4th Dr. T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament: Manipur champions!

Manipur beat rivals and defending champions Mizoram 4-3 on penalties at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong tonight to lift the trophy of the fourth edition of the Dr. T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament, which was played from March 18 to 27.


RESULTS

Group A
18-Mar-2013: Meghalaya 3-0 Arunachal Pradesh
18-Mar-2013: Assam 2-0 Nagaland
20-Mar-2013: Assam 0-2 Arunachal Pradesh
20-Mar-2013: Meghalaya 4-0 Nagaland
22-Mar-2013: Nagaland 1-2 Arunachal Pradesh
22-Mar-2013: Meghalaya 3-0 Assam

Group B
19-Mar-2013: Mizoram 4-3 Sikkim
19-Mar-2013: Manipur 1-1 Tripura
21-Mar-2013: Manipur 3-1 Sikkim
21-Mar-2013: Mizoram 3-0 Tripura
23-Mar-2013: Sikkim 2-2 Tripura
23-Mar-2013: Mizoram 0-0 Manipur

Semifinals
25-Mar-2013: Mizoram 1-0 Arunachal Pradesh
25-Mar-2013: Meghalaya 0-1 Manipur

3rd Place Playoff
26-Mar-2013: Meghalaya 6-2 Arunachal Pradesh

Final
27-Mar-2013: Mizoram 1-1,3-4 Manipur [penalties]

VIDEO: Dr T Ao Football Tournament TV Promo

Here the television promo of the Dr T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament which is currently being held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong with all the Northeastern states taking part.

VIDEO: Kohima Komets - The Story so far

Next month Nagaland Premier League club Kohima Komets celebrate their first anniversary. It has been an interesting journey for the club since their inception and the creation of the NPL has helped it to come into existence and push for greater heights.

Meghalaya set to host Dr. T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament

The Union Minister of DoNER and Chairman of the North East Council, Pawan Singh Ghatowar has announced that the 4th Dr. T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament will be held in the state of Meghalaya. Tentatively the tournament has been scheduled from November 15 to 23 in Shillong.

According to DIPR NEC official release, it states that in order to promote healthy spirit of competition and camaraderie amongst the youth and players of the North East states, the North East Council (NEC) instituted the NEC Dr. T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament to be hosted by the Northeastern states in turn annually.

Nagaland, the home state of former India captain Dr. Talimeren Ao, hosted the inaugural Dr. T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament while Manipur and Mizoram hosted the second and third editions respectively.

Cash award for the tournament has been announced as following:

- Winner Rs. 700,000 (7 lakhs)
- Runners-Up Rs. 400,00 (4 lakhs)
- Third Place Rs. 200,000 (2 lakhs)
- 4th Place Rs. 100,000 (1 lakh)

- Fair Play Award Rs. 50,000
- 3rd/4th place finish in league stage @ Rs. 50,000 each

- Player of the Tournament Rs. 20,000
- Highest Goalscorer Rs. 10,000
- Best Goalkeeper Rs. 10,000
- Champion Team Coach and Management Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 40,000 respectively
- Runners-Up Team Coach and Management Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 20,000 respectively

21st Royal Gold Cup in mid-November

The 21st edition of Kohima Royal Gold Cup will take place in mid-November 2012. The Royal Gold Cup, organized by the Royal Club in Kohima, is the only football tournament in the state of Nagaland to be affiliated to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and conducted under the aegis of the Nagaland Football Association (NFA).

This year the organisers are expecting the league champions of the North-Eastern states besides favourite local Nagaland sides to take part in the tournament. In a release the organizing committee informed the media and general public that it may select the teams on first come first basis if the response is overwhelming.

The champion and the runner-up will be awarded an elegant Gold Cup trophy along with cash prize of Rs. 150,000 (1,5 lakhs) for the winner and Rs.75,000 for the runners-up along with a citation.

