SBI Kerala (football team)

State Bank of India Kerala Football Club, also known as SBI Kerala FC (formerly known as SBT Thiruvananthapuram), was a football club based in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. It last competed in the Kerala Premier League, the top tier league of the state.[1][2]

SBI Kerala
Full nameState Bank of India Kerala Football Club
Nickname(s)SBT / SBI Kerala
Founded1986 (1986)
(as State Bank of Travancore Football Club)
GroundUniversity Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Capacity20,000
ManagerV. P. Shaji
LeagueKerala Premier League
2016–17Group stage, 4th

History

During the mid-1980s, already established as a premier bank in the state of Kerala and the considering the popularity and passion towards the game of football at the region, State Bank of Travancore decided to launch a team of its own and register it with Kerala Football Association in November 1986. The debut of the team was in 1987 in the Trivandrum District 'E' Division League, the 5th division league of the region. The team steadily progressed further and went on to reach the 'B' Division to win the trophy in 1992, thus entering the 'A' Division League, the Tier-1 league of the region in 1993–94.

Growth

At that point, the bank stepped in again by recruiting sportsmen under a special sports quota, pioneering a new trend among the government-controlled Public Sector Undertakings. This received a further impetus when N. M. Najeeb, a prominent national player at that time, agreed to coach the team. The club then evolved from a group of amateur players and went on to win various trophies. It also qualified and participated in many national level tournaments like Durand Cup, IFA Shield, Rover's Cup, Scissors Cup, Kalinga Cup and the Federation Cup.

Entry to National Football League

Being the state champions in the 1996, SBT was eligible to play in the newly formed National Football League introduced by the All India Football Federation that year, but the emergence of the first professional football club from the state FC Cochin denied its opportunity. However, SBT was given an entry to the 2nd Division NFL, introduced in 1997–98 as a qualifying round for the top division. The team, though a hot favorite with the likes of National players Jiju Jacob, V. P. Shaji, Feroz Sheriff, A. Sunil Kumar and K. V. Dhanesh, could not qualify as it ended runner-up with a draw against Sesa Sports Club in the final game of the season.

The next season (1998–99) was the highpoint in SBT's history as it emerged the champions in the 2nd Division NFL, being the only institutional team till date to win the same. It also got promoted to the National Football League, but the glory did not last long as the team performed poorly and again got relegated to the second division.

It once again qualified for the National Football League in 2004–05 but after that, there were hardly any notable achievement for the club at the national level.

Last developments

Pursuant to the directions of AIFF, SBT formed a junior team. It entered the 'E' Division of Trivandrum District League in 2007 and in less than a decade, it has reached the super division, winning all the lower division leagues and was clubbed with SBT's senior team, giving SBT the distinction of fielding two teams in the Super Division, a first in the history of Trivandrum League.

The future of the club was in threat after the merger between the State Bank of India with State Bank of Travancore in April 2017.[3] But the new management decided to continue with the football team and the club took part in 2016-17 Kerala Premier League with a new name SBI Kerala.[4]

Honours

See also

References
  1. "First Soccer City in Kochi | Kochi Cochin News". Cochinsquare.com. 25 June 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  2. List of Champions of the Kerala State Club Football Championship Indianfootball.de. Retrieved 17 August 2021
  3. Thomas, Nevin. "Kerala's SBT football club faces extinction woes". sportsstarlive.com. SportsStar. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  4. Tennyson, Rayson. "Future tense for state club champs, SBI Kerala". The Times of India. TNN. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  5. Arunava Choudhary. "National Football League Second Division". indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  6. M G Radhakrishnan (6 May 2002). "First Indian professional football club FC Kochin faces closure as players migrate". India Today. Archived from the original on 6 September 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  7. India - List of Kerala League Champions RSSSF. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  8. "SBT FC Continuing Golden Run". The New Indian Express. Kozhikode. 4 September 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  9. Rayson, Tennyson (12 April 2017). "Future tense for state club champs, SBI Kerala". m.timesofindia.com. Kochi: The Times of India. Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  10. "J&K Bank emerge champs in GV Raja tournament". The New Indian Express. 16 February 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
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