Guwahati Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam, that competed in the I-League 2,[2] and Assam State Premier League. The team was launched in December 2014 to promote Assamese football.[1] Guwahati FC currently competes in GSA B Division Football League.

Guwahati
Full nameGuwahati Football Club
FoundedDecember 2014; 10 years ago (2014)[1]
Ground
Capacity15,000
10,000
OwnerSanjive Narain
LeagueGSA B Division Football League

History edit

After breaking away from his stake in the Indian Super League franchise, NorthEast United, Sanjive Narain Co-founded Guwahati Football Club in December 2014.[1] The team was formerly launched on 27 May 2015 with Spanish coach, Anxo Valcarcel, signed as the teams' first head coach.[1] Upon launching the team, Narain said that the main goal of the team was not earn promotion to the I-League and thus give Assam a club in India's top football competition.[1][3]

The team is jointly owned by Sanjive Naraine, Jayanta Barua, Bipul Saikia, Casper Investment Private Limited, Dadul Chodhury, Kamal Chandra Das and Pulak Goswami.[3]

The team played their first competition in May 2015 when they participated in the revamped Assam State Premier League. Their first match was against Tezpur United FC, ending 0–0.[4] Guwahati barely qualified for the finals as they ended regular season campaign on fourth place in Lower Assam zone.[5] They were knocked-out in the first-round of the finals by Baarhoongkha on away goals, 3–3.[6]

On 1 October 2015, it was confirmed that Guwahati would participate in the I-League 2nd Division.[7][8]

Guwahati FC started off with their I-league 2nd Div Eastern Conference campaign on 14 November in Barasat Stadium against Mohammedan Sporting. Their group also included Gangtok Himalayan SC, NEROCA FC and Fateh Hyderabad AFC. Guwahati FC finished 4th in group, ahead of Fateh Hyderabad, and failed to Qualify to the next round. Guwahati FC did not participate in the 2016–17 season of I-League 2nd Division, neither in Guwahati Sports Association's League in 2016–2017 season.[9][10]

Partnership edit

In 2015, Guwahati FC tied up with Delhi-based Anglian Management Group and Brazil's Clube Atlético Paranaense to set up the first international football Academy in North-East India based out of Guwahati. The Academy planned to train a hundred elite youth footballers from various age groups each of the next three years as well as run numerous programmes throughout the year aimed at attracting many more youth to the sport. Training would be done under the supervision of CAP's Brazilian coaches who, in addition to making regular visits to Guwahati, would also train Guwahati FC coaches at the CAP-owned facilities in Curitiba, Brazil.

Luiz Greco, the director of Clube Atlético Paranaense said: “From the beginning of our tie-up with Anglian, we have been exposed to the huge potential of opportunities that Indian football has to offer. We appreciate them putting their trust in us to involve us in this project and we have been very impressed with the vision set forth by the management of Guwahati FC from the outset.”[citation needed]

Affiliated clubs edit

The following club was affiliated with Guwahati FC:

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors edit

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor Remarks
2015 Vamos None For Assam State Premier League
2015 Nivia Tata Motors For I-League 2nd Division

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e "Guwahati FC launched today". The NorthEast Today. 27 May 2015. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  2. ^ Change in format for I-League 2nd division Archived 27 August 2015 at the Wayback Machine Sportskeeda.com. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015
  3. ^ a b "New Professional Football Club unveiled in Assam - FC Guwahati - Football News India". Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  4. ^ ৰণদীপ [@TheGhyGuy] (30 May 2015). "#GuwahatiFC played a 0–0 draw against Tezpur in their opening match of the #Assam State Premier League earlier today" (Tweet). Retrieved 1 October 2015 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ "Quarters decided". Telegraph India. 4 July 2015. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  6. ^ "Baarhoongkha in semis". Telegraph India. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  7. ^ "11-team 2nd division I-League to begin on Nov 14". Zee News. 1 October 2015. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Guwahati FC launches team". www.telegraphindia.com. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  9. ^ "India - Guwahati FC - Results, fixtures, squad, statistics, photos, videos and news - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  10. ^ "Mohammedan vs. Guwahati - 14 November 2015 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  11. ^ "Guwahati FC ties-up with Anglian and Atlético Paranaense to develop local footballing talent, the Brazilian way - Anglian Management GroupSoccerway". anglicanmanagementgroup.com. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  12. ^ "Football academy for city". telegraphindia.com. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.

External links edit