Interested clubs/organizations can apply and collect forms with the terms and conditions to participate from:

Tournament Committee Royal Gold Cup
C/O The Blue Bayou
(Opposite War Cemetery Kohima)
Fax No. 0370-2292008
Contact No: 9436000253 and 9856071826

66th Santosh Trophy: Nagaland name final squad

The Nagaland Football Association has named their final 20 players squad for the 66th edition of the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy which will be played from May 11 to 27 across Orissa. The NFA held trials and used the new Nagaland Premier League to spot talent for the state team.

The Kohima Komets duo of Kevilebei Julius as coach and Viketuolie Lawerence as manager will lead the state in the Santosh Trophy

Nagaland have been drawn in the Preliminary Cluster V along with Karnataka, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh playing their matches on May 11 (vs Karnataka), May 13 (vs Bihar) and May 15 (vs Uttar Pradesh).


NAGALAND

Goalkeepers
Vizovor (Nagaland Police), V. Puro (Life Sports FC)

Defenders
Beilie (Nagaland Police), Velukho (Barak Flamingoz), Ao Yanger (Zonapang), Imlitoshi (Zonapang), Micheal (Kohima Komets), Domenic (Kohima Komets), Aben (Doyang)

Midfielders
Bendang (Nagaland Police), Tia Sunep (Nagaland Police), Khungjang (Barak Flamingoz), Kenei (Barak Flamingoz), Mayang Meren (Sangpang), Senelo (Naga Tornadoes), Asito (Kohima Komets)

Forwards
Kevi (Naga Tornadoes), K. Thopi (Life Sports FC), Kobou (Kohima Komets), Benri (Doyang)

Officials
Kevilebei Julius (Coach, Kohima Komets), Viketuolie Lawerence (Manager, Kohima Komets)

Dr. T. Ao NorthEast Football Trophy: Mizoram champions

Mizoram are the new Dr. T. Ao NorthEast Football Trophy champions after beating Sikkim 9-8 on penalties yesterday at the Paljor Stadium in Gangtok. The match had ended one-all in regulation time. The Dr. T. Ao NorthEast "DONER" Football Trophy was played at the Paljor Stadium from March 2 to 9 with the seven Northeastern states plus hosts Sikkim taking part. The tournaments aim is to promote football in the Northeast.

Mizoram received the champions trophy and Rs 700,000 (7 lakhs) while Sikkim were awarded Rs 400,000 (4 lakhs) and the runners-up trophy. Other prizes were handed out to the players, who performed throughout the tournament.


FIXTURES & RESULTS

Group A
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram, Sikkim

02-Mar-2012: Sikkim 2-2 Arunachal Pradesh
03-Mar-2012: Mizoram 3-1 Assam
04-Mar-2012: Sikkim 1-3 Mizoram
05-Mar-2012: Arunachal Pradesh 1-2 Assam
06-Mar-2012: Sikkim 1-0 Assam
07-Mar-2012: Arunachal Pradesh 1-1 Mizoram

Group B
Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura

02-Mar-2012: Manipur 4-2 Nagaland
03-Mar-2012: Meghalaya 1-3 Tripura
04-Mar-2012: Manipur 1-0 Tripura
05-Mar-2012: Nagaland 0-0 Meghalaya
06-Mar-2012: Manipur 1-0 Meghalaya
07-Mar-2012: Nagaland 1-1 Tripura

Semifinals
08-Mar-2012: Manipur 0-1 Sikkim
08-Mar-2012: Tripura 2-4 Mizoram

Final
09-Mar-2012: Sikkim 1-1(8-9) Mizoram [on penalties]

Nagaland Premier League kicks-off March 2

The Northeastern state of Nagaland will from next month onwards have its own Nagaland Premier League. The NPL will kick-off on March 2 with an exhibition match between a Nagaland XI and I-League side Shillong Lajong FC at the Kohima football ground from 2 pm onwards. The chief guest on the occasion will be the Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio with other state ministers to grace the occasion.

