Goa Pro League: Vasco SC relegated for first time ever

Vasco Sports Club stand relegated from the Goa Professional League after relegation rivals Goa Velha SC won 1-0 against Wilred Leisure SC yesterday, the first relegation of the people's club from the top tier of Goan football since its inception in 1951.

The demise of Vasco SC, which was formed in 1951 by residents from the port town of Vasco da Gama in Goa which included the Portuguese garrison stationed there formed the club called Clube de Desportos Vasco da Gama, has been happening for years with the club struggling since the 1980s with patches of success in-between, especially around the millennium when the club made it to the old National Football League (now I-League).

This season the club officials hoped by roping in a sponsor in the NRB Group and a foreign coach in Serbian Davor Berber, but things went wrong from the start with the team never ever able to settle in with interim coach Richard Sanchez not given time and even under Subrata Bhattacharjee Jr the club wasn't able to regroup and finished with only four points from 13 matches.

Interestingly though relegated from the local Goa Pro League, Vasco SC will play in the preliminary round of the 2nd Division I-League's Group C alongside Dodsal FC (Mumbai), Eagles FC (Kerala), Hindustan FC (Delhi), Kalighat Milan Sangha (Kolkata), Luangmual FC (Mizoram), South United FC (Bangalore) and Southern Samity (Kolkata).

One can only hope for Vasco SC and Goan football that the club regroups next season in the Goan First Division to be back a year later in the Goa Pro League.

Sunil Chhetri scores twice in Churchill Brothers' dream debut

India captain Sunil Chhetri made a dream debut for Churchill Brothers SC by scoring both goals against his former club Dempo SC in a Goa Pro League match at the Raia Panchayat ground.

Sunil Chhetri like Lamine Tamba made his first start for the Red Machines, and he scored his first goal in a Churchill Brothers shirt in the 42nd minute off a Bineesh Balan pass as the striker hit the ball beautifully from just outside the box into the bottom corner of the net.

After the break Bineesh Balan was brought down inside the penalty box and Sunil Chhetri calmly converting the resultant penalty in the 56th minute to give the Red Machines a 2-0 lead. It remained 2-0 until the end for the title race in the Goa Pro League hotting-up even further.

The win takes Churchill Brothers tally to 19 points from 10 matches, while Dempo remain on 21 points also from 10 matches.


MATCH STATS

Dempo SC 0-2 Churchill Brothers SC - Goals: 0-1,0-2 Sunil Chhetri (42',56' pen)

Dempo SC
Laxmikant Kattimani - Valeriano Rebello, Selwyn Fernandes, Rowilson Rodrigues, Nicolau Borges - Joy Ferrao, Godwin Diogo Franco, Aniston Fernandes, Romeo Fernandes - Nickson Castanha (Koko Sakibo), Clifton Gonsalves (Myron Fernandes)

Churchill Brothers SC
Felix D'Souza - Denzil Franco, Dharmaraj Ravanan, Lamine Tamba, Yumnam Raju Mangang - Hasten D'Costa (Biswajit), Richard Costa, Bikramjit Singh, Alesh Sawant (Jaison Vales) - T. Bineesh Balan, Sunil Chhetri

Goa Pro League - Preliminary Round: Complete Fixtures!

The 10 team preliminary round of the 'Kingfisher' Goa Pro League kicked-off on Tuesday, October 2 with nine round of matches to be played until late-November 2012.

This year the Goa Pro League will feature ten teams - Dempo SC, Churchill Brothers SC, Salgaocar FC, Sporting Clube de Goa, Vasco SC, Sesa Football Academy, Goa Velha SC, Margao SC, Wilred Leisure SC and Santa Cruz Club of Cavelossim. As per the format, the Goa Pro League 2012/13 will be played in two phases.

Also with the Pro League being held parallel to the I-League, it means that the four Goan I-League participants will have to give fringe and younger players the chance to show themselves in the local league.


