PANAJI
Gokulam FC, seen as an I-League prospect for the forthcoming 2017-18 season, are on tenterhooks on their aspirations to resurrect dreams back home of having a team from Kerala in the top-tier club football competition of the country.
While there is no confirmation just yet, it is understood bids will be open by AIFF on Saturday with a direct entry rumoured to cost no less than Rs 3 crores. The new outfit's bid attempt earlier was ignored as a name change to the club was required to be considered for the I-League as company names were not allowed. At this point of time, the club is unwilling to reveal the name proposed for change to the AIFF for a berth in the I-League, failing which they will continue with the existing name and play in the Second Division.
While maintaining the chances of his club for the I-League are 50-50, Gokulam coach Bino George says that with rumours afloat that the I-League would merge with ISL next year, the latter would not want new teams in the fray. "We are looking at the ISL as we want to give the players from Kerala through Gokulam a lot of opportunities. They have good talent and we have an academy in place at Calicut wherein we have 25 players in the U-19 category on three and five-year contracts. One of these players, 2000-born Roshan Gigi, is a left winger who travelled to Goa (for the AWES Cup) with the senior side," George said.
Only recently Gokulam FC were crowned champions in an all-Kerala invitational tournament at the U-15 and U-17 Boys' level at Guruvayur, Thrissur. The club has an elite group of 22 players in both categories at Chelabra School, Malappuram. At the grassroots level, Mansur, Sunil VP and Sahajurudheen are in-charge of coaching responsibilities at the U-10, U-14 and U-17 levels respectively.
With a sound plan in place with residential schemes in three age categories for boys across six schools in the State, Kerala football can look up soon to its northeastern counterparts who mainly constitute the India U-17 squad. Through these schools, Gokulam intend to select a strong U-15 team to play in the U-15 I-League.
The senior side played its first tournament in mid-March, the all-India level Biju Patnaik Tourney in Rourkela, Orissa where they emerged champions among 12 teams. In the ensuing Kerala Club Championship they lost in the finals to State Bank of Travancore 6-5 via tie-breaker. After which, they took part in the nine-team Kerala Premier League losing in the semi-finals to FC Thrissur 7-6 via tie-breaker. The recent AWES Cup where they lost 5-2 in the final to Dempo SC was once again through penalties.
In the AWES Cup, Nigerian central striker, Adelaja Somide who netted six goals in competition, and Ugochukwu Godswill (also Nigeria) in central defense who conceded an own goal in the final were the two foreigners in their 23-strong squad which largely constituted of Kerala players. With bigger challenges on the anvil, also likely to be a part of their senior side set-up shortly are two other imports in Djidda Aladji (central striker) and Francis Ambane (central midfielder), both from Cameroon.
What resulted in the downfall of clubs in Kerala, George stated it was due to lack of planning and resources. "Viva Kerala was started by two individuals. The club had no proper plan nor had an academy. Marketing was left much to be desired too. Same was the case with FC Kochi. SBT was a departmental team with restrictions which did not allow its talent to prosper further as the players had to stick to their jobs. This became a problem in Kerala football which hindered the growth in its talented players who could not become professionals. CK Vineeth was one such player who left his job to become a professional," the AFC professional license holder stated.
At Gokulam, a big corporate group with a lot of capital, with its evinced interest in football a buck in the trend, is envisioned with a road-map clear and a grassroots system in place.
