Kerala Football Association
AbbreviationKFA
Formation1948 (1948)
(as Travancore-Cochin Football Association)[1]
HeadquartersKochi
Region served
Kerala, India
Membership
14 district associations
President
Tom Jose
Secretary
Anil Kumar P.
Parent organization
All India Football Federation (AIFF)

The Kerala Football Association (abbreviated Kerala FA), formerly the Travancore-Cochin Football Association, is one of the 37 Indian state football associations that are affiliated with the All India Football Federation (AIFF).[2] It sends state teams for FIFA Santosh Trophy and Senior Women's National Football Championship.

History

Football has been a passion of thousands of Malayalees for the last several decades—much before the state of Kerala was formed on 1 November 1956. Kerala Football Association was formed in 1948 to directly oversees the development of football in Kerala from grassroots to senior level.

Later the headquarters of KFA was moved to Kollam after P. Laxmanan Pillai was elected president and K. Thankappan honorary secretary. KFA saw a new breed of organizers taking over the reins in the 1970s with former mayor of Cochin A. K. Seshadri becoming its president.

2021 privatization

On 9 October 2021, Kerala Football Association signed a twelve year long deal with Meeran Sports LLP and Scoreline Sports Pvt Ltd. The deal was inspired from masterplan prepared by Rob Baan, former technical director of AIFF. The consortium is responsible for getting investments worth around Rs 350 crore into the football ecosystem over the 12-year period.[3][4] As per the agreement, consortium will form Kerala Super League, initially planned to further develop youth local players in senior transition.[3][4]

Evolution

League/Years 1948 1948–1952 1952–1970 1970–1998 1998–2007 2007–2013 2013–2015 2013–2016 2016–2017 2017–2021 2021–2023 2023–
Tier
League 1 Formation

of Kerala Football Association

 None Kerala Football League None Kerala Premier League Kerala Super League
1 None Kerala Premier League
1 None Kerala Women's League None Kerala Women's League
Tournament None Kerala State Club Football Championship Discontinued
Senior Inter-District Men's Football Championship
None Sait Nagjee Football Tournament Not conducted

R B Ferguson Club

R B Ferguson Club is the oldest football club in Kerala and South India. It was established on 20 February 1899 in Thrissur (Thrissivaperur).[5][6][7][8] The club was named after the Kochi police superintendent, R B Ferguson.

Kerala Premier League

As a step to give more competence and professionalism for the football clubs in Kerala, KFA launched the Kerala Premier League in January 2014. Twelve teams participated in the first season.

References

  1. ↑ Kausik Bandyopadhyay (2006). A Social History of Indian Football: Striving to Score. Routledge. ISBN 9780415348355.
  2. ↑ "All India Football Federation - About AIFF - State Associations". AIFF. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Explained: Kerala FA's 12-year commercial rights deal and the plan to revamp football in the state". Deccan Herald. 11 October 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  4. 1 2 Rayan, Stan. "Meerans-Scoreline bags Kerala Football Association's commercial rights for 12 years". Sportstar. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  5. ↑ "Sports in Thrissur". Thrissur Online. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  6. ↑ S.S. Shreekumar (2020). The Best Way Forward: For India's Football. Bangalore: H.S.R.A. Publications. p. 107. ISBN 978-81-947216-9-7.
  7. ↑ "Ollur's football club turns 115 years today" (subscription required). Mathrubhumi.com. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  8. ↑ Anirudh Menon. "Blast from the Present: Kerala's resurgence into football prominence". SportsKeeda. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
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