Making history in Kerala’s Super League, Calicut FC proudly leads the table and looks determined to conquer new heights. Already a standout in the league’s semifinals and widely expected to clinch another title, the team’s vision stretches far into the future.
With eyes set on the prestigious ISL, Calicut FC is determined to continue its dominance and showcase their talent on a grander stage.
“The next goal is naturally the ISL”
V.K. Mathews, the owner of Calicut FC, said “One of our goals is to participate in the I-League, we are preparing ourselves to get the capability to reach that level. And the next goal is naturally the ISL,”
“Essentially, how do we make football a bit more sensitised and make Calicut FC as the club for Kerala, quite similar to (Kerala) Blasters. And the major difference will be, Calicut FC will have more Kerala in it than Blasters in all aspects.” He added.
If everything goes according to plan, the team hopes to join the I-League by the following season.
The club has Kozhikode’s EMS Corporation Stadium as its home ground
The team’s home field is Kozhikode’s EMS Corporation Stadium, and its first priority is to upgrade its training facilities.
Mathews, the executive chairman of IBS Software, stated “Next year, we will have our own training ground. It will be in Kozhikode but we’ll look at Kochi as well. Getting a practice ground is not that difficult and we need to have a swimming pool and other facilities. And we must have an academy connected to it,”
According to Mathews, SLK clubs won’t break even for a few years. He said “The franchise budget for a SLK club is somewhat the same level as the I-League. I don’t think (SLK) clubs will break even in the first three years. The financial success of this depends on the viewership, the viewership has to go up. For that, we have to sensitise and get more and more people interested in the Super League. One of the ways of doing it is how deeply we are involved with the community, the schools, the academies…when the boys and girls from academies come, then the viewership will go up.”
Calicut’s head coach, Ian Andrew Gillan, believes the SLK, India’s lengthy State league that admits foreign players, may serve as a good example for the other States.
Gillan said “You can probably reduce the number of foreign players but you need foreigners to raise the standard of Indian players and to make the league attractive,”
Gillan believes that India needs additional football facilities after working with teams in Australia, Indonesia, and Nepal.
“With your massive population, if you can embrace that by providing the facilities, give the kids a game and you’ll develop better,” he added.
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