Integrity Score 350
No Records Found
No Records Found
No Records Found
The story of Ranjit Bajaj's fight back is not only to lift his Minerva Football Academy, but the Indian football to new heights.
They call their players Warriors. They keep the spirit of a soldier and continue to fight back, saying, "yeh Dil mange more".
When Delhi FC won the 2nd Division iLeague title, and qualified to iLeague, it is not just a story of a football triumph. This is history, and will be told for ages coming. Minerva football academy has been producing players of quality ever since their inception in 2013.
They have always fought, fought their way into the iLeague just in the first season of participating in the 2nd division. After one season, they became champions of India, surprising everyone by winning iLeague 2017-18.
Not only that, Minerva are the only Indian club to win all age group national titles in the same year, in the 2017–18 season winning U13, U15, U18 and senior I-League. By winning the Futsal league in consecutive years, they proved their quality again.
In 2020, after selling the shares to Punjab FC, he said in an interview;
“The point is that, I will be starting from the scratch and I really think that we should be in the I-League within the next three years!”
And he has done exactly that!!!
When ISL was founded, and iLeague clubs were mistreated, Minerva founder Ranjit Bajaj was leading the fight back, along with 5 other top clubs like Dempo Goa, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. They quit the iLeague and he said he will be focusing on grassroot development. He has been producing high standard young players, which gave the academy nickname "the factory", who play in different age groups of Indian and ISL teams. He made sure, with his fight, to bring change even in the governing body, management and plans of Indian football.
His return to iLeague is now with his newly formed club Delhi FC. Along with highly experienced coaches Surinder Singh and Anwar Ali, he has done it in style this time. Now, Minerva fans are waiting to see them in the ISL. Wait is on!!!