India’s Premier League fans excited for 2022-23 season & expect their favourite clubs to achieve new heights

In the pre-COVID-19 pandemic world, to expect a sporting event, especially in India, without fans was almost an impossible thing to imagine. Even the least popular sports in the country used to have fans there in the stands cheering for the players out there in the middle. And then there was cricket, where the craze was so high that fans literally used to do everything possible to watch their favourite teams and sportspersons live.

But since the COVID thing happened, sporting events in an empty stadium have become the norm, and slowly but steadily, fans have gotten used to it. There was no other way than TV or online platforms for them to see and cheer for their favourite sporting icons and teams. One of the first sporting events to start in 2020, when COVID was at its peak around the world, was football. It started with the Bundesliga, and then slowly the other leagues started as well. Premier League football, which is one of the most popular leagues in the world and enjoys a huge fan following in India as well, also restarted the 2019-20 season, which was halted midway, and for the first time in 30 years, Liverpool returned to the perch and won a top-flight league title.

The Premier League is one of the most popular sporting events in India, and there are numerous fan clubs for various teams competing in the top tier of English football. They regularly organise match screenings and fan events, and some of them are even officially recognised by the club itself. The 2022–23 season of the Premier League kicked off on the first weekend of August, and the fans are really excited to watch their favourite clubs and players in action.

Timesnowsports spoke to a couple of fans of different Premier League clubs about their love for the game and the team, even when they are miles away, and also about their expectations and hopes for the new season.

"Football always tries to find its way. It is somewhere in between. We have a fan club in Delhi (Delhi Kop). We watch some games with them," recalled Kaushal Goyal, who started following Liverpool Football Club after watching Michael Owen’s show during the 1998 World Cup, and now, after all these years, one thing that has remained constant with him is his love for the Merseyside club.

"Fans like to follow the teams that are winning and that’s why in the past few years since Klopp (Jurgen) came, a large number of fans have started watching Liverpool. The kind of players that we are signing and the trophies we are winning have all played a major part," he said in a firm voice, which was enough to understand the love for the club, even from miles away.

"With other leagues, you’re not really sure whether they will be broadcast in India or not. But the regular stream of Premier League matches for ages has played a major role in its popularity in the country. The other thing is that there’s more competition than in any other rival league," he said on being asked why the English top flight football league is so popular in India despite no direct link.

Another Liverpool fan, Pranav Kunkalienkar, said, "I feel grateful for last season. We went for everything we could. The feeling of the quadruple was something special. This season brings with it new faces, new hopes but the same old hunger to win more. Looking forward to see Nunez offer something different and excited to watch young guns like Carvalho, Elliot play. It's been more than a decade supporting Liverpool and surely last 4-5 years have been the best and the most exciting of the lot. Goes without saying, this is easily the best time to be a Liverpool fan."

This season, in the three match days up till now, Spurs have fared well under Antonio Conte and are in the top half of the table. They had an impressive transfer window as well, where they added players like Richarlison and Ivan Perisic to strengthen the squad. They are also in the Champions League this year, and there’s a lot of optimism among the supporters of the club that hopefully something will pan out for them this time around. Spurs have not won silverware for more than a decade now, but Aswin K Dilip, who is a supporter of the North London club, is expecting good things this time around.

"I am excited for this season because we have got Antonio Conte and also have a squad that can challenge for titles. Thinking about winning the Premier League is not looking practically possible because of Manchester City and Liverpool, but we have good chances to win at least something this season with Conte as our manager," said the fan from Kerala, who, apart from Spurs, is a big supporter of Argentina and is planning to cheer for the two-time World Cup winners in this year’s tournament, which will start on November 20 in Qatar.

In the last five seasons, on four occasions, Manchester City have won the title under Pep Guardiola, and this season as well, they are tipped to bag the title. Even though they let go of the likes of Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus, and Raheem Sterling, the arrival of Erling Haaland and Kelvin Phillips certainly gives a reason to be optimistic. Haaland did, in fact, score a hat-trick against Crystal Palace on Saturday at the Etihad Stadium.

Akash Rajgopal, who is from Bengaluru and is part of Manchester City’s official supporters' group from India, said, "The team has improved the standards every season and that has raised our expectations. So this season, I would like the team to go for all the trophies and basically be competitive until the very end. I want to see the side win the Premier League for the third time, which we haven’t done before. We have won it twice before, but not a hat-trick. That achievement will be special, but it will be really tough because we have got new players while some have left, and it might be a new system that they will adapt to and it might take some time, but it is something worth watching."

(Watch English Premier League LIVE AND EXCLUSIVE on STAR SPORTS NETWORK AND DISNEY+ HOTSTAR.)