A Dream Month

I’m currently flying over Islamabad, Pakistan on a flight from New York to Delhi. The world has never felt smaller to me and life’s possibilities have never seemed as endless as they do right now. Just 8 weeks ago I was driving through central Delhi with my driver, Samir, bopping away to Bollywood tunes when I looked at my Blackberry and saw that FC Barcelona confirmed a meeting with me for July 5th in Spain. I was happy that I was able to get a meeting with one of the top clubs in the world; however I had no idea that this meeting would be the start of the most extraordinary month of my life.


I knew 2 things back in June:
#1. That I had a meeting with FC Barcelona on July 5th and
#2: That I needed to be in New York by July 26th for meetings around the MLS All-Star Game.

In my heart I knew that this was the best time for me to travel to Europe and the US meeting with football clubs and leagues to discuss various opportunities for them to enter the Indian football landscape. The truth is, I have spent the last 2 years studying football in India and I finally feel educated enough about the topic and am confident that the Indian football industry is mature enough to accommodate international initiatives.

So I pulled out all my intentions, contacts and emailing abilities and wrote to all of the top clubs in Europe. In 3 days, I was able to confirm meetings with the following clubs and league: FC Barcelona, CF Real Madrid, Real Valladolid, Tottenham Hotspur, FC Bayern Munich, Leicester City, LA Galaxy, Chivas USA, Ventura County Fusion, NY Cosmos and Major League Soccer. The combination of God working with me and India being an important, yet mysterious and confusing destination for the global football fraternity helped make this possible.

So on the evening of July 4th I was off to Barcelona with my client and, Mrs. Anupama Jain, from Conscient Football. Instead of recapping the entire trip, I’ll lay out the highlights from my journey. Also, I have to be a bit vague as most of the potential business that came out of the meetings is still pending.


TOP 10 HIGHLIGHTS (in no particular order)

1. The fact that most clubs in Europe had a minimum of 3 people in attendance typically representing Business Development, Foundation and Soccer Schools – shows me how interested top world clubs are in India as an opportunity across many areas of business

2. Having a long, possibility filled conversation with FC Barcelona about their commitment to youth development in India while next to their main Soccer Schools venue besides Camp Nou

3. Getting a tour of CF Real Madrid’s incredible training facility

4. Getting to my meeting with FC Bayern Munich an hour early and having the opportunity to watch the first team train with about 500 supporters on a Tuesday afternoon

5. Making a presentation to FC Bayern Munich staff while the first team was training right outside the window

6. Hopping in a Black Cab in London to get to my meeting with Tottenham Hotspur and finding out that the taxi driver has been a Hotspur season ticket holder for 30 years – lead to a fun and educational 45 minute conversation through London traffic and the best possible preparation for my meeting - best part was when the driver told me he would be happy to accompany me in the meeting as my “local advisor”

7. Taking my parents to a West Bromwich Albion training in Ventura, California and watching my Mom and Dad hanging out with Roy Hodson and the players

8. Experiencing the growth of Major League Soccer firsthand as soccer was all over New York City promoting and celebrating the 2011 MLS All-Star Game; especially being a part of the sold out crowd watching Manchester United put on a show against MLS in Red Bull Arena

9. Watching Landon Donovan and David Beckham play the Columbus Crew with my family in front row seats at The Home Depot Center

10. Walking back into the MLS office 2 years after leaving and presenting the “India Opportunity” to some of the top executives in the League – felt so good to be back in the place that I called home for 7 years and the place that allowed me to make my passion my profession

This is just the beginning. The real miracle will be what will be created in India after this month…



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