People relate Malabar as the hotbed of football in Kerala. Nevertheless, the players and spectators of yesteryears fondly remember what Thiruvananthapuram meant to Kerala football. The Chandrasekharan Nair stadium had seen jampacked crowds in the last decade before the millennium when teams like Titanium, SBT, etc. played there. Lack of visionaries among the officials, poor marketing, improper maintenance of the facilities in culmination spoiled the popularity of the sport in the capital city. Nevertheless, football remains the most popular sport in the coastal regions of the town of Sri Padmanabhan.
Fan-owned-clubs is a model that is quite popular in Europe and clubs like Borussia Dortmund, FC Barcelona, and Real Madrid are the popular examples. However, despite successful top clubs adopting that model, Indian football never saw such a model till Travancore Royals came into existence. From humble beginnings, the TRFC made their presence felt in the Kerala football circuit by participating in the Kerala Premier League (KPL) as well as the Kerala Women’s League (KWL), the top divisions of men’s and women’s football in the state.
“Our main focus is on women’s football and youth leagues of the men’s category. Our academy players are still young and hence, if we are to play KPL, then we need to hire players from other academies and other states. We did that previously, however, we later realized that that’s not the way forward,” said Sreekanth, TRFC official.
The Kerala football community was sent perplexed when Travancore Royals withdrew themselves from KPL as the fans had hopes in them. Upon asking, Sreekanth revealed, “We spent a huge amount to participate in the KPL and KWL. As a fan-owned club, we don’t have deep pockets. We need sponsorships to participate. Also, our management realized that spending the same amount in our academies will bear more fruits. Hence, we took a step back temporarily. We will make a comeback when the time is suitable.”
Despite having four teams from Thiruvananthapuram, KPL matches are always conducted in central and northern Kerala, which increased the expenditure of the Thiruvananthapuram-based clubs. “Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium’s (CSN) availability was an issue. However, we met the Kerala police officials and took the necessary permissions. If at least the matches between the teams of Thiruvananthapuram are played in CSN, then we can cut down the expenditure by 20-30%.”
“We need more matches in the Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam regions. As the Super League Kerala matches will happen in CSN, we hope that KPL matches also happen at the same venue. We are so glad that the renovation of CSN is happening as a part of Super League Kerala.“
TRFC are the current U-13 and U-15 champions. Almost 200 players currently train in their academies.
When asked about the plan for the next season, Sreekanth gave an interesting answer. “When we played the state league matches, we realized that the academies with residential programs like Parappur FC, Kerala Blasters, Muthoot FA, etc. fare better. That is because the coaches can maintain the nutrition, and fitness and improve team bonding in residential academies. Also, the discipline of teenage players can be maintained by residential academies. Hence, we plan to materialize our residential academy as soon as possible”, Sreekanth said.
“Our academy has done well in the past. Our youth development program runs throughout the year and we even get calls from North East region to enroll their kids. However, we need sponsorships to take it to the next level. If we get a good sponsorship, we will consider playing in the Kerala Women’s League,” Sreekanth sounded hopeful.
