all angles was the best as matches were regularly shown on television and the broadcasting was impressive with pre-match and post-match shows. Even the attendances were quite good. After that there have been changes but none of them have been valuable and as a result we see empty stadiums for the majority of matches,” he opined.
Although the return of Sukhwinder Singh in the I-League will be a great sight for many Indian football fans who have grown up watching him being in charge of JCT and India, it’s worth reminding that this maybe the last time we see him in charge of an I-League club because as per new impending rules anyone without an AFC A coaching license (and in some years, AFC Pro License) won’t be allowed to be the technical director.
In some countries like England, a special diploma coaching course was introduced for coaches with ten years or more experience but Sukhwinder can’t see that happening in India.
“Rules are rules so we will have to follow that. It (honorary coaching degrees) is not possible now. If the Federation had taken interest it could have been done much before,” he said.
The biggest talking point in Indian football at present is the pros and cons of the newly-proposed IPL-style football tournament. The former India coach is strongly against the concept.
“For me it doesn’t make any sense to introduce IPL concept in football. Club football already exists in India, so I don’t see the need of another new league. I don’t think both IPL and I-League can work smoothly,” he concluded.
