Beyond Capitals Panchkula’s Big Stadium Push and Punjab’s Grassroots Sports Revolution
Apr 13, 2026
Indian football has been searching for a moment, a moment that inspires and reignites belief. And that moment came in Spain.
Recently, a group of youngsters from Mohali, Punjab’s Minerva Academy FC, stepped onto the field against Liverpool‘s youth side and turned the game into a statement: a 6-0 thrashing defeat to Liverpool in the round of 16 of the Mediterranean International Cup (MIC) in Spain.
But the real story begins much before this game. Three weeks before the historic day, the team was struggling to even make the trip. Funds were running dry, opportunities were slipping away, and dreams were hanging by a thread.
That’s when one man once again stepped in: Ranjit Bajaj, the coach and the man behind Minerva’s rise, made a desperate appeal. Not to sponsors, not to institutions, but to the people. A crowdfunding campaign followed, and he even mortgaged his own property.
This isn’t the first time the Minerva has done something that has shaken the footballing world. Last year, Minerva Academy FC’s under-14 side won three major European trophies: the Gothia Cup in Sweden, the Dana C…
