Mizoram Football Association began their golden jubilee celebrations in style as Dutch football legend Johan Neeskens unveiled a special logo to commemorate the occasion at Lammual Stadium in Aizawl.
Established in 1973, MFA is celebrating the completion of 50 years this year with festivities scheduled to take place throughout the year. A special ceremony will also take place on May 25 at Vanapa Hall in Aizawl. According to a release, players who have represented the state and national teams and former MFA executives will attend the occasion.
As for Neeskens, who was in Aizawl for a coach education programme, the Dutchman congratulated MFA for reaching the milestone of 50 years. He also wished the state association further success for the next 50 years as he released the celebratory logo.
Neeskens had starred for the Netherlands in the 1974 and 1978 World Cup and helped them reach the final on both the occasions where they lost to West Germany and Argentina, respectively.
Considered to be one of the best midfielders of his generation, Neeskens had a great time training as many as 30 coaches over five days in Mizoram, which has cemented its place as one of the country’s best football nurseries.
While players from Mizoram have been playing across various clubs over decades, the numbers have gone up in recent times and one need to give MFA due credit for this. They have been organizing Mizoram Premier League (MPL) quite successfully since 2012 and it has given the local players the platform to show their skills.
And playing a major role behind its success has been Lalnghinglova Hmar, who is currently the League Committee chairman of AIFF. Not only MPL was his brainchild, but Hmar also left no stone unturned to make it popular by bringing in sponsors as well as broadcasters.
“We are thankful to all our predecessors for where we have reached today. After our first national title came in 2003 (sub-junior boys), things really started looking up when Shylo Malsawmtluanga (Mama) joined East Bengal. Things slowed a bit after that but once MPL started the game developed a lot in the state,” said Hmar on Friday.
As the league began, success followed quite instantly. The state first won Santosh Trophy in the 2013-14 season and then Aizawl FC won their maiden I-League title in 2016-17 season. Even in the group stage of the ongoing Super Cup, Aizawl, playing with 10 local players, were able to hold ISL side East Bengal to a 2-2 draw.
Hopefully with more support and better facilities, the teams and players from the state will reach greater heights in the coming days.
