Gokulam Kerala F.C.

This article is about the men's football club. For the women's football club, see Gokulam Kerala FC (women).

Gokulam Kerala FC

Full name	Gokulam Kerala Football
Nickname(s)	Malabarians
Short name	GKFC
Founded	January 2017;3 years ago (2017-01) (as Gokulam FC)
Ground	EMS Corporation Stadium, Calicut
Capacity	84,000
Owner	Sree Gokulam Group
Chairman	Gokulam Gopalan
Manager	Vincenzo Alberto Annese
League	I-League
2019–20	5th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Gokulam Kerala Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Kozhikode, Kerala. The club was founded in 2017 and competes in the I-League ,one of the top tier league in Indian football. They are the current champions of Durand Cup. They also run a team in the Indian Women's League called Gokulam Kerala FC (women) .

Active departments of Gokulam Kerala FC
Football (Men's)	Football (Women's)

History

On 20 September, after the second round of bidding invitations, the Bid Evaluation Committee decided to award the Sree Gokulam Group the right to field their team in the Hero I-League 2017–18 season onward from Kozhikode, Kerala . Although the club did not have a good beginning as it was their first I-league season, they went on to defeat big clubs in the I-league like East Bengal , Mohun Bagan and Minerva Punjab by the end of the season. They came to be known as the giant killers of the season. Gokulam Kerala FC hired Spaniard Fernando Andres Santiago Valera as head coach in March 2018. ^[1]

Gokulam Kerala played against ISL club NorthEast United in the first ever Super Cup qualifiers. On 15 March 2018 Gokulam played the Super Cup qualifiers against North East United FC and qualified with a 2-goal victory. In the pre-quarter finals of the super cup they were leading Bengaluru FC 1–0 until 60 minutes with a goal by their striker Henry Kisekka but Bengaluru won 2–1.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
2017—2019	Kaizen Sports	Aachi Group
2018—2019		Aqualine PVC Pipes
2019—present		Gokulam

Stadium

Main article: EMS Stadium

EMS Stadium on a matchday

Gokulam Kerala FC played all its home matches in the EMS Stadium which was located in the heart of the Calicut city. The West stand was the largest and could accommodate the maximum 100,000 of people.

Support

GKFC Battalia (Malabarians) is the official supporters of Gokulam Kerala F.C. Gokulam Kerala FC battallia was formed to support Gokulam Kerala FC. Their tremendous support lead them to be known as Malabarians.

Crest

Theyyam is a popular ritual form of worship in Kerala

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

Broadcasting

On October 24, 2018, Gokulam Kerala FC signed an exclusive deal with local television channel Flowers. Gokulam Kerala FC home matches are televised on Flowers Channel. Due to issues with Star Sports Network, the broadcast was halted. I-League is telecasted live on Star Sports 3 and Hotstar.

Former Players

Main article: List of Gokulam Kerala F.C. players

Current Squad

First-team squad

As of 3 September 2020 ^[2]

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   IND Ubaid CK 2 DF   IND Naocha singh 3 DF   IND Ashok Singh 5 DF   TRI Andre Ettienne ( vice-captain ) 8 MF   TRI Nathaniel Garcia 10 FW   TRI Marcus Joseph (captain) 11 FW   RWA Atuheire Kipson 12 MF   IND Muhammed Rashid 14 FW   IND Malemngamba Meitei 15 DF   IND Mohamed Salah 16 FW   IND Salman K 22 MF   IND Shibil Muhammed

No. Pos. Nation Player 23 MF   IND Nicholas Fernandes 24 DF   IND Jestin George 25 DF   IND Mayakannan 29 FW   IND Lalromawia 31 FW   UGA Henry Kisekka 32 FW   IND Jithin MS 33 GK   IND Ajmal PA – FW   IND Ngangom Ronald Singh – DF   IND Muhammad Asif – GK   IND Sayan Roy – DF   IND Roshan Singh – MF   IND Zodingliana Ralte

Other player on contract

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

No. Pos. Nation Player - MF   IND Shameel - MF   IND Thahir Zaman - DF   IND Jasim - DF   IND Febin - MF   IND Alphin

No. Pos. Nation Player - MF   IND Mahin - FW   IND Shreyas Sathyan

Club captains

Period	Name
2017–2018	Sushanth Mathew
2018–2019	Musa Mudde
2019	Daniel Addo
2019–	Marcus Joseph

Statistics and records

• Main article: List of Gokulam Kerala FC records and statistics

Daniel Addo is Gokulam Kerala all-time Most appearances.

