Tatas and football

TATA FOOTBALL ACADEMY

Set up in 1987, it is India’s most successful academy with 130 cadets having represented India. Cadets in their final year are sent on an exposure trip abroad. The last three batches went to Sheffield United. In the past, they have gone to Germany and Brazil. TFA now has 40 U-18 cadets. Cost of running TFA that was set up in 1987: ~1.7 crore (approximately).

SUPER SOCCER SERIES

Before cable TV brought world football to Indian homes, it was the Tatas who regularly provided a glimpse of the best through Super Soccer. The brainchild of the late Russi Mody, who was chairman and managing director Tata Steel, they got Sao Paulo FC juniors in 1984 and 1989, VfL Bochum in 1985, PSV Eindhoven in 1991 and SKF Lyn of Norway in 1994.

FOOTBALL CLUB

The Tata Sports Club operated out of Mumbai and were runners-up thrice in the Rovers Cup, which was India’s most prestigious tournament in the 1970s along with the IFA Shield and Durand Cup.