It seems the golden days of football in the State are returning. After a gap of one year, the State club championship will be held at Palakkad from the end of this month.
After the championship, an inter-district club football championship, Karunakaran Memorial Football Championship, will be held in April.
Another major tournament, G.V. Raja Football tournament will be held from May 1 onwards.
“It is good to see that a lot of tournaments are happening this season after a drought in the previous seasons. Apart from these tournaments, several old tournaments in Kerala are being revived.
This will take the state back to the golden era of football,” said Geevarghese, Thiruvananthapuram District Football Association secretary and Titanium club coach.
The 10th G.V. Raja Football tournament will be held from May 1 onwards in Thiruvananthapuram and will be a major tournament after the completion of E.K. Nayanar Memorial Gold Cup tournament in Kozhikode.
“Sixteen teams will participate in the competition and the tournament will last for 16 days.
The major second division and Kerala clubs will participate in the tournament,” he said.
The association has decided not to invite the I league teams considering the expenses involved and the tournament is designed to give opportunity for the smaller clubs.
“Apart from the national league, not many tournaments are happening in the second division and for the Kerala teams in the state. We want to give more opportunities to such clubs with young talent. Since the department teams from Kerala are not playing it will be a good opportunity for the budding players to display their skills,” he said.
“We want to conduct more tournaments and make sure that more players come up to the national level. Moreover, it is a major promotion for the local teams and will help them get more exposure,” he said.