Most Appearances

Name	Period	I-League	Super Cup	Durand Cup	Sheikh Kamal Cup	Appearances
Mohammed Irshad	2017–2018, 2019–2020	29	01	05	04	39
Daniel Addo	2017–2019	36	02			38
Muhammed Rashid	2017–	27	01	04	04	36
Arjun Jayaraj	2017–2019	30	02			32
Marcus Joseph	2019–	17		05	03	25

Top scorers

  Still active team players are highlighted

Top scorers record
#	Player	Career	I-League	Super Cup	Durand Cup	Sheikh Kamal Cup	Total
1	Marcus Joseph	2019–	12	0	11	1	24
2	Henry Kisekka	2017–2018, 2019–	9	3	1	3	16

Season Analysis

Season	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts.	Federation Cup/Super Cup	Durand Cup	AFC Champions League	AFC Cup
2017–18	I League	7	18	6	3	9	17	23	21	Round 16	DNP	DNQ	DNQ
2018–19	I League	10	20	3	8	9	25	33	17	DNP	DNP	DNQ	DNQ
2019–20	I League	5	15	6	4	5	20	19	22	Cancelled [note 1]	Champions
2020–21	I League

1. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown the I-League matches were cancelled after 14 March 2020, and Gokulam Kerala were positioned 5th in the points table after 15 match. The Super Cup wasn't also held for the lockdown and Durand Cup was promoted to the de-facto league cup.

Honours & Titles

The Durand Cup trophy won by Gokulam Kerala for the first time in 2019

Cups

• Durand Cup

Champions (1) - 2019

South Asia

• Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup

Semifinals(1) - 2019

Domestic

League

• Kerala Premier League

Champions (1) - 2017–18 ^[3]

Runners-up(1) - 2018-19

• Kerala State Club Championship

Runners-up (1) - 2016–17 ^[4]

Reserve team

• Bodousa Cup

Champions (1) - 2019

• Independence Day Cup

Champions (1) - 2019 ^[5]

• Mayors Cup

Runners-up - 2019

Women's team

• Indian Women's League

Champions - 2020 ^[6]

Academy team

• International cup of joy

ChampionsU-13(1) - 2018

• Luca Soccer Cup

Champions-2019

Technical staff

Current technical staff

As of 19 June 2020

Head Coach Gokulam Kerala

Position	Name
Head Coach	Vincenzo Alberto Annese
Assistant Coach	TBA
Technical Director	Bino George
Goalkeeping Coach	Fysal K Bappu
Fitness and conditioning Coach	Djair Miranda Garcia
Reserve Team coach	shajirudheen
Academy Manager	Joel Williams
Academy coach (under-18)	Baiju
Academy coach (under-15)	Suneer V P
Academy coach (under-13)	Shareef khan

Club staff

Position	Name
Team Manager	Randijah Rizwan
Marketing Manager & Grassroots Development	Mizpha Richards
Physiotherapist	fahis A P
Performance Analyst	Sai guhan
Kit & Equipment Manager	Shamnad M
Operations Head	Unni Krishnan
Operations executive	Aslam Shafi
Media manager	Kevin
Media executive	Mishal nelson

Head Coach's Record

As of 19 August 2020

Name	Nationality	From	To	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Win%
Bino George	India	8 October 2017	26 February 2019	40	10	11	19	45	58	025.00
Gift Raikhan	India	26 February 2019	01 July 2019	3	1	0	2	4	6	033.33
Fernando Santiago Varela	Spain	01 July 2019	16 June 2020	20	11	4	5	25	10	055.00
Vincenzo Alberto Annese	Italy	19 August 2020		—	−	−	−	−	−	—

See also

• I-League
• Indian Women's League
• Gokulam Kerala FC (women)
• List of Gokulam Kerala F.C. players
• Kozhikode Quartz

References

1. "Spanish head coach for Gokulam Kerala FC". OnManorama.
2. "9 Keralites in Gokulam Kerala FC squad for Durand Cup". Mathrubhumi.
3. Sen, Debayen. "Kerala's Gokulam FC get direct entry into I-League". espn.in. ESPN India. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
4. Tennyson, Rayson (12 April 2017). "Future tense for state club champs, SBI Kerala". The Times of India. TNN. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
5. "Gokulam Kerala lift 71st Independence Day Cup". assamtribune.com. Assam Tribune. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
6. "Gokulam Kerala crowned new Hero IWL champions after thrilling finale". AIFF. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.