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Friday, September 25, 2015

 

A Nepali Football Experience


There are many reasons to visit Nepal. There's that spiritual lark that had hippies heading here by the combi load in the late 1960s, in search of love, peace and ganga man. Then there are the mountains, bloody great big things with snow and stuff that some people seem to think are great fun to climb. Me? I certainly didn't come in search of the inner me and I was knackered climbing the stairs to the Tom and Jerry pub.

But once I heard there would be a couple of games on, ee, proper excited I was. I spent the morning walking the narrow lanes of Thamel, a tourist ghetto along the lines of Khao San Road and Kuta, numbed at the sheer number of trekking guides and prayer flags on sale to the visitor and counting the hours to kick off.

The season had been halted following the devastating earthquake that had hit the country back in April and had only recently started up again. An uncertain political situation outside of the capital meant that when re-compiling a fixture list, officials sought to play the games in and around Kathmandu as much as possible.

I had arranged to meet with Nabin, the chairman of the local Arsenal Supporters Club in the garden of my hotel and of course I arrived late. We jumped on the back of his motorbike and headed off into the godawful traffic. Horns and klaxons provide a symphony that I ever associate with South Asia and Kathmandu was no exception. Everyone with something to press or tinkle was pressing and tinkling for all their worth in an effort to gain the slightest advantage on the road. Did it work? Did pressing the horn as long and as often as possible bring any advantage? Did it bollocks but  I guess it made people feel good.

We finally left the main road behind and touched the outskirts of Patan, a one time independent city state popular with tourists but for now at least just one more suburb of a nation's capital to be whized past on the road to the football.

We arrived at the All Nepal Football Association Complex, parked up and entered the ground. In fact it is not really meant to be a ground, more a training facility for the national teams but for now it is being used to host games in the National League. There was a small covered terrace behind one goal, just beneath the flightpath to the international airport while a small stand on one side held fans, media and other dignitaries as well as the players dressing rooms underneath.

Nabin tried to sweet talk us into the media area but the steward was having none of it. Maybe it was my shorts, maybe it was the fact I wasn't a journo or maybe his wife had left him, he had tooth ache and someone had let the air out of his tyres on his motorbike but he was not going to let us pass and that was the end of it. Sir, if ever you move to Singapore you could steward SLeague games there, no worries!

We finally took our seats in the VIP bit with no hassle and I sat on a plastic chair, the sort that usually gets thrown by drunken English football fans in European city centres, close to ANFA officials and the new national team coach Patrick Aussems looking resplendent on his sofa!

On the pitch Far Western were kind of hosting Manang Marshyangdi Club; I say hosting, there aren't that many stadiums in Nepal so the ANFA Complex is being used by a  few clubs and indeed after this particular game Nepal Police were due to play someone else on the same pitch.

There were a few hundred fans in the ground with most of them either in the stand or behind the goal in the covered terrace. The stadium, too grand a word really, is still being constructed and opposite the main stand there is an apartment block used by young players in the national age group sides while behind the other goal is the ANFA office. For the lads in the apartment block it must have been like having their own personal executive box though I fancy there was no a la carte menu for them. The area behind the main stand resembles a construction sight and as the game was in progress work was still going on with labourers moving soil about. The dressing rooms were spartan, none of the luxury you find at clubs like Arsenal. In fact they didn't seem to have any facilities at all and after the game the players were soon heading for home, many still in their playing kit!

At half time former Persija defender Rohit Chand came over for a chat. He's still waiting for his money! I have been following his career for a while now since someone pointed him out to me a few years back. Graham Robers, former coach of the Nepal national team, raved about him and was forever linking him with clubs in Europe while overlooking the small matter of work permits. Anyway, with the Indonesia Super League inactive Rohit was back in his native Nepal and preparing for the South Asian Football Federation Championships at the end of the year. Don't you want to play in the National League, I asked him. He smiled.

There were a few Africans playing for MMC and Far Western and Nabin said they would probably be earning about $500 a month. I often wonder how a player ends up in places like Nepal..I am sure they would have interesting stories to tell of their footballing careers but time was always going to be against me on this trip.

The game itself was ok. MMC won 6-0 and it could have been, should have been a lot more. It was almost like they felt sorry for their young opponents in the second half, resorting to long distance pot shots that troubled the ball boys more than the keeper. After the game the Far Western coach had a bit of a moan about the number of games his team had played recently and all the travel they had been doing. And no, his name was not Arsene Wenger!

At the end of the game the stadium slowly emptied. I had noticed a group of security officials on the terrace behind the goal. I hadn't noticed some of them were armed. I'm from England, I'm not used to seeing armed people walking round the streets or even the stadiums. Not all were armed, some but enough. I asked Nabin what kind of trouble they experienced at Nepali football but he seemed surprised at the question. I saw once more that steward whose devotion to duty had seen me blocked from entering the media area. As I walked behind the worthies from the ANFA I didn't turn to him and gloat. He was doing his job after all and anyway toothache ain't no fun for anyone. Now, had it been one of the officious little buggers at an SLeague game, then I may have enjoyed a smile at them...

I didn't stick around for the second game which I must admit is most unlike me but with this a football day I had promised myself an ale or two near the hotel. Venturing out on to the main road, Rohit negotiated a taxi for me and I headed back to Thamel for a beer or six at Tom and Jerry, sat cramped in a tiny Suzuki with the windows open allowing to to inhale that poisonous Katmandhu air.

After a few beers one night several moons ago I floated the idea of following a season in the National League. It would be great to spend a bit of time in Nepal and as we all know football takes you to places you wouldn't normally get to.  Will it happen? Who knows but tomorrow I'm off to climb a mountain and buy some smelly candles and a tshirt with a big eye on it and stuff.

If you are interested in knowing more about football in Nepal then check out www.goalnepal.com

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