It was a dramatic end to the domestic football season in India. In the I-League as many as four of the 10 teams in the competition had a mathematical chance of winning the title on the final day. We travelled to Chandigarh to see if Minerva Punjab could hold off the challengers, consign Goan club Churchill Brothers to relegation and script what owner Ranjit Bajaj called a “Bollywood dhamaka story”. Run on a small budget, the Punjab club are the only real from North India in the I-League. With footballing power shift east—thanks to the dominance of Kolkata clubs and the sheer numbers of players coming from the northeast—few gave Minerva a chance. On the last day, as they did on several occasions through the season, Minerva showed the guts, composure and teamwork needed to stay ahead of the competition. This is the story of the climactic final day of the I-League 2017-18 season.
In the I-League as many as four of the 10 teams in the competition had a mathematical chance of winning the title on the final day.