FIXTURES & RESULTS

Round 1
10-Oct-2012: Goa Velha Sports Club - Margao Sports Club
09-Oct-2012: Churchill Brothers SC - Sesa Football Academy
09-Oct-2012: Wilred Leisure SC - Sporting Clube de Goa
09-Oct-2012: Vasco Sports Club - Dempo Sports Club
29-Nov-2012: Salgaocar FC - Santa Cruz Club of Cavelossim

Round 2
01-Nov-2012: Sesa Football Academy - Margao Sports Club
30-Oct-2012: Sporting Clube de Goa - Dempo Sports Club
31-Oct-2012: Goa Velha Sports Club - Santa Cruz Club of Cavelossim
01-Nov-2012: Wilred Leisure SC - Salgaocar FC
31-Oct-2012: Churchill Brothers SC - Vasco Sports Club

Round 3
02-Oct-2012: Vasco Sports Club 0-1 Margao Sports Club
??-Oct-2012: Churchill Brothers SC - Salgaocar FC
02-Oct-2012: Santa Cruz Club of Cavelossim 3-0 Wilred Leisure SC
03-Oct-2012: Dempo Sports Club 1-0 Goa Velha Sports Club
03-Oct-2012: Sporting Clube de Goa 1-2 Sesa Football Academy

Round 4
14-Oct-2012: Margao Sports Club - Wilred Leisure SC
14-Oct-2012: Goa Velha Sports Club - Churchill Brothers SC
15-Oct-2012: Sporting Clube de Goa - Vasco Sports Club
15-Oct-2012: Sesa Football Academy - Salgaocar FC
15-Oct-2012: Dempo Sports Club - Santa Cruz Club of Cavelossim

Round 5
17-Oct-2012: Margao Sports Club - Churchill Brothers SC
19-Oct-2012: Wilred Leisure SC - Vasco Sports Club
18-Oct-2012: Salgaocar FC - Goa Velha Sports Club
18-Oct-2012: Sporting Clube de Goa - Santa Cruz Club of Cavelossim
19-Oct-2012: Sesa Football Academy - Dempo Sports Club

Round 6
22-Oct-2012: Santa Cruz Club of Cavelossim - Margao Sports Club
22-Oct-2012: Dempo Sports Club - Salgaocar FC
24-Oct-2012: Sesa Football Academy - Vasco Sports Club
23-Oct-2012: Sporting Clube de Goa - Churchill Brothers SC
23-Oct-2012: Goa Velha Sports Club - Wilred Leisure SC

Round 7
07-Nov-2012: Margao Sports Club - Salgaocar FC
09-Nov-2012: Vasco Sports Club - Santa Cruz Club of Cavelossim
08-Nov-2012: Churchill Brothers SC - Dempo Sports Club
09-Nov-2012: Wilred Leisure SC - Sesa Football Academy
07-Nov-2012: Goa Velha Sports Club - Sporting Clube de Goa

Round 8
14-Nov-2012: Margao Sports Club - Dempo Sports Club
14-Nov-2012: Santa Cruz Club of Cavelossim - Sesa Football Academy
15-Nov-2012: Salgaocar FC - Sporting Clube de Goa
15-Nov-2012: Vasco Sports Club - Goa Velha Sports Club
13-Nov-2012: Churchill Brothers SC - Wilred Leisure SC

Round 9
21-Nov-2012: Margao Sports Club - Sporting Clube de Goa
21-Nov-2012: Sesa Football Academy - Goa Velha Sports Club
20-Nov-2012: Dempo Sports Club - Wilred Leisure SC
21-Nov-2012: Santa Cruz Club of Cavelossim - Churchill Brothers SC
20-Nov-2012: Salgaocar FC - Vasco Sports Club

Goa Pro League promises plenty of action and Good times!

UB Groups 'Kingfisher' announced their continued association of Goa's Professional Football League on Friday, ensuring the Good Times will continue for the world's most popular sport in Goa. Kingfisher also announced their support for the Goa State football team and the promotion of a Beach Football Tournament.

The 'Kingisher' Goa Pro League in the last three years saw some scintillating football action, coupled with exciting initiatives, this is the fourth consecutive year that Kingfisher has come forward to support pro football in Goa.

The 4th edition of the Kingfisher Goa Professional League was announced at a press conference in Panjim on Friday by Samar Singh Sheikhawat, Senior Vice President (Marketing), United Breweries in the presence of Shrinivas Dempo, Goa Football Association president, Dilip Jayaram, Procam International CEO, managers and coaches of the participating clubs as well as some of the leading players who would be seen in action.

Kingfisher will also continue to sponsor the Senior Goa State team that participates in the Santosh Trophy. The Kingfisher Beach Football Challenge too has proved to be a big hit among the teams and it received a tremendous response in the first year, with 16 teams participating in a festive atmosphere. A record turnout is expected once again for these championships in the current season, the dates for which will be announced later.

The Kingfisher Goa Pro League, which kicked-off on Tuesday, October 2; continues to be promoted by Procam International, one of the country's foremost Sports and Leisure Management Company.

