In the past few weeks, a new name is getting attention from the social media eyes in the Kerala football landscape: Inter Kerala FC. A lot of credit goes to the name which resembles some famous international and I-league football clubs. Founded by Sagar Ali and Hussain, two friends from Kothmanaglam, this club is an ambitious project by the duo to give a platform for the youngsters in the community to shine in professional football.
“I am a professional footballer and also an AFC C licence holder. During my professional career days, I understood what football lacks in India. Subtle changes here and there can bring a lot of changes which will eventually improve the game. That’s how the dream to start a club arose. When the right time came, my friend Hussaini and I started this club“, said Sagar Ali.
The Kothamangalam-based club was formed a few months back with the intention to give the local community an opportunity to play professional football. The expenses are currently met from the pockets of owners and sponsorships, however, the focus is far from financial gains.
“We want to represent Kerala at the highest level and hence we gave our club a name which describes the whole state. I feel city-based names may limit our reach. Also, when we advance to the higher league in the future, the state’s name can attract more fans.“
“We completed all the formalities of the club just three months back. We want organic growth, however, we want to start from a league that gets due recognition. Hence, we applied for corporate entry and we got the same. Corporate entry will give us a head start, however, from now onwards, we will try for organic growth and will rely on promotions for further ascend,” Sagar added.
Inter Kerala FC is the only corporate entry this year in the Kerala Premier League. As it stands, KPL will be a 15-team competition and each team will play each other in a single-leg round-robin format. This guarantees all the teams at least 14 matches which is in accordance with the AIFF regulation for the state leagues.
“I feel AIFF has taken the right decision. Fourteen matches in the league mean all the players will have adequate opportunities to showcase their talents.“
Inter Kerala already has six certified coaches for their academies who have ‘C’ and ‘D’ licences. Currently, they have their own academy and one school-based training program which is in association with Blossom International School.
“We have youth teams as of now. Our current targets are the Kerala Premier League, RFDL(Reliance Foundation Development League), and various youth leagues. As we have immunity from relegation for one year, the focus this year will be to nurture young talents and try to build from that next season. We have already recruited some players from the college teams for the RFDL and have started training.”
As per the league rules, the clubs have to register twenty-two players before August 31st. While the process of recruitment of the senior team coach is going on, Inter Kerala is in contact with players who are not currently contracted.
“We are confident that we can form a competitive team. We will soon finalise the coach for the senior team”, Sagar concluded.
