Stephen Bywater, West Ham United goalkeeper (former) was disappointed with the facilities offered in the Indian Super League (ISL).

In the second edition of the Indian Super League (ISL), Bywater made several appearances for Kerala Blasters.

Bywater who is currently playing for Burton Albion in the third tier of English football, said that, only a few clubs in the Indian competition had facilities up to the mark.  

"I don't think there's any infrastructure over there. For me, it felt like a team (just) gathered together to play in a tournament. It was a good experience, but in terms of the facilities over there, probably two out of the eight clubs in the tournament were okay, while ours weren't the best," he said in a recent interview.

Even though Bywater was impressed by the turnout, he also did not have very high regards for the competition.

“It was like training on a swamp, if I'm honest. To go from there to St George's Park, I'm very grateful for everything that happens here. There was a disco going on, fireworks going off, and it was a party. We had 70,000 of our own fans at the stadium for home games and it was incredible. There's more than a billion people in India, so whether it's popular because it's football or because it's something to do, you don't know,” he remarked.

Bywater was a key figure of the Blasters outfit, which ended the season at the rock bottom of the table.

By Phani Ch