Mumbai Football Association urges team owners and footballers to step up & save Neville D'Souza ground

MFA hosted a gathering at the Neville D’Souza Football Ground on 28 June

The name of Neville D’Souza might not be popular among current Indian football fans, but that doesn’t take away the kind of impact he made for the Indian football team. A player who spent his entire football career promoting the Mumbai (then Bombay) football scene is now seeing a popular football ground named in his honour at risk of being destroyed.

D’Souza holds some rare feats for the Indian football team that many famous Indian footballers have failed to replicate since. In the 1956 Summer Olympics, he had scored a hat-trick to help the Blue Tigers defeat Australia 4-1 in the quarterfinals.

He remains the first Asian footballer to score a hat-trick at a Summer Olympics, showcasing how special his feat remains. D’Souza is also estimated to have made over 300 appearances for Mumbai-based club Caltex SC, in which he scored over 90 goals.

BMC indicates to remodel the Neville D’Souza ground into an exhibition centre

However, the Neville D’Souza Ground in Bandra (Mumbai) is now at risk of being removed – which can impact the development of many aspiring footballers who aim to reach his highs. The Neville D’Souza ground has gained fame for helping host many football matches, especially the Mumbai Football Association (MFA) matches as well as junior football tournaments as well.

The Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) has indicated its plan on remodelling the ground into a new exhibition centre instead. This means that this old, well-maintained football ground is at risk of being completely ripped apart and remodelled into something that will have no positive impact on the development of footballers in Mumbai or Maharashtra at all.

This decision from the BMC has sparked furious reactions from Indian football fans, urging the decision be revoked and so that the ground can continue to be used to hold football matches. Even the MFA has now been forced into action, as it hopes to work hard to ensure that the BMC can let this ground remain a place where they can host their matches across multiple levels and tournaments.

The MFA recently sent a letter to the Mumbai Football fraternity on their plans of protecting the Neville D’Souza Football Ground, as they wrote in the letter.

“The Mumbai Football Association is deeply concerned about the proposed resignation of Neville D’Souza Football Ground, Bandra, into a convention centre by BMC.”

“This ground has been a historic and vital venue for the development of football in Mumbai, nurturing thousands of players over the years. MFA conduction more than 16 leagues with combining Senior and YPL divisions. We request everyone to come forward and join a united movement to appear to the Government and concerned authorities to preserve this football ground for sports and future generations of footballers.”

Soon after this letter, the MFA hosted a gathering at the Neville D’Souza Football Ground on Sunday (28 June, 2026) where they protested the decision taken by the BMC of overhauling this ground. Only time will tell if the protests from fans, players and owners can have an impact on preserving the legacy of Neville D’Souza, who scored 10 goals in 13 appearances for India in his international career.

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