SPORTS
Getting To Know Shillong Lajong FC
Football is to the people of Northeast what
cricket is to the rest of India. This itself
says so much about the region which has
given us so many great footballers in the
past, and continues to produce many more
on a regular basis.
The biggest club in the region,
Lajong SC, is now finally pushing for
representation of the region nationally,
through a spot in the National 2nd division.
Goal.com spoke to the General Secretary
of the famous Shillong club, Mr. Larsing Ming Sawyan, who
was kind enough to discuss all things ‘Lajong’ with us.
1) So how did Lajong SC come into existence?
Well, the club was formed 25 years ago, after a group of
friends got together and decided to do something for football
in the North-east. Lajong, which means “Our own”, was
created with the initial vision to become the biggest club
in the north-eastern region of India. We have applied for a
change in name, which will rechristen us “Shillong Lajong
Football Club”, and push us on to the national front.
2) You tell us that Lajong is the only privately funded
club in the North-east. Where does the club get its main
funding from?
The club’s founding and current President, Mr. P.D.Sawyan,
who is also an entrepreneur, has been funding the club ever
since its birth in 1983 through his business group, Center
Point Group Enterprise. However, this year we have reached
an agreement with the largest mobile service provider in the
Northeast, Aircel, who will also be sponsoring us from now
on.
3) How about your own association with the club?
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As my father has been the President of the club
ever since it was formed, I’ve grown up watching
football and Lajong in general, and even played
for the senior Lajong side at the age of 15. After
finishing college I came back and represented
the team again, also finishing top scorer in one
season! Anyhow, I decided that the best way
I could help this club and the north-east is by
developing the club further, rather than playing.
That’s what we are all striving for right now, and
that’s my job as the General Secretary of this
club.
4) Could you tell us about some of the achievements of
Lajong?
Well, over the last five years, we’ve won just about every
tournament there is to play in the north-east, and are
undefeated in the north-east for the past two years. Also, our
youth teams are coming along in a big way, with our U-15
and U-16 teams being crowned champions in the state in
the last two years. They did so by beating teams like Sports
Authority of India on the way, which is commendable.
Eight of our players are currently in the junior national
team, which is a great sign for our future. Also, 14 of our
players represented Meghalaya in the National Games, and
went on to win the bronze medal. In fact, some of the others
in the squad were former Lajong boys as well, and are now
plying their trade in the I-League. Like I said, we are the
only private-owned club in the north-east, which also means
that we run our club in the most professional manner, unlike
others in the region.
5) You were just mentioning how good your younger
players are. What exactly is the club doing for youth
development?
We at Lajong give a lot of importance to developing young
players, to ensure a continuous stream of talented players
each year. The north-east is a huge oasis of talent as far
as football is concerned, and we are doing our utmost to
make full use of that. We organized a talent hunt in the state
recently, and also have a scouting network in place in other
states, through which we can identify young talent elsewhere
as well. We short-listed the number of players down to 50
from the hunt, and 25 of those young boys will get a one-year
scholarship, which will include their education and housing
as well. After one year, the scholarships can be extended as
long as we want to keep that player with us at the club.
6) What about the coaching and infrastructure available
to the players at your club?
Our Head Coach of the senior side, Herring Shangpliang, is
actually an AFC A License holder, and our assistant coach
is a C License holder, so they’re exceptional guides to any
youngster. In addition to the ones
mentioned, many of our former players
also help out with the coaching at the
club, especially at the junior level,
where they share their experience with
the young ones.
As far as infrastructure is
concerned, we play our matches at the
Shillong Sports Association Ground at
the moment, where we have an average
attendance of about 6000 for almost
every game, which is even more than the
attendance in some of the bigger cities.
However, we are planning to build our
own stadium once the finances are in
place, and we consolidate our position
at the national level. We’re targeting to start the process
within the next 18 months.
7) What is the perception you want people to have of
your club?
Football is to the people in the north-east what cricket is to
the rest of India, if you know what I mean, so the kids here
will always play the sport. We want our team to comprise
almost entirely of players from the north-eastern region, as
we feel it’s where the best Indian talent comes from. Four
of our national captains have been from the region, and if
you look around the I-League teams, you’ll find at least 3-4
north-east players in each squad, which itself says a lot. In
fact, we lost 3 players to I-League teams last year itself. So
there is a continuous supply of fresh talent here. We want to
represent our region in the National League, and make the
league more diverse than it currently is.
8) Despite the host of quality players that have emerged
from the north east, how is it that no north-eastern club
SPORTS
plays at the national level?
Well, I think that there are reasons which go beyond football
in this case. The region, in general, is quite distant from the
rest of India socially, culturally, and economically. Having
said that, one has to admit that money plays a big role in
sport. If enough funds aren’t made available, the club cannot
really take itself to the next level. However, we are now in
much better shape than before, and there is a lot of funding
as compared to earlier. The north east is critical to Indian
football, and this is where we can play a big role.
9) Could you tell us more about your future plans,
namely that of getting into the second division of the
national league?
We’ve been there and thereabouts for a few years now, and
we were quite close to qualifying for the second division last
time around. We beat teams like Indian Bank in the qualifying
matches, drew with Viva Kerala, but lost narrowly 1-0 to
Salgaocar and Army XI, which cost us dearly. We have also
fulfilled the AIFF’s 16-point criteria
to be eligible to play in the national
league, and I feel we are much better
prepared this time around, to finally
make that plunge.
10) Which clubs, Indian or non-
Indian, do you admire and would
like to Lajong to learn from?
In terms of marketing and creating
awareness, I think Real Madrid and
Manchester United are the clubs each
club in the world could learn from. They
have marketed their clubs extremely
well, and the results are there for all to
see. In India, I really admire Dempo,
for what they’ve achieved in the last
few years. They’ve erased the general idea that only Kolkata
could produce a national champion, and have put Goa back
on the footballing map of India.
11) Finally, give us your vision for Lajong SC, in a line
or two, if you will?
I would just like to say that till now, the amount of talent
tapped in the north-east is just the tip of the iceberg, so to
speak. We at Lajong want to reach the bottom of that iceberg,
and bring more footballers from the region to the fore. As
a consequence of that, we want to take north-eastern, and
Indian, football forward.
We sincerely hope and wish, Mr. Sawyan, that Lajong’s
time will come soon. It’s only right, that the region which
produces so much talent, and which is so passionate about
the sport, is represented in the I-League. ‘I’ stands for the
whole of India after all.
Thank you so much. We need all the support that we can get.
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