Humans of Football: Turning Games into a Thriving Community
Sports are something that binds people irrespective of caste, creed, or religion. Many, if not all of us, sprinted out of the house in the sweltering summer heat to play a game of cricket, football, or anything else that catches the fancy of children in their holidays.
Relying on the pocket money from our parents, which depended on our negotiation skills to contribute and collect enough money to purchase a tennis, a plastic, or a football, felt like a herculean task. Looking back on those days, our pockets may have been empty, but our hearts were full of joy, with sweat sticking to our shirts, dust to our skin, and joy coursing through our veins.
As the years passed, the holidays were replaced by weekends. The time spent bonding over your favourite games got delayed into oblivion, replaced by stand-up calls and the quintessential ‘Am I audible, ma’am?’
A few nights ago, I scrolled through my WhatsApp chats only to come across an old college group named ‘Football’ along with the emoji for one sole purpose. No cookie points for guessing what that was. Growing up, I was inseparable from the football field.
But all these years later, meeting consistently, let alone on turf for our ritualistic games, felt like a long-abandoned dream. In the noise of life, removing time for the things we love often becomes difficult. Football was one such thread that felt like a passion from my past life. Finding consistent games, especially as you get older and life gets busier, becomes surprisingly difficult.
A Journey Through Instagram
Humans of Football was conceived in 2020 as an Instagram page after facing similar problems. Founders Dev Rana and Siddhant Dahiya had a simple question: they put on Instagram. ‘Are you looking for games around you?’ To their surprise, the response was overwhelming. What started as a way to get a few games quickly turned into a flourishing community.
Soon, they had active groups across Gurgaon and eventually across Delhi NCR. In 2023, they officially registered as a business and started scaling across India. Their main mission – To make football accessible to all.
Dev Rana completed his Engineering degree and is currently pursuing his MA in Sports Management in the UK. On the other hand, Siddhant Dahiya, who has completed his B.A. and L.L.B. Divided by degrees, united by passion. Their current Head of Operations, Maulik Parmar, worked in sales and accounting at an MNC called MS International for close to three years, while managing operations for the platform in Bangalore before joining full-time.
Humans of Football gradually developed into a safe and welcoming space where football lovers could find their community. You don’t have to possess Messi-esque dribbling qualities, Neymar flicks, or aspire to have lofty skills. People with different skill levels can easily join games that match their abilities. The beautiful game helps craft some of the strongest relationships, and places such as these act as a catalyst to increase camaraderie.
Football and entrepreneurship have many things in common. One has to prepare for uncertainty; moments of failure are inevitable, and yet perseverance is the key to winning in the end. It’s the perfect encapsulation of life and teaches you to eliminate all the noise, put on the blinders, and focus on your goal.
Another important lesson was not to focus on all the negative feedback and try to decipher the source from which it was coming. Humans of Football has been completely bootstrapped from Day 1, and growth in operations and community expansion has come from reinvesting into the business.
Building Football’s Third Space
Brazilian footballing legend Ronaldinho once said that he learnt everything about the world with a ball at his feet. The experience of lived time is not always the same as clock time. One sits through a boring meeting and minutes feel like hours, but our favourite moments seem to pass by in seconds. When asked about what differentiates them, the answer is comically simple. People come as strangers and leave as friends.
What Strava did for runners and LetterBoxd did for film lovers is being attempted by Humans of Football for the football fanatics. Player profiles replete with stats, leaderboard, and the gamification feel like you’re playing FIFA Career mode in real life.
A plethora of clubs and high-performing players use video recording as a way to track their drawbacks and improve upon them. But Maulik found something interesting: people used these clips as memories and keepsakes about that sumptuous volley they scored, or the magical run where they dribbled past defenders with ease. Imagine every goal you score now could be shared with your friends and family.
One of his biggest learnings is that entrepreneurship is a creative job; one day you're making content, another day you’re fine-tuning products, creating solutions, and looking to give your audience a wonderful experience.
Asked about their mantra, they succinctly replied.
‘Build things you care about, stay close to the people you’re building for, and don’t be afraid to keep creating even when the path isn’t obvious.’
Humans of Football also falls into the larger social structure of communities being formed around shared interests. Run clubs, pickleball communities, and hobby groups. The perfect getaway, a somewhat curated third space where you get to wriggle free from the baggage of household or professional responsibilities.