Kerala
കേരള
Full nameKerala football team
Founded1948; 76 years ago (1948)
GroundJawaharlal Nehru Stadium
Capacity80,000
OwnerKerala Football Association
Head coachSatheevan Balan
LeagueSantosh Trophy
2022–23Final Round
Current season

The Kerala football team (Malayalam: കേരള കാൽപന്തുകളി ഗണം) is an Indian state level football team representing Kerala in Indian state football competitions including the Santosh Trophy.[1][2]

History

The team appeared in the Santosh Trophy finals 15 times, and have won the trophy 7 times. Kerala last won the Santhosh Trophy in 2022 by defeating Bengal in the final on 2 May at the Payyanadu Stadium in Malappuram. The Kerala team was captained by Jijo Joseph under head coach Bino George, being unbeaten during the tournament.

Players

Current squad

As of 03 February 2023:[3]

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
23 1GK Midhun V (1994-06-13) 13 June 1994 (age 29) India Kickstart FC
32 1GK Ajmal P. A. (1995-11-12) 12 November 1995 (age 28) India FC Areekode
33 1GK Alkesh Raj (2000-02-15) 15 February 2000 (age 23) India SAI Kollam
2 2DF Muhammad Bilal (2005-03-22) 22 March 2005 (age 18) India Gokulam Kerala B
3 2DF Sanju G India
4 2DF Sachu Siby (2000-05-31) 31 May 2000 (age 23) India Kerala United FC
5 2DF Shinu R India Kovalam Football Club
22 2DF Muhammed Salim (2000-11-02) 2 November 2000 (age 23) India KSEB
24 2DF Ameen K India FC Areekode
29 2DF Belgin Bolster India KSEB
30 2DF Manoj M (1996-08-21) 21 August 1996 (age 27) India Kerala United FC
7 3MF Nijo Gilbert (1999-10-16) 16 October 1999 (age 24) India KSEB
11 3MF Abdu Raheem India BASCO Othukkungal
13 3MF Hrishidath (2000-02-05) 5 February 2000 (age 23) India Gokulam Kerala FC (Reserves)
14 3MF Arjun V India Don Bosco
17 3MF Vishak Mohanan India Gokulam Kerala FC (Reserves)
18 3MF vinayak India Thrikkarippur FA
25 3MF Gifty Gracious (1999-08-16) 16 August 1999 (age 24) India KSEB
9 4FW Riswan Ali (1996-12-19) 19 December 1996 (age 27) India FC Areekode
16 4FW George Ns (2000-06-14) 14 June 2000 (age 23) India
19 4FW John Paul India KSEB
26 4FW Naresh Bagyanathan India Muthoot FA

Current technical staff

As of 31 August 2023

Position Name
Head coach India Satheevan Balan
Assistant coach India Bineesh Kiran
Goalkeeping coach India Hameed KK
Physio India Akshay R
Manager India Mohammed Rafeek

Results and Fixtures

26 December 2022 Santosh Trophy Qualification Rajasthan 0–7 Kerala Kozhikode
15:30 Report
  • Nijo Gilbert 6'
  • Viknesh M 12', 20'
  • Naresh Bhagyanathan 23', 36'
  • Riswanali Edakkavil 55', 81'
 Stadium: EMS Stadium
29 December 2022 Santosh Trophy Qualification Bihar 1–4 Kerala Kozhikode
15:30 Munna Mandi 70' Report
  • Nijo Gilbert 24', 28'
  • Vishak Mohanan 81'
  • Abdu Raheem K. 85'
 Stadium: EMS Stadium
1 January 2023 Santosh Trophy Qualification Kerala 5–0 Andhra Pradesh Kozhikode
15:30
  • Nijo Gilbert 16'
  • Mohamed Salim 19'
  • Abdu Raheem K 45+4'
  • Vishak Mohanan 53'
  • Viknesh M 62'
 Report Stadium: EMS Stadium
5 January 2023 Santosh Trophy Qualification Kerala 3–0 Jammu & Kashmir Kozhikode
15:30
  • Viknesh M 51'
  • Riswanali Edakkavil 76'
  • Nijo Gilbert 90+3'
 Report Stadium: EMS Stadium
Referee: Deepraj Damodar Sangelkar
8 January 2023 Santosh Trophy Qualification Mizoram 1–5 Kerala Kozhikode
15:30 Malsawmfela 80' Report
  • Naresh Bhagyanathan 30', 65'
  • Nijo Gilbert 47'
  • Gifty C. Gracious 77'
  • Vishak Mohanan 85'
 Stadium: EMS Stadium
Referee: Mohammed Junaid Saijad Tanji
10 February 2023 2022–23 Santosh Trophy Goa 2–3 Kerala Bhubaneswar
09:00
  • Mahammed Faheez 60', 73'
 Report
  • Nijo Gilbert 27'
  • Riswanali Edakkavil 57'
  • Asif O M 90+1'
 Stadium: Capital Football Arena
12 February 2023 2022–23 Santosh Trophy Kerala 0–1 Karnataka Odisha
14 February 2023 2022–23 Santosh Trophy Kerala 4–4 Maharashtra Bhubaneswar
17 February 2023 2022–23 Santosh Trophy Odisha 0–1 Kerala Bhubaneswar
19 February 2023 2022–23 Santosh Trophy Kerala 1–1 Punjab Bhubaneswar

