But if that figure suggests that football in the city is on the rise, think again.

The three clubs in the fray — Durand Cup champions Mahindra United, newly-promoted Mumbai FC and Air-India — continue to struggle for a proper home ground. The All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) approval to the Cooperage as the venue for home I-league matches for yet another season means a series of afternoon games, in unforgiving heat and humidity, in front of a smattering of spectators.

“Playing at 3.30 in the afternoon is like killing yourself. Players can never be at their peak prowess under such conditions,” says homegrown striker Abhishek Yadav, who will be representing Mumbai FC this season.

Yadav believes that a player’s game goes up by at least 30 per cent when playing on a ground which is in good shape and, more importantly, a ground which he can call home.

Mahindra’s coach Derrick Pereira believes it is high time Mumbai got a decent stadium. “We are not asking for something as grand as the Wankhede or even DY Patil for that matter. We need a small facility with floodlights which can at least seat around 10,000 spectators,” he says. Pereira adds that the teams lack any kind of home advantage when playing at Cooperage with regards to crowd and ground conditions.

Even the Cooperage is in a bad shape, thanks to litigation issues and the Western India Football Association’s (WIFA), which is in charge of the ground, slack attitude.

There was a glimmer of hope when the WIFA said it would install floodlights, even if temporary, this season. But with those plans postponed, that hope has been quashed. Yadav, a former Mahindra player himself, talks of how his team was forced to play their AFC matches in Goa, when the Asian federation termed the conditions at the Cooperage unfit for international matches.

The blame game

All India Football Federation official Col. Gautam Kar said that constructing a stadium is not their prerogative. Mumbai District Football Association secretary Souter Vaz blames bad scheduling which led to further deterioration of the ground. “WIFA organised unnecessary tournaments earlier in the year, especially just before the I-league was about to start,” says Vaz.

Some of the matches might be shifted to the swanky DY Patil Staduim this season, but Air-India coach Bimal Ghosh, though, believes there is no need to shift base. “It is a historic venue and I’m sure the stadium will come up in a year or so. Our fan development programme will be finished if they shift,” he says.

Ghosh says that more attention needs to be given to facilities for spectators.

“The sport will develop only if more people are attracted to the ground. The players’ dressing rooms can be of a sub-standard quality. We spend just around an hour there anyway,” he adds.