Speaking on the occasion, Samar Singh Sheikawat, Senior Vice-President (Marketing), United Breweries said, "Kingfisher Premium is a young, trendy, sporty brand with youth appeal. The brand has always been closely associated with various sporting activities which includes its sponsorship of Force India, Cricket and football. We recognize the passion which the Goans share for Football and Kingfisher and therefore it gives us immense pleasure to provide them with a platform which brings the 2 together."

Commenting on the continued promotion of the Kingfisher Goa Professional League, Dilip Jayaram, CEO, Procam International had this to say, "Procam International, along with Kingfisher are committed in their vision to promote the game of football in Goa on a massive scale. The Kingfisher Goa Pro League has enjoyed tremendous response and support from the sports loving populace of Goa and we hope to make it bigger and better this year."

Shrinivas Dempo, GFA President, assured the gathering that the Association would leave no stone unturned to ensure that the league was a grand success. "The GFA is committed towards promoting the game of football and all efforts will be made to deliver the most professionally organsied league in the country," said the President.

Welcoming the sponsors and partners on board, Mr. Dempo said, "Goan football is making grand progress over the last few years. The Goa Professional League, also known as the Kingfisher Pro League and being the GFA's Flagship event, will once again be the focus of all attention."

The 4th edition of the Kingfisher Goa Pro League will feature ten teams - Dempo SC, Churchill Brothers SC, Salgaocar FC, Sporting Clube de Goa, Vasco SC, Sesa Football Academy, Goa Velha SC, Margao SC, Wilred Leisure SC and Santa Cruz Club of Cavelossim. As per the format, the Goa Pro League 2012/13 will be played in two phases.

The 1st Phase: The ten Teams will play in a round robin league (each team to play the other teams once). There will be nine rounds of five matches each, i.e. a total of 45 matches. The first Phase is scheduled to be concluded by the end of November 2012.

2nd Phase: The top five teams from the first phase will play in the Kingfisher Goa Super League, while the bottom five teams will play in the relegation league. There will be ten matches in each of these leagues i.e. Super League and Relegation league, making it a total of 20 matches. The Super League and the Relegation League will be played in the two-month period between December 2012 and January 2013. The Super League will culminate in the Kingfisher Super Cup, a knock-out based format between the top four teams in the league to decide the eventual winners of the Kingfisher Goa Pro League. All the Super Cup matches will be played under floodlights.

The matches will be played at the following venues: Duler Stadium, Mapusa (North Goa); Poriat Ground, Calangute (North Goa); Tilak Maidan, Vasco da Gama; PJN Stadium (South Goa); and Raia Panchayat Ground (South Goa).

Goa-based Brasil Futebol Academia players join Pro clubs!

The Goa-based Brasil Futebol Academia (BFA) will be seeing seven of their players playing professional football this season. The BFA's aim is to develop local talent through Brazilian ways of coaching.

The following seven players have joined professional clubs this year: Alesh Sawant (on loan to Churchill Brothers SC), Faisal Shaikh, Bitu Singh, Jyotesh Palkar, Rajat Chopdekar (all Vasco Sports Club) and Parshuram, Prakash Khatri (both Goa Velha SC). Last season Rahul Kandulkar, Milind Shinde and Rohan Sagar Kamble had joined Vasco SC last season and have been retained by the club.

All of these former Brasil Futebol Academia players are expected to feature pretty heavily for their new clubs in the Goa Professional League this season.

"Playing all over Goa and learning from professional coaches and players along the way has been amazing," said Alesh Sawant, who is currently on loan to Churchill Brothers. He also thanked the BFA head coach Rodrigo Mendes Silva and other coaches for their support in honing his talent.

"The high standard of coaching and great playing opportunities at BFA was fundamental in enabling me to develop as a player and secure a professional contract," said new Vasco SC player Bitu Singh.

"We're delighted that our players will have the opportunity to play for professional clubs at such a young age. It will mean that they are playing at a higher level than and competing against professional teams. It's providing a chance for players to play at an elite level and progress on to a professional playing career," the Brasil Futebol Academia said in a release.

The 2012/2013 season will see a fresh intake of hungry young players joining the Brasil Futebol Academia for a chance to go pro. This season ten new players will join the 20 existing boys to form the nucleus of the Academy's Under-18 and Under-16 squads.

Goa's Vasco SC sign NRB as sponsors

One of Goa's oldest football teams Vasco Sports Club has a new title sponsor in the local NRB Group and the team would be from now on known as NRB Vasco. This was announced in the Goan clubs Club House.

