Karachi Football League
کراچی فٹ بال لیگ
Founded1962; 62 years ago (1962)
(restarted in 2003; 21 years ago (2003))
CountryPakistan
Number of teams20
Most championshipsBurma Mohammaden(2 titles)[1]

The Karachi Football League is a city based football league held in Karachi, Sindh province.[2][3]

History

On a few known occasions, city league championships were played in Pakistan in Lahore stretching back to 1937 before the independence of Pakistan.[4] A league was organized in Karachi in 1962 as KDFA League, by the Karachi Division Football Association between 20 participants throughout the city.[5] Baloch XI from Lyari ultimately won the title after finishing at the top with 33 points.[5]

It wasn't until 2003 when the second edition of the league was held again, this time organised by Karachi United and sponsored by KASB Bank as the KASB Premier League.[6] From 2003 until 2008, the league was sponsored by "KASB Group of Companies" which was the Title Sponsor of the event for the first six editions. Coca-Cola Pakistan became the consequent league sponsor.[7]

The league although regional and semi-professional, it has been compared to the top flight Pakistan Premier League, which has a dominance of department and armed forces teams, which have resulted in poor attendances, with the best supported teams being the Balochistan clubs Afghan FC Chaman, Baloch Nushki and Muslim FC.[8] In stark contrast, the Karachi Football League, despite being a third level division, routinely attracts healthy audiences with the highlight being the 2008–09 final between Shahzad Mohammadan and Nazimabad FC where a huge crowd of over 18,000 witnessed proceedings at the KMC Stadium.[8]

Format

In 2003, the season saw 10 clubs competing on a single league basis with the famous Lyari based Hyderi Baluch crowned as champions. In the first five seasons, five different clubs won the championship until Shazad Muhammadan won back-to-back titles in 2007 and 2008 seasons. In the 2008 season, the league expanded to 16 clubs, with the top eight clubs competing in a playoff.[9] In 2014 season, 20 teams were divided into two groups. After league matches, top four teams from each group progressed into the round-robin Super League phase. The top four teams of the Super League phase then made it to the semi-finals.[10]

Winners

See also

References

  1. ^ "Karachi Football League". The Nation (Pakistan). 2 November 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  2. ^ "Karachi Football League". Dawn. 26 November 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  3. ^ "Azam Sports hammer Azad XI in I am Karachi Football League". The News International. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  4. ^ "Pakistan - List of Champions". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  5. ^ a b c "Pakistan 1962". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  6. ^ "Pakistan 2003". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  7. ^ a b Staff, Editorial (2014-06-02). "Resolute Khyber Muslim win the Karachi Coca-Cola League". FootballPakistan.com (FPDC). Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  8. ^ a b "In-depth: Pakistan football". DAWN.COM. 2013-01-13. Archived from the original on 25 May 2013. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  9. ^ http://kufootballfoundation.org/
  10. ^ "'I am Karachi' Football hopes to beat violence in the city". ARY News. 30 December 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  11. ^ "KASB Premier League (Karachi) 2003". RSSSF. 7 February 2004. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  12. ^ "Pakistan (Other Tournaments) 2004". RSSSF. 16 February 2005. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  13. ^ "Pakistan (Other Tournaments) 2005". RSSSF. 6 October 2006. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  14. ^ "Pakistan (Other Tournaments) 2006". RSSSF. 7 May 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  15. ^ "Pakistan (Other Tournaments) 2007". RSSSF. 28 March 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  16. ^ "Pakistan (Other Tournaments) 2008". RSSSF. 23 April 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  17. ^ Staff, Editorial (2011-03-28). "KFL 2010-11: Baloch Youth Garden crowned champs". FootballPakistan.com (FPDC). Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  18. ^ "Burma Mohammadan crowned Karachi Football League champions". 7 May 2012.
  19. ^ Naveed, Malik Riaz Hai (2015-05-11). "Burma Clinch The Karachi Champion Title". FootballPakistan.com (FPDC). Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  20. ^ Naveed, Malik Riaz Hai (2016-11-08). "Mauripur Baloch won Karachi Football League". FootballPakistan.com (FPDC). Retrieved 2024-02-03.

External links

Football in Pakistan
Categories