In a historic first, the town of Mahilpur, often called as ‘Mecca of Punjab football’ and ‘football nursery of Punjab’, hosted its first-ever I-League, India’s second-tier professional league after ISL, match on Thursday afternoon. With Delhi FC scoring a 3-1 win over Shillong Lajong FC at the newly renovated football stadium in the town, the match came as a new milestone for the football-crazy town in Punjab which has produced football legends like 1962 Asian Games gold medal-winning Indian football team defender and Arjuna awardee Jarnail Singh Dhillon, Arjuna awardee and former international Inder Singh, Arjuna awardee Gurdev Singh Gill, and current Indian football players like Indian team and Odisha FC goalkeeper Amrinder Singh, Manvir Singh and Anwar Ali. On Thursday, Harjinder Singh, secretary of Punjab Football Association and son of Arjuna awardee 81-year-old Inder Singh, too was in attendance to watch the historic match. “My father Inder Singh could not travel from Phagwara to watch the match due to health reasons. But he would ask me about the ground and the match. It’s a historic match for Mahilpur. My father used to play in local matches while coming from Phagwara. He often speaks about the late Jarnail Singh Dhillon and Gurdev Singh Gill. While Gurdev Singh is in Canada nowadays, Jarnail Singh must be cheering from the heavens seeing this historic feat being achieved,” said Harjinder Singh while speaking to The Indian Express after the match. Delhi FC will play all of its 12 home matches at the new stadium following Thursday’s match. Odisha FC and Indian football team goal-keeper Amrinder Singh, who hails from Namolian village near Mahilpur and is currently in Indian football team, too watched the match. Another former Punjab footballer Harnandan Singh Khabra, who was part of National Games-winning Punjab team in 1987, too was in the spectators' stands. His son Harmanjot Khabra, who has captained East Bengal and played for ISL Clubs Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters, played the match representing Delhi FC. “In the 1980s, we all would often travel from our village to Kaharpur near Mahilpur to play in cities like Ludhiana or Chandigarh. While Mahilpur has always seen local leagues happening apart from national players practising here, it never saw a professional league match. To see the match and my son Harmanjot play at Mahilpur is a special feeling for all of us,” said Harnandan Singh. Ranjit Bajaj, owner of Delhi FC, hopes that it’s a new chapter in Punjab football and the state can host international matches as well as clubs in the future. “We are thankful to the Punjab government for supporting us in this endeavour. To see a crowd of more than 8,000 watching an I-League match here in Mahilpur is proof of how much Punjabis love football. We also hope to extend our winning run at this ground. Mahilpur’s place in Indian football is unmatchable and we hope to see more talent emerging from this town for India,” said Bajaj. Harjinder Singh said, "We hope that Punjab will host Indian team as well ISl matches in the coming future." In the past, the town had hosted Mahilpur Football League and Principal Harbhajan Singh Memorial Football Tournament.
