KOCHI: Despite lacking in infrastructure, the city will soon have another professional football club.
Trials to pick a bunch of players to the team, promoted by a group of enthusiasts led by Youth Congress leader P V Sreenijin, were held at the Maharaja’s College Stadium on Wednesday.
A panel of selectors including former internationals C C Jacob and M M Jacob, along with former players and respected coaches T A Jaffar and P K Rajeev, put the aspirants through their paces.
The foursome are also being considered for the coach’s role with the new team.
The management is working on the modalities to take over one of the older clubs in the city to be converted into the fifth professional team registered under the Ernakulam District Football Association.
Viva Kerala, Malabar United, Golden Threads and Josco FC are the other Kochi-based professional sides. With August 31 being the last date to get players registered for the new season, the management intends to field a team of youngsters this year under the registration of EDFA.
“Four-hundred-and-twenty players from across the state attended the trials,” Sreenijin told Express.
True to its football-loving nature, Malabar provided the bulk of the aspirants. Hundred players have been shortlisted from which 30 will be finalised after another round of testing on Thursday.
“We will announce the name of the club and the office-bearers on August 29,” said Sreenijin.
In the next four years, the management plans to turn the club into a full-fledged professional outfit with its own academy where even children under 12 can receive top-class training, he said.
Building a loyal fan base and setting up a professional system of administration and marketing, along with scientific training, are among the new team’s priorities.
The club management includes Kerala Football Association president K M I Mather’s son Shafi Mather, renowned journalist Babu Mather, Eastern Group’s
Navas Meeran and Union Minister Vayalar Ravi’s son Ravi Krishnan, apart from Sreenijin who is former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan’s son-in-law.