BENGALURU: The stakes at the BDFA Super Division football league, which will see 20 teams in action this season, continued to rise on Tuesday with newcomers Sporting Club Bengaluru roping in flamboyant India striker Robin Singh who returns to the Garden City to ply his trade for the first time after donning the colours of ISL club Bengaluru FC in 2013-15.
The 32-year-old, who turned out for RoundGlass Punjab in the I-league last season, was elated to return to Bengaluru where he first took flight as BFC's No.9. "Anything with Bengaluru is exciting. I love playing in this city. When I met with the promoters of the club, I thought the project was exciting. I want to give back to Indian football and I'll be happy to help talented boys come up and I'm ready to support them on and off the pitch," Robin told TOI.
"That said the first and primary aim is to win titles. And it doesn't matter wherever I'm playing. I want to win titles with SCB and cultivate the winning mentality. We will begin our campaign on Wednesday and we want to start on a positive note," he added.
Singh, who evolved as a winger in Punjab last season, said it was not a tough call to drop down to the Super Division league. "It was not really a tough decision. For me football is football irrespective of the league and state," he pointed out. "And I'm joining an exciting project with the club aiming to move up the ladder to reach the Indian Super League. I had fun at Punjab scoring goals and helping the young boys and I intend to continue that here."
Sporting club CEO Kishore SR was looking forward to an exciting season with his new club. "We registered our club in April and took direct entry into the Super Division. Our aim is to promote local talent and we have 16 local boys in our squad. Our target is to win the league and qualify for the I-league second division on our road to I league and ISL," Kishore said.
Two other teams which have gained entry into the Super Division this year are Roots FC and FC Agniputhra. Rebels FC and Friends United will also face a fresh challenge, having gained promotion from A Division.
