Gokulam Kerala FC Women
Full nameGokulam Kerala Football Club Women
Nickname(s)Malabarians
Short nameGKFC
FoundedJanuary 2018; 6 years ago (2018-01)
GroundMalappuram District Sports Complex Stadium
Capacity30,000
OwnerSree Gokulam Group
PresidentV. C. Praveen
Head coachAnthony Andrews
LeagueIndian Women's League
Kerala Women's League
2022–23IWL, Champions
WebsiteClub website

Gokulam Kerala FC Women is an Indian women's football section of Gokulam Kerala FC.[1][2] They participated in Indian Women's League,[3] the women's premier football league in India.[4] They won the first IWL In 2019–20.[5] They then retained the title in 2021–22 and 2022–23. In 2021, they became the first club to represent India in AFC Women's Club Championship.

Crest

Theyyam is a popular ritual form of worship in North Kerala

The club logo incorporates elements from historical Theyyam, a famous ritual art form that originated in northern Kerala. It encompasses dance, mime and music.[6]

Stadium

EMS Stadium on a matchday

Gokulam Kerala Women played most of its home matches at the EMS Stadium, which is located in the heart of Calicut.[7] The current home ground of Gokulam Kerala is Malappuram District Sports Complex Stadium, after the allegations surfaced that the corporation authorities were not happy with the state of the EMS Stadium under GKFC's maintenance.

Supporters

Kerala is a state known for its passionate football fans.[8] Football in Northern Kerala (known as Malabar Coastal Region) has arguably one of the most passionate fanbase in the state.[9][10] "GKFC Battalia" is one of the largest supporters' group of Gokulam Kerala FC.[11][12] Another noted supporters' group of the club named "GKFC Ultras" is also in existence.[13]

Technical staff

As of 8 December 2023
Position Name
Head coach India Anthony Andrews
Assistant coach India
Team Manager India Kevin Kishorem

Current squad

First-team squad

As of 30 September 2023[14][15]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Ghana GHA Beatrice Ntiwaa Nketia
2 DF India IND Thounaojam Kritina Devi
3 DF India IND Manju Baby
4 DF India IND Dhurga P.
5 DF India IND C. Reshma
6 MF India IND Martina Thokchom
7 MF India IND Nongmaithem Ratanbala Devi
8 MF India IND Priyadharshini S.
9 FW India IND Sandhiya Ranganathan (vice-captain)
10 FW Uganda UGA Fazila Ikwaput
11 FW India IND Manasa K.
12 MF India IND Asem Roja Devi (vice-captain)
13 DF Kenya KEN Phoeby Okech
15 MF India IND Soniya Jose
17 MF India IND Muskan Subba
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 FW India IND Harmilan Kaur
21 FW India IND Harshika Jain
22 MF India IND Anju Tamang
23 GK India IND Baby Lalchhandami
26 DF India IND Shubhangi Singh
27 MF India IND Soumya Guguloth
28 FW India IND R. Dharshini Devi
30 MF India IND Grace Dangmei (captain)
31 GK India IND Sowmiya Narayanasamy
44 DF India IND Loitongbam Ashalata Devi
55 DF India IND Alexiba P. Samson
66 DF India IND Hemam Shilky Devi
99 GK India IND Payal Basude
— FW India IND Sumati Kumari

Reserves

As of 29 December 2023[16]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
21 MF India IND Greeshma M. P.
33 GK India IND Angel Maria T. S.
— DF India IND Akanya K.
24 DF India IND Pinki Kashyap
— MF India IND Ajusha Sharin P. M.
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF India IND Devananda C. K.
32 MF India IND Gopika A.
— FW India IND Arathy P. M.

Managerial history

Dates Name Ref
2017–2020 India Priya P. V.
2021–2022 India Anthony Andrews
2022 India Priya P. V.
2022– India Anthony Andrews

Club captains

List of Gokulam Kerala Women's Football Team captains since its establishment.

Period Name
2017–18 India Anita Rawat
2019–20 India Michel Castanha
2021–22 India Aditi Chauhan
2022–23 India Loitongbam Ashalata Devi
2023– India Grace Dangmei

Seasons

As of 21 May 2023
Season League KWL AFC Championship League Top Scorer
Tier Pld W D L GF GA Pts Pos Name(s) Goals
2017–18 1 6 1 1 4 6 12 4 5th DNP DNQ Uganda Fazila Ikwaput 5
2018–19 1 6 5 0 1 18 5 15 Semi Finals DNP DNQ India Anju Tamang 5
2019–20 1 7 7 0 0 34 4 15 Champions DNP DNQ Nepal Sabitra Bhandari 16
2020–21 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NA[17] DNP 3rd
2021–22 1 11 11 0 0 66 4 33 Champions Champions DNP[18] Ghana Elshaddai Acheampong 20
2022–23 1 10 8 2 0 64 7 26 Champions Runners Up GS Nepal Sabitra Bhandari 29