Statistics and records

Season-by-season

As of 19 February 2023

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place

Season Santosh Trophy Qualifiers Top Scorer
Pld W D L GF GA Pos Pld W D L GF GA Player Goals
1973–74[4] Champions Automatically in the group stage Proper TKS Mani 7
1987–88 6 4 2 0 10 1 Runners Up Automatically in the group stage Proper C. V. Pappachan 5
1988–89[5] Runners up Automatically in the group stage Proper
1989–90 6 3 1 2 11 9 Runners Up Automatically in the group stage Proper I. M. Vijayan, Santosh 3
1990–91[6] Runners Up Automatically in the group stage Proper
1991–92 4 3 0 1 12 0 Champions Automatically in the group stage Proper PS Asheem, Harshan, Rajeev 3
1992–93 6 4 0 1 8 3 Champions Automatically in the group stage Proper I. M. Vijayan 3
1993–94 2 1 0 1 6 1 Runners Up Automatically in the group stage Proper Jo Paul Ancheri 3
1996–97 4 2 1 1 6 1 Semi Finalist Automatically in the group stage Proper VP Shaji 3
1997–98 3 0 2 1 0 3 Group Stage Automatically in the group stage Proper
1998–99 1 0 0 1 1 3 Semi Finalist 2 2 0 0 5 1 Asif Saheer 3
1999–00 5 3 1 1 10 5 Runners up Automatically in the group stage Proper Asif Saheer 4
2001–02 4 4 0 0 16 8 Champions Automatically in the group stage Proper Abdul Hakim 7
2002–03 4 3 0 1 10 7 Runners Up Automatically in the group stage Proper Sylvester Ignatius 3
2004–05 4 3 1 0 9 4 Champions Automatically in the group stage Proper Abdul Naushad 2
2005–06 3 2 0 1 4 1 Semi Finalist Automatically in the group stage Proper Abdul Hakkim 2
2006–07 4 2 2 0 5 1 Semi Finalist Automatically in the group stage Proper Pradeep 3
2007–08 3 1 2 0 3 9 Group Stage Automatically in the group stage Proper Asif Saheer
Abdul Naushad
Javed OK 		1
2008–09 1 0 0 1 0 1 Pre Quarter 2 2 0 0 8 0 Zubair KP 3
2009–10 1 0 0 1 0 1 Pre Quarter 3 3 0 0 18 3 Javed OK 4
2010–11 1 0 1 0 0 0 Pre Quarter 3 2 1 0 8 1 NA NA
2011–12 5 3 2 0 8 4 Semi Finalist Automatically in the group stage Proper Kannan 2
2012–13 5 3 2 0 8 4 Runners Up Automatically in the group stage Proper Kannan 4
2013–14 4 2 0 2 6 4 Group Stage 4 3 0 1 23 4 NA NA
2014–15 5 3 1 1 4 4 Semi Finalist 2 2 0 0 10 0 V P Suhair 3
2015–16 did not qualify 2 1 1 0 3 1 Firos
Seesan
Askhar 		1
2016–17 5 2 1 2 11 9 Semi Finalist 3 2 1 0 6 2 Jobby Justin 5
2017–18 6 5 1 0 18 3 Champions 2 1 1 0 7 0 Rahul KP
Afdal VK
Jithin MS 		5
2018–19 did not qualify 3 0 2 1 0 1
2019–20 Not held due to covid 2 2 0 0 11 0 Emil Benny 3
2021–22 6 4 2 0 19 7 Champions 3 3 0 0 18 1 Jesin TK 12
2022–23 5 2 2 1 9 8 Final Round 5 5 0 0 24 2 Nijo Gilbert 8

Honours

Santosh Trophy winning Kerala team with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, November 2, 2004.
Players of Kerala football team a Santosh Trophy match in Payynad Stadium in 2022

State

Others

References

  1. ^ "Kerala Football Association".
  2. ^ "West Bengal, Kerala & Punjab drawn together in tantalizing group in 75th edition of Hero Santosh Trophy". the-aiff.com. All India Football Federation. 6 January 2022. Archived from the original on 6 January 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Goalkeeper Midhun to lead Kerala in Santosh Trophy".
  4. ^ "India - List of Santosh Trophy Finals". Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  5. ^ "23rd Santosh Trophy". Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  6. ^ "India - List of Santosh Trophy Finals". Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  7. ^ Bobrowsky, Josef; King, Ian (6 December 2006). "India 1993 – Santosh Trophy". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  8. ^ Chaudhuri, Arunava. "2001/02 Season in Indian Football". indianfootball.de. Indian Football Network. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  9. ^ "National Games: W Bengal hammer Kerala 5–0 to clinch gold in men's football". wap.business-standard.com. Ahmedabad: Business Standard India. IANS. 12 October 2022. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  10. ^ Sarangi, Y. B. (11 October 2022). "National Games: West Bengal routs Kerala 5–0, wins men's football gold medal after 11 years". sportstar.thehindu.com. Ahmedabad: Sportstar. The Hindu. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
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