GOKULAM KERALA FC REVIVES THE STATE'S FOOTBALL LEGACY BY WINNING THE I-LEAGUE

The journey of Gokulam Kerala FC has been a fascinating one. The club was formed only four years ago as an I-League team when everyone associated with Indian football was enamored by the glitz and glamour of the Indian Super League.

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There were several eyebrows raised when Gokulam Group of Companies decided to invest in the I-League because at that time all the connoisseurs of Indian football believed the Indian Super League is the only way forward for Indian football.

But Gokulam Kerala FC, fondly known as Malabarians, dispelled those myths in its four years of existence and even became the first team from India to become the defending champions of men’s and women’s football in the country at the same time.

Envisaged by VC Praveen and under the aegis of business stalwart Gokulam Gopalan, the club from Kozhikode has disrupted the current Indian football ecosystem and has proven that with unmatched passion, there will be a success.

Or else, it would not have been possible for the club to be in the limelight for all four years of its existence. The club has been rewriting and creating history in Indian football all these years.

In its first major triumph, the club brought back the 132-year-old Durand Cup to Kerala after a gap of 24 years. The same year Malabarians became the first club from Kerala to win the Indian Women’s League, and the first I-League club in the country to do so.

The same year the club completed another feat by becoming the first-ever club from Kerala to take part in an AFC level tournament by participating in the Sheikh Kamal International Club Competition held in Chittagong in Bangladesh. The Malabarians reached the semifinals of the tournament and received a lot of applauds for their performance.