Sayantan Maitra
I-LEAGUE Media Team

NEW DELHI: “Our passion and pride is for Bengaluru FC. It is our #Debut season, and we all are proud partners of the Champion Team....”

“BFC all the way... Go #BFC! The Pioneers of the new wave in Indian Football!!!!! #BengaluruFC”

“#Airtel #ILeague is #BFC!!!!”

Not just some random one-liners generated following their Airtel I-League victory, but the Bengaluru FC fans and supporters took the Social Media by storm right from the very start.

Never before had something like this happened in Indian Football. The Twitter World was buzzing every moment, and is still, as you read. Never before have the Facebook World been overflowing with updates on Indian Football, and especially one Club in particular – BFC.

Oh, and hashtags too! #Airtel #ILeague, #BengaluruFC, #BFC, #Champions...

Call these the massive love of the supporters or whatever; the fact was that History was just waiting to happen. And it just did!

Bengaluru FC are the Champions of this season, and that has just made the Social Media Storm even more powerful.

The Club was trending on Facebook night-long after their victory and the day after as well. The official handle – Twitter India – also congratulated the Club on achieving the feat.

Sunando Dhar, CEO, Airtel I-League, says, “Social Media is a reality in today’s World. More and more people are expressing their opinions, and it is very important for us to touch the base with our fans through the medium.”

“The platform has played a very important role in the marketing and promotion of Bengaluru FC as a whole. Tickets have been sold out and the Club gets most of the credit for that.”

The support from the fans for the Airtel I-League debutants has been unprecedented in the Social Media platforms, but they were not born out of nowhere.

The Club also worked smart to attract a lot of attention to their various Social Media platforms – indulging the fans to take part in various activities, constantly updating them about the Players, along with lively photo albums, and more.

Kunaal Majgaonkar, Media Manager, Bengaluru FC, and the one who handles the Social Media pages of the Club, says,“Social Media has been the backbone for us. We swore that we would build fans organically and that is exactly what happened.”

“We have a very active Social Media presence. There are close to 40K organic fans on Facebook. We promised ourselves right from the start itself that every fan would be earned, and we think we have done that well.”

The Skipper of the Club and the National Team Striker Sunil Chhetri also handles his own Twitter profile, besides other Players of the team like Robin Singh, Darren Caldeira, John Johnson, and more.

Chhetri says that the medium allows him the opportunity to directly interact with his fans, and he is overwhelmed to find support and praises in huge numbers from the BFC fans after the Club earns a good victory on their match days.

“The Club's presence on social networks has gone a long way in promoting Bengaluru FC,” says the National Team Skipper, also the Captain of his Club.

“It’s brilliant to see the constant activity where fans are discussing and dissecting games, sending us wishes and giving us the belief that things can change if you do them correctly.”

John Johnson, the English BFC Defender, adds: “It’s always fun to be able to read and connect with fans at the Club through Twitter. This Club has always had a personal touch with its fans and social networking has a big role to play in that aspect."

The Club have made the Fan Connect an integral part of their strategy to promote themselves.

Open Training sessions are organised where fans can watch and then meet the Players and even get a chance to interact, regular contests are run on Radio and Social Media where the prizes always involve a personal touch from the Club with Players meeting the winners and likewise.

Just like these, a variety of ways helped in the increase of fans in Social Media and as is the scenario now, the immense response from fans helped in the creation of the BFC West Block A Stand Twitter handle as well, besides the Official Club profile and the Fan Club page.

A BFC Day Out was organised during the season where 750 fans registered for a chance to play on the Club’s Home turf where they were ‘coached’ by the Players themselves.

Not only that, the Official Twitter handle of the Club has an #AskBFC segment where a Player is made available online for a certain amount of time for interaction with fans and asking questions.

The storm built-up slowly and steadily and we all know now exactly how the storm is taking shape. It has reached its climax and the chants of “Oh When The Blues Go Marching On On On...” are definitely not dying now!

Bengaluru FC have arrived. Lifting the coveted Airtel I-League Trophy in their first year itself and making history – this is a feat that is not going to be forgotten for some time.

For the Club – it’s an entry into the History Book.

For the Players and Officials – it’s a moment of joy and gusto.

For the Fans on the street – it’s a night-long celebration.

For the Twitteratti and the Social Media-zens – it’s the time for spreading hashtags like bonfire, making trends worldwide, and vociferously typing – GO GO #BFC!!!