With hungry players and a driven coach, Sporting Club Bengaluru scripts a meteoric rise

Sporting Club Bengaluru was established only in April 2022. But in a little over two years, the side has seen a meteoric rise. It won the Bangalore Super Division in 2022, secured promotion from I-League 3 to I-League 2 in 2023 and lifted the I-league 2 title in 2024 to make the grade for I-League, the second tier of Indian football.

“We have done the right thing at every level, from the management to the coaching staff to the players,” said head coach Chinta Chandrashekar, after Sporting’s 1-0 win over FC Bengaluru United in its last game on Saturday. “It was important that we had players who were hungry and had something to prove.

“We did not look for high profile players, but those who were young and raring to go. We scouted players from the Santosh Trophy and also at the local club level in Bengaluru,” added Chinta, who hails from Hubballi and has played in the I-League in the past.

Sporting secured the I-League 2 crown quite comfortably, finishing the season with 33 points, six ahead of second-place Goan club Dempo Sports Club. It won 11 out of the 14 matches and a key part of the successful run was the fact that it scored 28 goals in all, seven more than any other team. Sporting also conceded just 12 goals, the lowest for any team.

It helped that Sporting had in its ranks forward Thomyo L. Shimroy, who joined at the beginning of the 2023-24 season. Thomyo ended up with 11 goals in 14 I-League 2 games, finishing joint top-scorer along with Sahil Harijan of United Sports Club.

“I have been able to score so many goals because of the hard work of the whole team.” Thomyo said. “I am looking forward to the I-league next season. It is my dream to play in the I-league and the ISL (Indian Super League).”