Performance in AFC competitions

AFC Women's Club Championship

Winner of the 2020–21 Indian Women's League season would originally get the chance to participate in 2021 edition of AFC Women's Club Championship. As a backup, if the season is unable to complete, defending champions of 2019–20 season, Gokulam Kerala FC, will qualify for the event.[19] Later, on 15 July 2021, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) nominated Gokulam Kerala to represent India in the AFC Women's Club Championship 2020–21 pilot tournament.[20]

Season Competition Round Club Score Position Top scorer
2021 2021 AFC Women's Club Championship Main tournament Jordan Amman 1–2 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Ghana Elshaddai Achempong
(2 goals)
Iran Shahrdari Sirjan 0–1
Uzbekistan Bunyodkor 3–1
2022 2022 AFC Women's Club Championship West Region Uzbekistan Sogdiyona Jizzak Match abandoned due to FIFA ban on AIFF
Iran Bam Khatoon
2023 2023 AFC Women's Club Championship Main tournament Japan Urawa Red Diamonds 0–7 GS
(2nd) 		Ghana Veronica Appiah
(3 goals)
Chinese Taipei Hualien 1–1
Thailand Bangkok FC 4–3

Honours

Continental

Domestic

References

  1. ^ "Gokulam Kerala FC embarrass Kenkre FC 10-1 in Indian Women's League". timesofindia.com. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  2. ^ 17:49 IST, TEAM SPORTSTAR (13 July 2022). "Indian footballers Jyoti and Soumya selected for trials at ZNK Dinamo Zagreb". sportstar.thehindu.com. Sportstar. Archived from the original on 13 July 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "Indian Women's League 2018-19 to kick off on May 5 in Ludhiana | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  4. ^ "Gokulam Kerala crowned new Hero IWL champions after thrilling finale". AIFF. 14 February 2020. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  5. ^ "Gokulam Kerala crowned new Hero IWL champions after thrilling finale". Archived from the original on 15 February 2020.
  6. ^ Kusuman, K. K. (1990). A Panorama of Indian Culture: Professor A. Sreedhara Menon Felicitation Volume. Mittal Publications. ISBN 978-81-7099-214-1.
  7. ^ EMS Stadium: Our home Archived 2021-04-21 at the Wayback Machine Gokulam Kerala FC (official website). Retrieved 21 April 2021
  8. ^ Acharya, Srinath (19 May 2017). "Kerala: The paradoxical Indian state where football rivals cricket". khelnow.com. Khel Now. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  9. ^ Gokulam Kerala FC taking football forward on Malabar Coast. Archived 7 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine. The Times of India. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  10. ^ Thoyakkat, Harigovind (10 May 2021). "How Kerala Blasters can learn from Gokulam Kerala's I-League success". khelnow.com. Khel Now. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  11. ^ Nafie, Abdul (3 March 2018). "Gokulam Kerala FC to honour former Indian football stars". sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  12. ^ "When it comes to attendance figures, is the I-League better than the ISL?". amp.scroll.in. Scroll. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  13. ^ PS, Sreerag (7 April 2023). "'Stepmotherly treatment to I-League clubs': Gokulam Kerala fans irate over no Super Cup qualifiers live telecast". thesouthfirst.com. Kochi: The South First News. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  14. ^ "IWL 2023-24". i-league.org. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  15. ^ "Hero Indian Women's League Squad". AIFF. Archived from the original on 15 April 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  16. ^ "Kerala Women's League 2023-24". i-league.org. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  17. ^ "Indian Women's League 2021 postponed indefinitely". ESPN. 6 April 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  18. ^ "Gokulam Kerala FC confirm they cannot play in AFC Women's Club Championship". scroll.in.
  19. ^ "AIFF keen to host women's league by September in light of continental invite". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  20. ^ "Gokulam Kerala FC to represent India in AFC Women's Club Championship". The Indian Express. 15 July 2021. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  21. ^ "Gokulam Kerala crowned new Hero IWL champions after thrilling finale". the-aiff.com. All India Football Federation. 14 February 2020. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  22. ^ "Indian Women's League 2023: Gokulam Kerala thrash Kickstart FC 5–0 to win third consecutive title". sportstar.thehindu.com. Chennai: Sportstar. 21 May 2023. Archived from the original on 22 May 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  23. ^ "Gokulam Kerala steamroll Kickstart to complete hat-trick of Hero IWL titles". the-aiff.com. All India Football Federation. 21 May 2023. Archived from the original on 22 May 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.

External links

Football in Kerala
Sports teams based in Kerala
Categories