Empty seats scream louder on Kerala Blasters' home opener in ISL

Around 6.40 pm on Sunday, a section of the crowd inside the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium (JNI) at Kaloor in Kochi started howling. Their displeasure was directed at players of Mumbai City who loped down a makeshift tunnel under the 'Sachin Tendulkar Pavilion' for warm-up, ahead of a 7.30 pm kick-off to their Indian Super League (ISL) match against Kerala Blasters.

The hostility from the home fans was a custom that away teams arriving to play the Blasters over the years were familiar with. It was their way of letting the visitors know that this wasn't their home ground.

It often worked in the past, but today the visiting players hardly sensed the dissent; the noise that rose from a few pockets might have as well dissipated in the huge vacant spaces in the gallery.

As usual, the 'Manjappada' gallery on the east end was full, proudly decorated in yellow, with a number of banners screaming their support. 'Never back down', 'Forever yellow', 'Home of the 12th man', 'Together we fight', 'Our fortress', were some of the messages that were displayed in bold blue letters. Close to kick-off, the 'Manjappada' unveiled an impressive tifo - a jumbo blasting through the ISL uncertainty. 

The Blasters, like the other 13 participating clubs, had to go through a five-month period of uncertainty as the ISL remained in limbo. The Blasters management conceded they even contemplated shutting down the club due to financial problems as sponsorships and central-pool revenue dried up.

If that crisis wasn't enough, the Blasters were evicted from their home ground on the eve of the match, by the stadium owners, Greater Cochin Development Authority, over a rent dispute. The issue was resolved late at night.

The Blasters had started their season with a 0-2 defeat to Mohun Bagan Super Giant in Kolkata on February 14. Meanwhile, by the time the match kicked off, few more fans had arrived, their presence hardly made a difference inside the 35,000-plus-capacity stadium, which was mostly empty. It was hard to believe that this was the first home match of the Blasters this season.