People of Jamshedpur are spread across the world and we had Shubhajit Chakraborty (of Bonnie Jamshedpur FC Fan club) who came all the way from Scotland to visit our home stadium. Here’s the story of how him and his friends came up with the fan club:

1. On the members in the fan club…
   It’s me and two other members who started this fan club. The other two members are Andrew Shaw and Stephen Greer (both from Scotland). We are really attached to football and we always talk about football in general, sometimes about Indian football too. Andrew and Stephen are well aware about the Indian Super League.
2. On his Jamshedpuri roots
   I spent my childhood in Jamshedpur and I used to study in Gulmohar High School. I love sports in general. Back in school, I used to play a lot of sports – cricket, football, badminton, basketball – to name a few. I am most attached to football though. I completed my education in India and then in 2013, I got a chance to go to Scotland for work.
   
   
3. On the European football culture…
   Back in Glasgow, Scotland, we have the world’s most crazy football derby called the Old Firm (Celtic vs Rangers). People are mad about football there. I have also had the chance to visit few of the major stadiums in Europe. One of my best experiences was the Barcelona vs PSG match last season where the Catalan side beat the Parisians 6-1. It was amazing to watch that match live along with a lac odd loud fans at the Camp Nou.
4. On how the fan club came to be formed…
   It was a matter of pride for Jamshedpur’s public to have their own team in the ISL. The three of us made a Twitter account back in June, just a few days after it was announced that the Tatas had won the bid. We named the account as ‘Bonnie Jamshedpur FC’. Bonnie back in Scotland means pretty. Irony is the name of the club wasn’t announced back in June. You can say we predicted the name ‘Jamshedpur FC’ correctly.
5. On how they got in touch with the club…
   Jamshedpur FC is quite active on social media. Before I flew to India, Andrew sent a Twitter DM from the fan club account to the club asking if I could watch the team train or visit the stadium. We just took our chance there. We weren’t really expecting a response but the club asked for my itinerary for my India visit which was shared with one of the club officials, and now here I am giving this interview after visiting the stadium. It was a very nice gesture from the club. I missed out on watching the team train as I had gone to watch the FIFA U17 World Cup match (India vs USA) in Delhi.
6. On plans to try and mobilise the people back in Scotland and other countries in the island…
   We are trying to figure out a way to watch the Indian Super League matches. It will most likely have to be streamed online. There are a lot of people from Jamshedpur living in those areas so we are trying to reach out to them too. We even wished to watch the matches here but sadly we have work commitments which might not allow us to do that.

You can follow the Bonnie Jamshedpur FC Fan Club on www.twitter.com/bonniejamfc.