TATA Football Academy

TATA Football Academy

Tata Steel successfully bid for the Jamshedpur franchise in the upcoming season of the coveted Indian Super League (ISL). The steel giant, which has been a pioneer in the development of sports in India, won the bid with Jamshedpur as the host city and participate in the ISL by the name Jamshedpur Football Club.

The club play their home matches at the iconic JRD Tata Sports Complex also fondly known as ‘The Furnace’.

In the debut season of Jamshedpur FC, the club finished at 5th place on the ISL table, narrowly missing out on the semi-finals. The club also reached the quarter-finals of the Super Cup in April 2018.

Tata’s commitment to sports in India Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata envisaged not only Asia's first fully integrated Steel Plant but also the model township of Jamshedpur. He advised his son, Sir Dorab Tata, to earmark "areas for Football, Hockey and Parks….".

Tata Steel's commitment to sports, in fact, preceded the building of the township. The aforesaid letter was written in 1902 and the site for Jamshedpur selected in 1907. J. R. D. Tata gave fruition to J. N. Tata's vision, inculcating sports as an integral part of Tata Steel's corporate philosophy.

Under JRD Tata’s stewardship Tata Steel introduced world class football to India through the famous Super Soccer series. Some of the top clubs of Europe and South America played against India’s best.

T.F.A., in fact, was established while J.R.D. Tata was the Company's Chairman and became a reality with his active support. A keen and skillful sportsman himself, J.R.D. Tata provided great encouragement to all sports disciplines. The academy has many accolades to its credit and has produced 137 players who have gone on to represent the Indian national team.

Keeping to its commitment to develop sports from the ground-up, Tata also hosts the annual community football cup where over 25,000 locals participate.