The NPL is being organised by the Nagaland Football Association together with the local Dimapur-based sports management agency Four Four Two Management with the aim of the league being to develop the game of football and footballers in the state. With an enormous amount of untapped talent, the NPL will groom players from a young age and give them a platform to grow and later move on to bigger arenas.

In total 10 teams from across the state would be seen in action - Barak Flamingos FC (Peren), Dimapur United FC, Doyang FC (Wokha), Dynamic FC (Dimapur), FC Naga Tornadoes (Zunheboto), Kohima Komets, Life Sports FC (Kohima), New Market FC (Kohima), Sangpang FC (Mokokchung), Zopipang FC (Mokokchung). Some clubs have given themselves new creative names and designed new logos for their teams.

The NPL has been able to get Shillong Lajong FC as a partner with its manager-cum-owner Larsing Ming as a league patron, while former India captain Baichung Bhutia is also a patron of the league.

Baichung Bhutia said in his message of support, "I believe the Nagaland Premier League will provide the right opportunity and platform for footballers from the state to compete and showcase their talent. We have to have young players involved and the youth to bring in the right spirit to the game, not just on the field but off it as well. There's no dearth of talent in Nagaland, we just have to see the right players with the talent and the discipline to come out of Nagaland and play not just here but for the country. I whole heartedly support this movement and the NPL Management."

The leagues aim is not only to improve football in Nagaland, but also professionalize the club football scene in the state to such a level that it can generate jobs and maybe enable the state's top club(s) to play in the second tier of the I-League.

Sikkim to host Dr. T. Ao NorthEast Football Trophy

Sikkim is set to host the next edition of the Dr. T. Ao NorthEast "DONER" Football Trophy will be played at the Paljor Stadium in Gangtok from March 2 to 9, 2012. The tournament will be organised in the state by the Sikkim Sports and Youth Affairs Department (S&YA) with financial support from the North Eastern Council (NEC) and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DONER).

The aim of the Dr. T. Ao NorthEast Football Trophy is to promote football in the Northeastern region. The tournament would see all the eight Northeastern states take part besides hosts Sikkim there would be Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura in action.

The champions would received Rs 200,000 (2 lakhs), the losing finalists Rs 100,000 (1 lakh) and the semifinalists would get Rs 50,000 each. Besides these there would be a Fair Play Trophy with a cash reward of Rs 50,000, Player of the Tournament (Rs 25,000) plus Highest Goalscorer and Best Goalkeeper (Rs 10,000 each) of the tournament. The coach and manager of the champions will be given Rs 20,000 each, while the coach and manager from the runners-up team would get Rs 10,000.

The tournament was first held in May 2003 in the Assamese capital Guwahati with the hosts winning 4-1 on penalties against Manipur. The first edition had been organised by the Sport Authority of India, Guwahati then, while the last edition had been played in Manipur.

North-East Premier League set for March 2012 launch

The ambitious North-East Premier League (NEPL) is set for a March 2012 launch. It is an AIFF initiative being pushed by the federations vice-president Ankur Dutta, who hails from the Northeast. The NEPL is an effort to promote football in the region with Calcutta-based Celebrity Management Group set to organise the league. The overall prize money would be Rs 10 Million (1 crore) with the clubs set to earn further potential revenues from TV rights and sponsorship sales.

The NEPL will feature the state champions from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. There had been an earlier proposal to include the champions of Sikkim as the eight team, but that idea has been dropped due to logistical reasons. Now a pre-tournament will be held amongst the state league runners-up of the seven states to determine the eighth team.

As per plans the eight participating teams will be split into two groups of four teams each with all playing each other home-and-away in the group stage. From there the top two teams will qualify for the semifinals with the winners moving on into the finals.

As per the NEPL rules only commercial entity football clubs will be allowed to participate meaning Public Sector Undertaking clubs, which are common in the Northeast will not be allowed to participate; while winning the league will open opportunities in the I-League Division 2.

