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The Kerala Football Association (abbreviated Kerala FA), formerly the Travancore-Cochin Football Association, is one of the 36 Indian state football associations that are affiliated with the All India Football Federation (AIFF).[2] It sends state teams for Santosh Trophy and Senior Women's National Football Championship.
 | |
| Sport | Football |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction |  Kerala |
| Membership | 14 district associations |
| Abbreviation | KFA |
| Founded | 1948 (as Travancore-Cochin Football Association)[1] |
| Affiliation | All India Football Federation (AIFF) |
| Headquarters | Kochi |
| President | Navas Meeran |
| Official website | |
| keralafa | |
History
editFootball 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
editOn 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]
State teams
editAffiliated district associations
editAll 14 districts of Kerala are affiliated with the Kerala Football Association.
| No. | Association | District | President |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alappuzha District Football Association | Alappuzha | |
| 2 | Ernakulam District Football Association | Ernakulam | |
| 3 | Idukki District Football Association | Idukki | |
| 4 | Kannur District Football Association | Kannur | |
| 5 | Kasaragod District Football Association | Kasaragod | |
| 6 | Kollam District Football Association | Kollam | |
| 7 | Kottayam District Football Association | Kottayam | |
| 8 | Kozhikode District Football Association | Kozhikode | |
| 9 | Malappuram District Football Association | Malappuram | |
| 10 | Palakkad District Football Association | Palakkad | |
| 11 | Pathanamthitta District Football Association | Pathanamthitta | |
| 12 | Thiruvananthapuram District Football Association | Thiruvananthapuram | |
| 13 | Thrissur District Football Association | Thrissur | |
| 14 | Wayanad District Football Association | Wayanad |
Competitions
editDistrict level
edit
Men's Senioredit
Men's youthedit
|
Women's Senioredit
|
Club level
editKerala Football League pyramid
edit| Kerala Premier League | |
|---|---|
| Tier | Division |
| I (Level 3 on Indian Men's football Pyramid) |
Kerala Premier League ↑promote (I-League 3) ↓relegate |
| II (Level 4 on Indian Men's football pyramid) |
Kerala Premier League Second Division ↑promote |
Evolution
edit| Years | 1948 | 1948–1952 | 1952–1970 | 1970–1998 | 1998–2007 | 2007–2013 | 2013–2015 | 2013–2016 | 2016–2017 | 2017–2021 | 2021–2023 | 2024– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level | |||||||||||||
| Men's | |||||||||||||
| State leagues | 1 | Formation of Kerala Football Association (KFA) |
None | Kerala Football League | None | Kerala Premier League | Kerala Super League | ||||||
| 1 | None | Kerala Premier League | |||||||||||
| 2 | Kerala Premier League Second Division | ||||||||||||
| Tournament | None | Kerala State Club Football Championship | Discontinued | ||||||||||
| Senior Inter-District Men's Football Championship | |||||||||||||
| None | Sait Nagjee Football Tournament | Not conducted | |||||||||||
| Women's | |||||||||||||
| State leagues | 1 | None | Kerala Women's League | None | Kerala Women's League | ||||||||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Kausik Bandyopadhyay (2006). A Social History of Indian Football: Striving to Score. Routledge. ISBN 9780415348355.
- ^ "All India Football Federation - About AIFF - State Associations". AIFF. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
- ^ a b "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.
- ^ a b Rayan, Stan. "Meerans-Scoreline bags Kerala Football Association's commercial rights for 12 years". Sportstar. Retrieved 11 October 2021.