Jamshedpur FC Flatlets: The Abode of Red Miners curated for the Players - a Step in the Right Direction

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If you are staying in Jamshedpur, people across the city are waiting for a spectacle. Boys at the street joints of Khao Gali, people across the Subarnarekha strands, elderlies across the parks of Mango - all have a certain buzz going around.

And if you dive deeper, you will find Jamshedpur FC is the reason for that. The club will be hoping for a decent start to their life in the Indian Super League as they prepare for the new season. The club from Jharkhand has already felt the joy of zenith and the despair of nadir in simultaneous seasons. After a shield win in the 2021-22 season, they finished 10th last season.

As the new season beckons, the Red Miners are hoping to turn things around. But despite the on-field results which may have gone wrong, they are doing some off-the-field which is a new direction for Indian football.

Jamshedpur FC's Flatlets

Jamshedpur FC's home ground is the JFC Stadium, and just adjacent to it is their training facility ground named Flatlets, which is much more beyond that.

If you enter the Flatlets, built by TATA, you will see a massive building which encompasses the front left side of the property. There is a training pitch just after the building and there are all the latest amenities a player needs.

Flatlets is the abode of all the JFC players. The team has been staying here since the pre-season and will be staying throughout the course of the season. They have a modern gym, a fantastic swimming pool, and all the staff ready to help the players after each and every training session and throughout the day.

This is something unheard of in Indian football. As I looked through the entire property, the facilities have been immaculately curated to cater the players for all their needs. Masseur, Laundry, Food, Accommodation, Recreation - everything is taken care of by the club, and the players are just required to concentrate on football.

We entered the recreation room for the players where you can see the team photos of all the past seasons. The shield-winning season was a special one for them. We were also told there is a special chef recommended by a nutritionist who cooks the food for the players according to their needs.

The manager approves the Flatlets

As I reached there, the coach Scott Cooper was having an extensive team meeting ahead of their match against East Bengal, and as we spoke, Cooper made it very clear that the concept of Flatlets is something he approves with flying numbers-

"It reduces travel time. You can be more professional and build a cohesive unit with team spirit. It's important to leave the players during their spare time, but it is advantageous. Our players walk one minute to the training ground, they get physio in 20 seconds, and it all about how you make use of it. Understanding the advantage of this is the key," Cooper said to MyKhel.

To be honest, the facilities provide more benefit to the players than anything. It is more of like living in a five-star hotel, which is just for the accommodation of JFC players only. We could see a lot of players smiling and having a laugh after the team meeting.

Sometimes the players do prefer to stay away on their own due to privacy. It is also important to have your space after a long day. But young Indian star Ritwik Das thinks it only makes the life of a football easier.

We are so lucky: Ritwik Das

"This is a super facility for us. It makes our lifestyle so easy. Here we have everything and Gym, Swimming Pool, and Training Pitch - all of these are so close to us. I think we are so lucky to have all these amenities and grateful for this," Ritwik said.

As we talked with the players, one thing is for sure, the cohesion is much more vivid. The manager, the players are galvanized after a decent pre-season and are looking forward to a season much better than the last one.

We had a talk with Elsinho, who is a new signing. The Brazilian only manages to speak in Portuguese and Spanish, but the entire team is helping him out as he takes classes to learn his English. And this is only possible as the players are all together

The result on the pitch depends on the skillset, but the relationship of the players in the team also plays a part in it. Jamshedpur FC has provided the best opportunity for that to their players.

As we were leaving the Flatlets, we could see the JFC team bus, with "Jamke Khelo Jamshedpur" written over it. Due to the non-availability of an airport in Jamshedpur, the Red Miners will come to Kolkata by bus only.

The season has changed, and the team of Jamshedpur has changed as well. It is to be seen whether they can alter the fortunes.

Although the whole team living together throughout a season is not something that we know, it can be a good thing, especially for an Indian club where cultural exchange and knowledge exchange can be beneficial, especially for young Indian players. The Modus Operandi of the Flatlets is a real step in the right direction.

None of the ISL clubs has the kind of facility that Jamshedpur FC has. The onus is now on the players to make amends for last season and kickstart the new campaign in the perfect way.