The NEPL is set to be played over a nine week period from March 2012 onwards with travel and fatigue a potential problem which the organisers would have to look into.

20th Kohima Royal Gold Cup: 15 teams to participate

15 teams from seven states from across India will participate in the 20th Kohima Royal Gold Cup, which is set to kick-off on November 16 at the Local ground, Kohima in Nagaland.

Outstation teams taking part will be 2nd Division I-League side Kenkre FC from Mumbai, Betul Oil from Madhya Pradesh, NEROCA and AIM from Manipur, Denzong Boyz from Sikkim, Nangkiew Irat SC from Shillong besides defending champions TTFC from Aizawl and the Mizoram league winners Kauilikawn.

The local challenge will be led by seven time champions and last time runners-up Nagaland Police besides Excel United, Life Sports FC, Naga Prege FC, Mon District Sports Association, Peren District Sports Association and HQ 5 Sector Assam Rifles, Nagaland.

On the opening day on November 16 at 13.00 h Nangkiew Irat SC from Shillong take on local side HQ 5 Sector Assam Rifles, Nagaland.

20th Kohima Royal Gold Cup next month

The 20th edition of the Kohima Royal Gold Cup will kick-off on November 16 at the Khuchiezie Football Ground in the capital of Nagaland - Kohima. Once more the tournament is being organised by Royal Club, Kohima with Nagaland State Aids Control Society (NSACS) as co-sponsors; the Nagaland Post as media partner and under the theme 'Basics of HIV and AIDS'.

The tournament will once more be conducted as an All India Football Tournament under the supervision of a match commissioner and a set of National Referees nominated by the All India Football Federation, aided by best officials from the state of Nagaland for smooth and fair competition.

The organised hope to have teams from other states of the Northeast participating besides local teams. All the matches will be played under FIFA/AIFF rules and regulations.

Interested reputed local clubs from the state can avail forms for participation from the address and phone numbers given below:

United Traders
Departmental Store, Probo; Kohima
Nagaland - 797 001
Phone Numbers - 9436000456, 9856071826

North-East Premier League on the cards

To further promote club football across the Northeastern states the All India Football Federation is working on plans with the regions state football associations to launch the North-East Premier League. Kolkata-based Celebrity Management Group is set to partner the AIFF to organise and raise sponsorship for the league.

The NE Premier League is set to feature the top teams from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura along with a team from Sikkim. It will be an eight team league. The format has not been finalised yet, but the AIFF is pushing for a start during the ongoing 2011/12 season.

It has been decided that a clubs participating squad could include upto three foreigners, but it would be mandatory to have no less than six local players and the same number of Under-21 players. The rest of the team could be from anywhere in India with no Northeast restrictions.

From this set of players the three foreigners, two local players and one Under-21 would have to be in the starting eleven, while also having such a combination amongst the playing eleven throughout the game.

The aim of the league is to not only promote club football in the North-East, but also talent from the region and bridge the gap with the rest of the country.

Manipur to host Dr T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament

This time around Manipur will play hosts for the Dr T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament to be played from November 21 to 30 in Imphal. The tournament is funded by the ministry for Development of North Eeastern Region (DoNER). The last edition was played in Nagaland.

In all the seven Northeastern states along with Sikkim will be seen in action. The eight participating states will be divided into two groups of four teams each with the top two sides making it to the semifinals. And the tournament can be seen as an own Santosh Trophy of the Northeast in this football crazy part of India and it gives young talent the chance to compete with the best from the region, who aren't playing at the top national professional level.

The All Manipur Football Association has named L. Nandakumar Singh as the states coach with S. Premkanta Singh as the goalkeeping coach and Ng. Brojendra Singh as the manager. 28 players have been called for the trials to select the final squad for Manipur, who would like to keep the trophy in the state.