A football force emerges from Kerala

When VC Praveen pitched the idea of a football team to his father-in-law AM Gopalan, the conversation went something like this: allow me to spend ₹5 crore every season but expect zero returns for the first three. Having played football in his youth, Gopalan agreed, said Praveen, president Gokulam Kerala FC (GKFC).

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GKFC finished outside the top five in the I-League in their first three seasons but were an unstoppable force between then and Tuesday. That is when, needing a draw to retain the I-League, 10-man GKFC lost 1-3 to Sreenidi Deccan. It ended a 21-match unbeaten run, a competition record that lasted over 14 months. It was a run that fetched them the 2020-21 I-League and brought them to one point from two games of another. And they can still be the first team to retain the I-League.

Standing between them and history are Mohammedan Sporting, who can win their maiden I-League if they beat GKFC on Saturday. Both teams will be on 40 points but the title will come to Kolkata because of a better head-to-head; the teams drew 1-1 in the first phase.

“Every step has been a dream come true,” said Praveen. “We were a household name in Kerala before the football team. Now, I get good luck messages from Malayalis all over the world.”

And now, GKFC want to play the Indian Super League by winning the 2022-23 I-League. “That is what the road map for Indian football says. We want to play in India’s top league and neither AIFF nor AFC are giving any clarity about next season. I really don’t understand this dilly-dallying. If ISL is the target we will build the team one way. This should have been cleared before the 2021-22 season,” said Praveen. The roadmap for Indian leagues was decided by the Asian Football Confederation along with all Indian stakeholders in 2019.

Founded in January 2017, they wanted to play only the Kerala league but when bids for corporate entries were invited for I-League, GKFC made a pitch. I-League allows direct entries to teams committed to investing in infrastructure and youth. Those teams also get relegation immunity for one season. Bengaluru FC, Minerva Punjab, Sreenidi Deccan are among clubs that have used this route to play in the I-League. In 2017, so did GKFC.

Their fourth season looked going the way of the first three with GKFC gleaning seven points from their first six games in 2020-21. But Italian coach Vincenzo Alberto Annese didn’t lose faith. “Without sounding arrogant, I was confident of my team for the way they played,” he had said after last season.

Annese is still in charge. But 15 Indian players from last season left, four of the five foreign players were new and they still managed to stay unbeaten till Tuesday, winning 12 of their 17 matches. Including seven drafted from the reserve side, the squad of 26 has 13 players from Kerala, 11 from the Malabar region. GKFC’s nickname? The Malabarians.

GKFC are also the reigning Indian Women’s League champions and lead the standings in 2021-22. In November 2021, they became the first team from India in the AFC Women’s Club Championship. “Playing that has helped us in IWL this time,” said coach Anthony Andrews over the phone from Bhubaneswar. “Including two foreigners we had built the team and therefore had players irrespective of whether IWL would be held.” Paused by Covid-19 since 2019-20, IWL has resumed this season.

The women’s team is packed with India players (Aditi Chauhan, Dangmei Grace, Manisha, Dalima Chhibber) along with striker Elshaddai Acheampong, the Ghana vice-captain, and attacking player Win Tun from Myanmar. “If men and women can work in our office why can’t we field a women’s team,” said Praveen. The success of the women’s team has led to a spike in interest in the sport in Kerala, said Andrews. “From having to look for players, we now have footballers coming to us.”

Along with winning the Santosh Trophy and Kerala Blasters playing three ISL finals including 2021-22, GKFC have ensured that Kerala is India’s top football destination now.

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