5 Best Football Academies in Mumbai
The most popular sport in the world has taken up Mumbai by a storm and with the upcoming FIFA World Cup things are heating up even more. To help you navigate the world of football coaching we here at The Coach Crew have compiled a list of 5 Best Football Academies in Mumbai so that you can get started with your adventure right!
1 – Football School of India
Football School of India was co-founded by a former Indian Football Team Captain and 2 of his most experienced teammates in 2012. They are without a doubt one of the most prominent sporting academies in India. They operate 21 centers in 9 different cities and have over a 1000 active football athletes training with them at any given moment.
- In addition to the 21 centers they have throughout the country they also have 2 international campuses in Dubai
- Between the 3 founders – Abhishek Yadav, Deepak Mandal & Shanmugan Venkatesh have a combined International Football Experience of 31 years
- They have an excellent team of scouts that scour tournaments around the country looking for top talent to train. They have even sent a player to the Indian Football Team for the U-14 FIFA World Cup
- FSI participates in various football tournaments across the country, like the prestigious I-League. They even host 2 of their very own tournaments – the Goa Super Cup and the FSI Championship.
- Organised a training camp at Herfølge, Denmark for some of their very best players to train with their local team – HB Køge
2 – Premier India Football Academy
Premier India Football Academy was founded by Nirvan Shah, a prominent sports figure in Mumbai’s football community for the last 15 years and Anjali Shah, a distinguished member of the AIFF Executive Committee. Being one of the oldest sporting organizations in the city have been training some of the best players the city has to offer for about 16 years now. Here are a few of their highlights
- PIFA is an All India Football Federation (AIFA) accredited academy
- Their panel includes 4 distinguished international coaches –
- A. Sanchez – UEFA Pro, Catalan Football Academy (Spain)
- G. Judge – UEFA A, Liverpool, UK
- J. Quinn – UEFA A, Liverpool, UK
- Nirvan Shah – UEFA B Licenced Coach
- Established in 2003, the academy strives to develop talent and trains them to compete at the State & National level circuits
- They are the first Indian Football Club to play in a FIFA recognised tournament
- PIFA has conducted 37 camps in the last 12 years and has taken over 900 children to International Football clubs in cities like Barcelona, Madrid, Milan, Rome, Dortmund, Manchester, Liverpool, London and Scotland
- PIFA’s Corporate Social Responsibility arm – the PIFA Foundation aims to develop football players among underprivileged children, teach them important life skills to make them independent and guide & counsel them to stay off the streets
3 – Soccer School of Excellence
Soccer School of Excellence is the brainchild of Arpit Singh Bajaj, who left his cushy Wall Street job in NY, and Atul Gupta who partnered with international coach Hugh Kim Lewis to set up an elite football training academy. They might be the new kids on the block but have had a meteoric rise ever since they set up shop in 2012.
- They have coaching centers at 9 locations across the city – Navy Nagar, Cuffe Parade, Colaba, Churchgate, Worli, Mahalaxmi, Lower Parel, Oshiwara & Powai
- SSE recently crossed the milestone of a 1000 athletes trained
- They have their very own Adidas Creators League team – The Mumbai United FC
- They’ve held training camps at International Football Clubs like Benfica and FCB Escola at Barcelona
- SSE has partnered with an NGOs like Oscar Foundation, Common Goal & Street Football World to get the Spanish Football Legend Juan Mata to Mumbai to train with some of their best athletes
- They’ve participated in tournaments like OIS Football League, Monsoon Football League, Total Football League, Youth Football League and host their very own SSE Championship League
- They specialize in training kids and have batches for pretty much everybody – Under 5, Under 8, Under 10, Under 12, Under 14, Under 16 & Free Age. They also dabble a bit in Corporate Training.
4 – Footie First
Footie First is an operation by Mr. P. P. Surender Kumar who serves as the Technical Director and Mr. Ajeya Row who serves as the Academy Director. They along with their elite squad of head coaches are on a mission to develop and nurture world-class football players with strong characters and a mastery over their football skills.
- They are the current Indian Super League (3rd Division) Champions
- The organisation has 8 centers across Mumbai at locations like Churchgate, Jogeshwari (JVLR), Fort, Versova, Napean Sea Road (PDP), Parel, Worli & Mahalaxmi
- They’ve had successful campaigns for tournaments like the Thunderbolt League, MDFA Youth Premier League & the Kickout Football Championship
- They partnered with Borussia Dortmund to get their legendary German football player Lothar Matthäus to train with their athletes for a day
- They have active training and squads for Toddlers (2.5 to 4 years), Young Children (5 to 12 years), Youth (13 to 18 years) & Adults (18 years & up)
5 – Feugo Tormento
An ambitious startup by the founder and head coach Awais Shaikh, Feugo Tormento is one of the youngest academies on the map. But don’t let their age fool you – they’re one of the fastest growing football organizations out there and have already been accredited by the Western India Football Association (WIFA) .
- They have 4 active centers at – Andheri, Versova, Jogeshwari & Juhu with plans to add 6 more in the coming months
- Feugo Tormento has had a successful campaign for the Peace Cup having won it. Furthermore, they participated in the Premiership Football League in Palava.
- They’ve sent multiple players to I-League and MDFA Elite Division teams and plan to start an I-League Team of their very own
- One of their athletes have won the Subroto Cup
- They have batches for Under 6, Under 10, Under 12 and Under 15
So there you have it – these are our 5 best football academies for our great city of Mumbai. The football coaching these academies provide is truly spectacular. No matter who you end up going for you can’t go wrong with any of these tried and tested academies.
Do you have any contenders for the best football academy in Mumbai? Let us know in the comments below!
If you’d still like more help in your search for a football academy or would like to enroll at one of the other centers of the academies mentioned above, do reach out to us at +91-8291603380 or write to us at info@thecoachcrew.com.
Alternatively, you click the button below to check out The Coach Crew’s complete listing of football academies.
