Fans do make football a ‘beautiful’ game

‘SM Giveaway’, an initiative which was started on May 4, sees jerseys, footballs and boots being donated to promising underprivileged youngsters. Various members from the football fraternity have contributed to the campaign, including the likes of former Indian international Raman Vijayan, Chennaiyin FC head coach John Gregory and owner of Sethu FC Seeni Mohaideen.

While Vijayan donated five bags of gear during a friendly match between Supermachans and the Raman Vijayan Soccer School, staying in the United Kingdom didn’t stop Gregory from presenting a box full of CFC goods to one of the core members of the group. “I sent it from England. I just saw what they were doing. I sent across a couple of jerseys and boots. When somebody puts it on, they get something out of it. If I had been here (during that time), I would have wished to give more,” said Gregory in an exclusive chat with DTNext.

The fans, who usually fill the stands in large numbers at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here, assembled at the St Paul’s School to hand over the gears on the fourth founding anniversary of the two-time ISL champions. The Tamil Nadu women’s team and the State’s Cerebral Palsy (CP) team, who finished winner and runner-up in their respective national tournaments, also participated in the event. It may be recalled that a few members of the latter who were part of the national team had to miss the CP Games 2015 held in England because of lack of sponsorship.

CFC youth teams’ coach Aldroy, TN women’s team event Muruhuvendan, Secretary of CPSA of TN Siddheswaran, Chennai FC coach Robin Raja and sports commentator Muthu Pradeep were also present at the event. “The school in which we held the event helped us identify the best players among the underprivileged kids. They had been doing a lot of service even before we joined hands with them,” said a member of the Supermachans fan club. An act like this strengthens the popular adage about Football being a beautiful game, doesn’t it?