The initial deal is of one year duration which was announced by the NRB Managing Director Narayan Bandekar, who hope to help the club qualify for the I-League after years in the 2nd Division.

Also attending the press conference where Vasco SC president Nitin Bandekar and vice-president Vinod Parkot with local Vasco MLA and KYC Chairman Carlos Almeida, Vasco SC CEO Ajay Patil, former club president Vinod Parkot, the ex-Goa FA secretary Savio Messias and Nayan Tara Lima Leitao.

The club is still on the lookout for a new head coach with Ritchie as the clubs assistant coach and Richard Sanchez as manager. The club have signed a Brazilian in Bruno Furtado and are on the lookout for three other foreigners.

Goa Pro League to kick-off on September 1

The 2012/13 season of the 10 team Goa Professional League will kick-off on September 1 with a match between Goa Velha SC vs Margao SC at the Poriat ground, Calangute. The Goa Football Assocation has finalised the dates for the first couple of rounds until September 10 as thereafter the I-League clubs will be away for Federation Cup action.

This season the Goa Professional League will be played by 10 teams. I-League sides Dempo SC, Churchill Brothers SC, Salgaocar SC and Sporting Clube de Goa will be seen in action along with Vasco SC, Sesa Football Academy, Goa Velha SC, Margao SC and Santa Cruz Club of Cavelossim plus promoted team Wilred Leisure SC who have replaced relegated Calangute Association.

But the Goa FA is facing problems of where to hosts it Goa Pro League matches with its three main venues - Nehru Stadium, Margao; Duler ground, Mapusa; and Tilak Maidan, Vasco all undergoing or set to undergo renovations. Therefore matches are being planned at Poriat ground at Calangute and Raia ground.


FIXTURES

Round 1
01-Sep-2012: Goa Velha SC - Margao SC
02-Sep-2012: Vasco SC - Dempo SC
04-Sep-2012: Churchill Brothers SC - Sesa Football Academy
05-Sep-2012: Wilred Leisure SC - Sporting Clube de Goa
06-Sep-2012: Salgaocar SC - Santa Cruz Club of Cavelossim

Round 2
08-Sep-2012: Sesa Football Academy - Margao SC
08-Sep-2012: Sporting Clube de Goa - Dempo SC
09-Sep-2012: Goa Velha SC - Santa Cruz Club of Cavelossim
09-Sep-2012: Wilred Leisure SC - Salgaocar SC
10-Sep-2012: Churchill Brothers SC - Vasco SC

Goa Pro League: Delayed kick-off on September 6

The Goa Football Association has been forced to postpone the opening round of the Goa Professional League with the league set to kick-off now on September 6 with the second round of matches. The first round had to be postponed due to heavy rains over the last few days.



This season the Goa Professional League will be played by 10 teams, an expansion by two teams, under a new format to reduce the number of matches for top teams. I-League sides Salgaocar SC, Dempo SC, Churchill Brothers SC and Sporting Clube de Goa will be seen in action along with Vasco SC, Sesa Football Academy, Goa Velha SC plus promoted teams Margao SC, Santa Cruz Club of Cavelossim and Calangute Association.





GPL - Round 2



06-Sep-11: Vasco SC - Margao SC (Tilak Maidan)

07-Sep-11: Churchill Brothers SC - Salgaocar SC (Tilak Maidan)

07-Sep-11: Cavelossim - Calangute Association (Poriat Ground)

08-Sep-11: Dempo SC - Goa Velha SC (Tilak Maidan)

08-Sep-11: Sporting Clube de Goa - Sesa Football Academy (Duler Ground)

Goa Pro League: Expansion and format change

The Goa Professional League is set to be expanded from eight to 10 teams and played under a new format. While the expansion is through the new format is still to be discussed with the clubs and then decided.

The Goa Football Association is proposing to hold the 10 team in a single first-leg format and thereafter the top 5 teams move into a Super League while the bottom 5 will face each other to avoid relegation to the first division.

With this format the GFA hopes to keep spectators interest high in the Goa Pro League as the number of spectators have been going down for years. There are also plans to try and play across the state at smaller venues besides the Nehru Stadium, Duler Ground and Tilak Maidan to be closer to the fans.

The Goa Professional League had been launched in 1998 as a 5 team league, expanded to six teams in 2000 and since 2002 the league has been played as an eight team league with home-and-away fixtures making it 14 matches for each club.

Now with the expansion plans in place, but I-League players only allowed to play 40 matches a season the GFA had to think at a way to keep the league expansion on but also reducing the number of matches of top teams.