For football aficionados, video games offer a taste of what it is like to run a club. But Jai Agarwal, 23, has turned that fantasy into reality, acquiring Portuguese fourth-division side Guarda FC in July this year.
Born in London and raised in Mumbai, Agarwal fell in love with football at 11 after watching Arsenal come from 0-2 down to beat Hull City in the 2014 FA Cup final. “Two or three years later, I began dreaming of owning a football club abroad,” the Guarda FC CEO told mid-day.
Agarwal grew up with dyspraxia, a neurodevelopmental condition affecting movement coordination, and dysgraphia, a learning disorder affecting writing. He was bullied at a Juhu school, but refused to let the experience hold him back.
“I felt being differently-abled was an advantage because I have a very creative mind and always looked at things differently. I didn’t let bullying stop me. In fact, it 110 per cent helped me become more mentally resilient, and that has helped me as a club owner too,” he said.
After completing his bachelor’s degree in business management at Brunel University in London, Agarwal enrolled at LaLiga Business School in Madrid for a master’s in global sports marketing.
Explaining why he chose Guarda FC, Agarwal said: “The club felt like family. The team had just been promoted from the fifth division, where they had the best defence and attack. There weren’t many distractions for the players in Guarda either. The financial aspect was also important. Buying a club of this stature in Spain would’ve cost quadruple the amount.”
The transition has brought its challenges, with Guarda FC losing four of their first five league matches and drawing the other one.
“Owning a club isn’t as easy as it looks on paper. I’ve learnt that the hard way. It’s hard to get the players mentally back on track because they lost only one game last season. But the standard is tougher in a higher division, so you’ve got to weather the storm,” he added.
The club made headlines in India recently for signing Colaba-born winger Yohaan Benjamin, a SAFF U-19 Championship winner with India last year. Still awaiting his visa, the 19-year-old has Agarwal’s backing.
“He’s still just 19, and this will be his first season in professional football, so we’re not putting too much pressure on him. We need to give him time to adapt to the club and the league too. But Yohaan definitely has the ability and technical skills to be one of the best players in the team,” Agarwal concluded.
